Yamaha Education News

Music Industry Launches Musical Instrument Buyers' Guide To Help Parents

The Music Industries Association (MIA) has produced a guide to help students and parents choose quality musical instruments. In recent years there has been a glut of inferior instruments being sold in the UK, which are poorly made and which can often break within a short time. Yamaha and other members of the MIA were concerned to help families choose quality instruments that will last and get learners off to a great start.

So they consulted with the Federation of Music Services and the National Education of Music Educators to produce the new free guide, which has been kept “brand free” '...in order to leave all the information as impartial as possible and to allow you to make informed choices about what you wish to purchase.'

In its pages you'll find some useful considerations: the age of the student, whether they are a beginner or maybe have some experience. The guide explains the importance of trying an instrument before you buy it, rather than merely choosing it from a catalogue or online. It then moves on to suggest some general questions to ask and things to look for when choosing an instrument. Finally there is a page on each of the main instrument types that young people may wish to learn, ranging from guitars and drums to orchestral instruments.

You can download a pdf version of the free guide here. Many local music shops will have individual printed copies on offer. Schools, youth groups and education bodies who may need multiple printed copies (ie, 10 or more) can have them posted on payment of the reasonable postage costs, from the MIA.

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(Posted 28/3/09)