Obtaining an Instrument

You have many options when it comes to obtaining an instrument for your child to use. Here are some of the most popular and some notes about each:

Checking out a school-owned instrument
- The school has a limited inventory of instruments to check-out to students and is assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. Based off of inventory at the time of inquiry by filling out the beginning band survey form located ~~here~~ (Note: Survey will not open until the end of the first week of school, it is possible the instrument your child wants might not be available to check out through the school. They can choose a different instrument, which may or may not be available as well. Or you can choose to get one on your own from the options below.
Renting/purchasing from a local music store or online vendor.
- If you would like to guarantee your student plays a certain instrument, you can obtain an instrument from a different source such as renting/purchasing from a local music store or online vendor.
- Be very cautious of “good deals” you might find online or at department stores. If the instrument is a bright color (blue, red, orange, yellow, green etc.) and the price is really good, then it might be too good to be true and can cause headaches for both the student and family due to the poor quality of the instrument. If you have ANY questions about instruments, please email Mr. Switzer (switzer.austin@westada.org)
Purchasing from an online marketplace, friend, or family member. OR inheriting from a friend or family member.
- If you are planning on purchasing from an online marketplace or borrowing/inheriting/purchasing an instrument from family or a friend, it is recommended you get it inspected and serviced at a music store. It can get very frustrating for students when they struggle learning their instrument simply because their instrument does not work properly.

If you are interested in playing percussion, please see the supply list below. At this time, the school does NOT have percussion bell sets for students to check out permanently. Also keep in mind that percussion spots are limited. We can not have 10 percussionists. If our band was 40 students, 5 percussion players would be about the MAX number we could take. And 3 or 4 would be best. I realize many students want to take percussion just because they want to "play the drums" and that sounds very appealing. If that is what you are looking for sign up for the percussion class. It will be similar to general music that students had in 5th grade but they will play numerous percussion instruments. This is a non-performance class. It just gives students a chance to experience those instruments.

Star Middle School