rowuk

My 10 cents is to rent for the first 6 months. Neither you or the student has any idea if this is going to work, no provision has been made for a real trumpet teacher, so renting means no serious commitment.

Just for the record, the first year is the most critical. If the student gets top notch training during that time, they can save a lot of work and frustration later. I have a 9 and 10 year old that have been playing for 6 months now. They have a usable range from g below to g above the staff, nice tone, clean rhythmic double tongue 16ths at quarter=144 and major scales from E major to Eb major. We have started to work a bit on range and I think by the time the first year is up, we will have high C above the staff.

Every kid is special, but these 2 students are not "EXTREMELY" gifted. They practice between 30 and 45 minutes 6 days a week. They are practicing the right things and getting regular lessons though! Getting a good start is the key as success breeds success!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

bandman

31 years of teaching beginners and I suggest a Yamaha YTR2335 and a Bach 5C mouthpiece to start. I far prefer this instrument with a silver finish. It plays VERY well, and in my opinion it is far better than the Bach.

I do like the Getzens and Kanstuls, but the Yamaha is available pretty much everywhere and it holds resaole value better than most beginner models.

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confuoco

bandman,

Many of the student yamaha trumpets I have come across have some valve problems. Have you ever encountered this with the Yamahas?

Lezwoymn

It might be better but it's more expensive. Anyone on a strict budget could get away with using a Bach prelude. Can you get a brand new yamaha for $229, nope. Sure, I'd love a yahama xeno, but, being disabled and can never work again, I'm glad I got the Bach, I love it.

et_mike

Any beginner horn from Bach, Yamaha or Getzen is a good horn. Please make sure he gets a name brand horn and not a tin foil immitation. Even a well used name brand horn will serve him better than a cheaply made piece of S***. I would stick with a name brand mouthpiece too, Bachs are cheap enough that it isn't worth taking the risk. I own a Bach 7C and a no name 7C, and there are some major differences, I don't know that they would cause any harm or make it harder for him to learn, but why take the chance? That beind said, I have to agree with Rowuk. Renting is an affordable no risk way to see if the kid is going to stick with it. And personally I wouldn't bother with any of it if the kid is not going to get some kind of formal training from someone that actually plays the trumpet!

bandman

There is no way that any music company can sell an instrument of any quality for $229. So Bach has sold out and is selling poor qualiy instruments with the name Bach stamped on the bell. Don't fool yourself, some horns are more expensive, but in general you get what you pay for.

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bandman

No longer true!

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Lezwoymn

My bach is of excellent quality and excellent sound and all for $229. For a kid something with that price range is fine. You never know if they're gonna lose it, dent it or whatever. When I first started playing, my dad got some old used trumpet, the laquer was all off, but, I managed. I would have loved a Bach back then.

tatakata

Sounds like you are building a little monster in your basement Rowuk

tatakata

If your bach works for you that is great. But Bach quality has never been great. there have been some great horns and some dogs. now some of them are being made in China