Stringed Instruments, To Rent or Not to Rent?

To buy or rent?

In our opinion it’s nearly always a good idea to rent an instrument for a beginning young string player. It’s generally more cost effective.

Here’s why:

1.       Most rental agreements ( including ours) have an initial trial period of at least 3 months for a very nominal cost , varying by type of instrument.  If you and your child decide that orchestra isn’t a good fit, you haven’t sunk a big chunk of money into an instrument that’s of no use and you may have difficulty recouping your money back from.

2.       Nearly always , a good portion of the rent you pay goes toward the purchase of a new instrument when the time comes, and repairs can usually be covered under the rental agreement and will not come out of pocket if something happens , which with kids..well we could tell you a few stories!

3.       A young child will begin with an instrument that is not full sized, so as the the child grows so does the size of the instrument required..if you rent you can trade up with no penalty or additional cost until the child is ready for an adult sized instrument.

There are just a couple of reasons not to rent in the beginning of your childs musical adventure.

1.       You have other children or relatives who will be joining the program and you want an instrument that can be passed along.

2.       Your Uncle, Aunt, Grandma etc. has a good instrument you can use..however it’s always a good idea to get it looked over to make sure it’s in good playable condition.

Hope this article was helpful, if you have any other questions feel free to contact us at