Recommend a band instrument!

[WatchingThemGrow]

My middle DS started on trumpet, but he had braces with a herbst appliance and complained about his lips hurting. Pretty sure that's normal, and he would get used to it, but he ended up switching out of band to orchestra because another class was a bad fit and he didn't get his other electives. Renting the trumpet made it easy to switch because we literally just turned it in at the end of 3 weeks and we were done. He got a loaner cello and that saved us the monthly rental fees.

[KrisM]

I didn't give my opinion to any of them. I figured they should play what they want, so they want to practice.

My oldest picked trombone, which surprised me because he's not super musical, but he's got the memory for the positions, I guess. He's only in marching band these days and he does say it's heavy to march with. His arms got tired quickly the first year of marching.

DD plays flute in band and cello in orchestra. She likes both of them a lot. She plays my old flute, so no cost is nice!

DS2 is in 1st year band and is playing saxophone. It's a bit bulky to take on the bus, but he manages. He likes it a lot and likes to practice it. His band has zero flute players. So strange to me!

[SnuggleBuggles]

One thing I also liked about flute was I played with both band in concerts and orchestra. Orchestra is where you were placed if you were a better player. We learned both sets of music for concerts. I liked the versatility- an instrument that could be in band, marching band and orchestra.


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[klwa]

I agree with PP who mentioned travel concerns. DD1 wanted to do trombone this year. But, she's one of the smallest kids in her year. And I pointed out that her wingspan isn't huge & was she prepared to carry it to & from school on the bus, since that's her main mode of transportation. She agreed to switch to trumpet.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of brass instruments, but if that's what she wanted, that's what she could do. DH had his old school trumpet serviced to make sure it was in good shape, and she's been at it for a 6 months now.

[trales]

Where we live it is very cold, and she chose trumpet for a year, and had to practice inside, and frankly it was painful. If you live somewhere warm, let them do anything. If you live somewhere cold, I would gently push away from the trumpet. That being said she also played piano and cello, and still plays those, the trumpet was a one year experiment and she decided against band and for orchestra. Around here Band is a lifestyle and Orchestra is another activity. We did not need another lifestyle, we have a few all encompassing ones.

[elbenn]

Not to hijack the thread, but Trales, if your daughter did both band and orchestra, did she already have prior cello experience?

OP, here's what I know or have learned about band instruments.

Clarinet seems to be one of the easier instruments for woodwinds. Baritone seems to be one of the easier instruments for brass. French horns are considered one of the hardest instruments (due to partials) but they do make an absolutely gorgeous sound. Flutes and trumpets are really competitive around here as there are a lot of them--they also get to play the melody a lot, which is nice. Bassoons, oboes, and French horns seem to always be in demand as less people play them.

[trales]

Not to hijack the thread, but Trales, if your daughter did both band and orchestra, did she already have prior cello experience?

She had been playing cello in 3rd, 4th, 5th grade, piano since K. Picked up trumpet for 6th grade, dropped after a year and is just doing cello and piano now. There are students who do both band and orchestra in our district, but they are few and do private lessons in addition to school lessons.

[ellies mom]

Where we live it is very cold, and she chose trumpet for a year, and had to practice inside, and frankly it was painful. If you live somewhere warm, let them do anything. If you live somewhere cold, I would gently push away from the trumpet.

There is a lot of truth to this. Violin is painful at first but not too loud. Drums are loud (very) but not too painful. Trumpet is loud and painful at first. As much as I love the trumpet, I wasn’t too heartbroken that it was a one year experiment. The nice thing about the electric guitar and bass is that there is volume control.


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[belovedgandp]

My two oldest naturally gravitated to the instrument they wanted. Band starts in 5th grade with a somewhat limited set of options. The high schools hold "try it" nights where the kids can hold and try all the instruments. DC1 went in saying trombone in August of 5th grade. Now he's middle of high school and still playing trombone. DC2 tried everything and opted for baritone. I tried to steer him away, but he was set.

For us the baritone along with french horn and tuba are "so" expensive the district provides them for a small rental fee. Which is a great plus when you have a 10 year old picking something they may or may not be playing in 8 months. So props to DC2 for saving me money. But he's now in 7th grade and tiny and the instrument is huge. So negative side is it is a pain to transport. No walking home with that thing.

The instrument rental places are practically pay day loan sharks if you ask me. But once again I have a 10 year old taking up the trombone so I'll pay the ridiculous monthly rental fee for the insurance of being able to return and walk away when he changes his mind. Of course he proves me wrong and I end up renting to own; so paid 3x the value of the thing. To own first trombone just in time to need to upgrade him for high school band and discover we now own two trombones - one for marching and one for concert.

[sariana]

Try Nextdoor or similar. Lots of people have instruments around and might be willing to part with them.