Getting an Instrument

Getting an instrument is much easier and more affordable than you might think. The overwhelming majority of our students rent their instruments for the first several years. This allows time for your child to grow into a full size instrument, and time to see how committed your child will be before you make a significant financial commitment. Learning to play an instrument is difficult enough, but learning on a poor quality instrument is almost impossible.  

There are a handful of reputable music stores in the area, and I encourage you to rent from one of those. Most music stores’ rentals are similarly priced and they rent similar quality instruments. The advantages of Bell’s Music Shop are that they are very close (located in Keller, and opening a new location in 2019 right here in Haslet), they have provided outstanding service to our families in the past, and Educational Representatives from Bell’s Music Shop come to our schools on a regular basis. In the event that your child’s instrument needs any kind of maintenance that will save you a trip to the music store after work. 

Bell’s Music Shop went through a rigorous selection process with our district’s orchestra teachers and was selected as the vendor to be present at all NISD orchestra instrument selection events. While you are welcome to rent or purchase an instrument from any vendor you would like, Northwest ISD invites Bell’s Music Shop to be present at our Instrument Night's for your convenience. Bell’s Music Shop has been the NISD vendor for the past ten years.  With that being said, it is important to me that you know that I recently became related to the owner of Bell’s Music Shop. Steve Bell and I were married in January of 2015. I want to be upfront with my relationship to this vendor because he was the one selected by our district to be present at the instrument sizing events. Please know that you can use any vendor you would like to rent an instrument!   

If renting an instrument is outside your family’s budget, there are other options!  We never want a student that has the desire to be a part of our program to be denied that chance, simply because money is tight.  Please let me know if that is your situation, and we will find an option that works for everyone!

PLEASE - DO NOT BUY INSTRUMENTS on EBAY or on the internet!!  Internet deals can sometimes be great if you know what you're looking for. In most instances, internet instruments are TERRIBLE. They look good and they're a cheap price, but not worth whatever you are paying. These instruments are usually made of a "wood-like" material.  They don't stay in tune, the bridge usually falls off on a regular basis, the cases are cheap and fall apart easily, the chin rest/tailpiece is of poor quality, the bows warp and lose the bow hair, they are difficult to play, aren’t adjusted correctly, the fine tuners don’t turn...the list goes on forever. Just to get these instruments to be semi-playable, you can bet on spending an extra $200 - $400 in repairs (which is almost always more than the instrument cost to begin with). In general, if it looks like a spectacular instrument for an especially low price - it's probably too good to be true. A general rule of thumb is that any instrument that costs less than $350 is a complete disaster. An inferior instrument will make life difficult for your child and cause them a great deal of frustration.

If you have any questions regarding instrument rental, please don’t hesitate to contact us!  We are here to help make the transition to middle school as smooth as possible, and can't wait to get started with your child!