Upgrade Your Instrument

Advantages to Upgrading your Student Level Instrument

Why do you need to upgrade your musical instrument?  Beginning music students typically start out playing on a student grade instrument.  As the student advances this instrument may begin to hinder their musical progress.  The advancing student will eventually require a higher-quality instrument, what we call a Performance Grade Instrument.  Performance Grade Instruments are made from better quality materials using more hand-craftsmanship. This results in a Performance Instrument with improved sound and tonal quality, better feel and response, and overall enhanced playability.  These structural improvements lead to increased confidence, motivation, and enthusiasm as well as a better sound!

Performance Grade Instruments fall into two main categories – Intermediate and Professional.  The information below will help you decide what is the correct choice for you or your child.

STUDENT LEVEL INSTRUMENTS
Ideal for the beginning player

• Built for durability, allowing young and new players the ability to grow accustomed to handling a delicate instrument.
• Less prone to damage and more economical to repair.
• Primarily machine made using less expensive materials to help keep costs down for new players who have not fully committed to their instrument.
• Fewer features, such as extra key work, which are not needed for beginning-level players (also helping to keep purchase and repair costs down).

INTERMEDIATE INSTRUMENTS
Ideal for progressing player not yet ready for a professional level instrument

• Provide a balance between tonal quality and economy.  Gives the player a much higher capacity for creating a pleasing tone, while being more economical than a professional level instrument.
• Manufactured using finer materials and more hand craftsmanship. Intermediate level instruments are capable of a higher quality timbre and more dynamic and tonal flexibility than student level instruments.
• Have some additional features that are standard on professional level instruments, such as extra key work, which can facilitate playing in more difficult registers or allow for more advanced techniques.

PROFESSIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Ideal for advanced players who will play at a competitive, collegiate, or professional level

• May be made from a variety of fine materials or in different styles, allowing players to choose the best material or style for their own playing style, preference, and performance venue.
• Are mostly or entirely hand-crafted, creating more exact tolerances that will enhance tone production. Hand craftsmanship brings out the best tonal qualities using the finest materials.
• Extremely high production standards requiring consistency as even the smallest differences in production can make a large difference to the feel and sound of the instrument.

Menchey Music offers a large selection of Performance Grade Instruments for both Band and Orchestra from Yamaha, Cannonball, Eastman, Bach and more, with convenient rental and payment plan options.  Please choose your desired instrument category for more information.  Remember – it’s never too early to upgrade your musical instrument and have all the advantages they provide.