Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion questions re DD renting a french horn

DD10 is in 5th grade and is starting band at school this year. She selected the french horn. She has never played an instrument other than noodling around on our piano. We are just in the beginner/"trying it" phase.

Our district will rent the instruments to the us for $100 for the school year. The band director described the horn as playable but not in great condition. He suggested rental through one of the local music shops because the horn would be better quality. I looked online and rates for the french horn are $50-60 per month. Some said they have rent to own programs but didn't give details on the websites.

I have never played an instrument. How important is the quality of the instrument when you first start playing? If we do the school district's horn, we could supplement with private instruction. If we do the rental horn, we probably can't afford additional private lessons. Any thoughts?

Personally, I'd wait a bit just to make sure he likes it and sticks with it(but I'm cheap, lol). With our two older ones, we rented cheaply at first (violin and cello), then went to a nice rental violin for older dd, then bought one. Ds10 is starting band/orchestra (he's still in instrument selection mode) and I plan on renting from a preferred vendor to get basic quality but NOTHING extravagant. Of coure, unlike the dds, he has next-to-no musical ability, so I don't want to spend too much.
I honestly just don't think a 5th grader will sound that good no matter what. OTOH, I did think private lessons made a HUGE difference with the dds (we did voice, cello/violin and guitar for one dd). You will have a pretty good idea within the next six months of what level of player your son will be... not perfect, by any means, but just an indication if you will need a "serviceable" instrument or if it is worth a bit more.
Good luck!
Theresa

The band director would like the band to sound good. The school one won't sound good even if you can play it, and worse when you're just learning.

If money is tight, use the school one for the first year as it is mostly learning to play the notes, read music, follow the beat, etc.

Would be better to invest in some private lessons if child is seriously interested in practicing. But you probably don't need private lessons either for the first 6 months. Child can learn to do scales and practice reading music on their own. (Then you can always learn how to play via other online resources.)

Then if really serious, start taking private lessons.

Thanks for the feedback. @Cricket, I will ask what the issues are with the school horn. At first, the band director did not offer the school district's instruments as an option. I heard about it from another friend who is in the same district but has a different band director. The band director gave me the info somewhat reluctantly. Maybe he shares Jesse's concern that the school one will sound worse? I'm assuming that any horn will sound painful for the first year.

I played the french horn growing up, and always used a school horn (we couldn't afford one any other way). I started on a pretty badly beat up one, but as the years went by I got better and better ones as some were donated or older students got their own and no longer needed to use the school one. I'd try out the school one first, and then if it looks like DD will stay with it you could move to a rental.

I would definitely stick with the school one until she figures out whether she really wants to play the french horn! I was in band for one year (totally unmusical, I am) in 7th grade, and wanted to play the trumpet (because we had one)but so did everybody else and I ended up with the french horn. The one the school had looked like the one Winchester played in M*A*S*H that got run over by a truck (after the truck), but I don't think that mattered a lot because I am tone deaf anyway. I can tell you, it was not an easy instrument; whether anything else would have been easier, I don't know, but at least we didn't have to put a lot of money into it to find out that band in general and the french horn in particular were not for me.

The first parts of learning will be about finger positions and blowing and coordinating the two together and it won't matter if it's dented.

Good luck!