Entering the 5th grade has proven to open all kinds of new doors...one being the expensive venture of being in band. Monday night was the band parents meeting or the "this is how much we are going to stiff you for expensive instruments and equipment" meeting. I had such empathy for my parents and totally understood why I played my brother's trumpet. Quinn had her heart set on playing the alto saxophone. Sounds pretty innocent until you see that it is the most expensive instrument to purchase and rent...nice, real nice. Thom and I did our best to try to talk her into the less expensive options like the flute, trumpet and hey, the bells only cost $150 to purchase outright! No luck. She was adamant that she wanted to play the sax. Renting the sax was going to be $65 down and $65 a month!!
The next day we exhausted all of the bargain options...pawn shops, craigs list etc. and finally found a used one in my work's newsletter. After some research and talking to some professional sax players, we decided to purchase it. It was of very nice quality and had been under warranty as well as recently cleaned with pads, etc. all replaced. The cost of the sax, the reeds, music stand, cleaning kit and book were less than we would pay to rent the thing all school year. But with the shoes and this blasted sax, Quinn has tapped the well dry. Took her a while to make a sound on it, but now she is getting the hang of it.
2 comments:
Ouch. Guess I never realized what my mom and dad paid for me to play the violin. Guess I better get ready. Gage hits 5th next year.
We went the same route with Kaitlin, but got off with the cheaper flute. We did manage to find one at a pawn shop though. You've got lots of music programs coming up. Enjoy!
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