Instruments - Renting VS Purchasing

It's a tough decision. Your child wants to start a new instrument but you're not sure if they are going to stick with it. You are investing in the instructional time for the lessons but do you want to make another big monetary commitment by purchasing the instrument?

A great solution is to rent the instrument first. For instance, keyboards are a great rental solution to beginning piano lessons. Most professional companies will allow for a rent-to-own plan where you can purchase out your rental if your budding musician takes off!

Happy practicing!

The Music Momma

More of Your Questions Being Answered

"Should I be concerned about getting an older teacher for my son to start lessons with? Does that suggest they have more experience?"
Anna, Orlando, FL


Thanks for the question Anna! Age has little to nothing to do with knowledge and appropriate teaching experience. If you want to make sure you are getting a proper educator make sure you are using a music company that only hires professionals with a minimum of a bachelor's degree. Someone could have been "teaching" for many years but without the proper background may not have the pedagogy to help children and adults start out with the correct support to allow them to thrive in the future.

Keep asking questions!

The Music Momma

More of Your Questions being Answered

My daughter takes year round guitar lessons. We will be taking a long summer vacation this year. 3 and 1/2 weeks. Should we just skip lessons for the summer? How should we handle this?" Anna, Springfield, VA

Hi Anna,

Most of our clients at LNM take vacations all year round, as well as the summer. We accommodate their schedules. If you communicate your schedule early enough you should not have a problem rescheduling the instructional time so your daughter can have her vacation while not losing any of her learning, as well.

Happy Practicing!

The Music Momma

More of Your Questions being answered...

I am hoping to purchase a piano soon for my 5 yr old to start lessons on. I have been looking at grand pianos and uprights. What would you suggest would be best for my investment and for her to start on?" Julie, Hamilton, VA


Thanks for the question Julie! This is a good one. Grand pianos are beautiful pieces of furniture and if this is what you have your heart set on then go for it. However, if you are thinking of it as anything but a very expensive, all be it beautiful, piece of furniture then I would suggest looking elsewhere to fill your need. Up right pianos are nice too but antiquated at this point. They are expensive, heavy, take up a lot of space and are costly to keep in good shape.

For beginners, their fingers sometimes have a hard time pushing down the keys of a "traditional" piano. We always suggest a digital piano to our families’ adding a piano to their house. They are excellent products with superior sound quality. They are small, light weight, very attractive and can have weighted keys like a traditional piano keyboard without the expensive maintenance schedule.

Hope this helps!

Happy Practicing!

The Music Momma

Your Questions Being Answered - Trumpet!

More of your questions being answered:

"When is a good time to start the trumpet? My child is currently 4."

Great question! It's always great to jump on your child's interests when they are highest! However, you also want to make sure they will have a positive experience to build upon as they grow both in age and musically.

Brass instruments typically need to be started when the student is physically able to handle holding the instrument properly (big enough hands, arms, fingers, etc.) and also able to produce the proper amount of air to have a chance at creating an appropriate tone to be successful.

There is no exact age for this but a general age would be approx. 9-10 years old. There are always exceptions to this and I would suggest renting an instrument first and having a trained professional educator to help in the beginning so he gets off to a good start!

Keep sending in your questions!

Musically Yours!

The Music Momma

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The Music Momma

It's never too late Mom's!!!

Winter Break - Are they kidding? Any time the kids are here 24/7 it's definitely NOT a break for Mom. Am I right? :)

OK - so maybe you're thinking about New Year's resolutions - clean the garage out, reorganize the kids' rooms, clean out your husband's side of the closet so he can more easily find his things...Ah excuse me - did you forget about yourself? Too many of us do and it's not good for anyone. Not your kids, your husband, your relationship, yourself, etc.

Everyone knows to keep physically active (although we take a day off every now and then ;) but what about your mind? One of the biggest growing epidemics is that of early on set of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Learning new skills is a great way to start the fight against this. Music specifically is a terrific avenue to keep mind, body and spirit moving and growing.

It's never too late to start Mom's!

Happy Practicing!

The Music Momma