That's fine, you can hire one from the school for the year. Nobody will play it but you, and you will take it home to practise and look after it as if it were your own. 

Probably - but if nobody has played it for a while please bring it to school so your instrumental teacher can check everything is working properly before starting lessons. It's very disheartening to struggle with playing because the instrument needs repair!

See what the students say in the video below! 

Don't worry, there are many year 7s who have not had the chance to learn that skill yet! You will be taught how to read each note as you learn how to play it. You just need to make sure that each week you revise what you learn in your lesson at home so you remember it for the next lesson - then you will go on and learn a bit more. It's really no more difficult than learning to read a graph or a map.

Your previous playing experience will give you extra opportunities. Once we get to know you and find out how far you have progressed, you will be allocated to an instrumental lesson group with other players at a similar level. If you are placed in a band class or a string class, you will join in these classes with other Year 7s of all ability levels, and will have the opportunity to get used to playing as part of a large ensemble  before undertaking other challenges within the ensemble. For example, clarinet players may take up the opportunity to play bass clarinet, or you may prefer to add to your musical skills by taking up a second instrument. More challenging parts may be allocated to advanced students. There are many school ensembles of different levels you can join to extend your abilities in your first instrument.

Absolutely you can! Students who have instrumental leassons outside the school are still encouraged to make the most of the opportunities at McKinnon by joining school ensembles and being part of the Band, Strings or Voice program.

Please note that we do not recommend having lessons at school and outside of school at the same time. This can become confusing as each teacher will have slightly different advice and input. 

You need to keep your instrument at home so you can practise it between lessons. In most cases, you will need to bring it to school each week for your lesson, and again for your band class (once you are instructed to start doing so). When you bring your instrument to school, if it's too big to fit in your locker you can leave it on a shelf in the music storeroom (McKinnon Road: beside the Auditorium; East Campus: VG.9 for string instruments and the store rooms opposite Studio V1 for winds) until it's time for your lesson, and collect it again at the end of the day to take home.

You can make your choice from any of the instruments listed. We definitely want you to choose an instrument you like and that you will be good at. That might not be the first instrument that you think of, or it might be an instrument you haven't heard of or thought about before. That's why we ask you to list several instrument preferences - it may be that you find your first choice doesn't work so well for you. Another thing to consider is that if you are one of a very large group of people who all choose the same thing, your musical experience will not be as good as if the choices are spread more evenly across the different instruments.

That varies from person to person, depending on things like physical characteristics and aural perception. We will aim to help you work out which instrument(s) are likely to be easiest for YOU!

Only if you want to! We hope you will love it so much you will play it for the rest of your life - unlike sport, you never get too old to play music. Not everyone wants to continue for that long, of course, but should be prepared to play it for at least a year or two - research shows that learning and playing for two to three years has a lasting effect on improving your brain power. Apart from that, it gives you time to achieve a good standard, have plenty of good musical experiences, and do something you can be proud of. Once you've done that, if you have other priorities, sure - go ahead and follow them instead. Occasionally a student will find it advisable to switch instruments after a while, but remember that you will need to catch up with others in the band. 

Many people find they reach a point, often some time during the first year, where it feels like they aren't making progress and they might want to give up. But there's plenty of better strategies than quitting to overcome that problem, and most of them are not that difficult. Please talk to your parents and your teacher to work out the best solution - your teacher is an expert in the field and can help. Many, many people say for the rest of their lives 'I wish I'd stuck at my music', but I've never heard anyone say 'I wish I'd quit'. 

If you want to progress and enjoy your playing - yes, you will need to practise at home (for 10 minutes a day, most days, to start - you will build up a bit more later). You need to be organised to take your instrument home so it's there, ready to go. The exceptions to this are the largest instruments - tuba and double bass - where students are usually able to keep one at home and one at school. 

If you are worried about the sound of your practice disturbing family or neighbours, you can try working out a time to practise each day when most people aren't going to be home, or when it's reasonable to expect a bit of noise (like just after school, maybe). Or if people know you are going to practise between 6pm and 6.15pm, for example, they may be prepared to wear their headphones for that time. 

For most of the brass instruments it's possible to use a practice mute, so you can barely be heard. This is a great solution for those who live in apartments - ask your instrumental teacher for a demo!

Yes, you will be performing, but it will be as part of a large ensemble so it's nothing to be afraid of. Also, by the time you get to perform you will have had enough time to learn what you need to do and to practise it thoroughly. A little bit of nervousness can be a good thing when performing - it helps us to put the maximum effort into playing our best, which makes the end performance very satisfying. The feeling of performing with a lot of friends around you is just amazing!