Your kid picked an instrument
The band letter came home and the rental place has a line. What it really costs, whether to rent or buy, and how to keep a cheap instrument from making a good kid quit.
- Rent or Buy Your Kid's First Instrument? Rent for year one: repairs and size swaps included, and most rentals build credit toward buying.
- What Instrument Should My Kid Play in Band? Let the kid name two or three and hand that list to the band director. Interest predicts sticking with it.
- A Violin for a Beginner (Skip the Violin-Shaped Objects) The $30 to $100 online violin is a prop that makes beginners blame themselves. Rent first.
What it costs, instrument by instrument
How Much Does a Trumpet Cost? About $150 to $500 to own a beginner horn, about $25 to $50 a month to rent. The year-one math. 
How Much Does a Violin Cost? Rentals run about $20 to $30 a month with free size swaps. The teacher-warned tier named plainly. 
How Much Does a Clarinet Cost? New student horns run $500 to $700, and a good beginner clarinet lasts through most of high school. 
How Much Does a Flute Cost? New student flutes run $400 to $800. Used is the trap here: worn pads are invisible. 
How Much Does a Saxophone Cost? About $900 new, $500 to $800 shop-verified used. The $250 online sax usually needs more than its price in repairs. 
How Much Does a Cello Cost? Kids rent: about $35 a month, sized and swapped free. Many schools keep loaners since cellos can't ride the bus. 
Why Are Saxophones So Expensive? Hundreds of hand-fitted parts that must seal air-tight. Why the smart play is rent, then used. Picking the instrument itself
A Saxophone for a Beginner (Alto, and the Cheap-Horn Trap) An alto, and the smart first horn is a used Yamaha. The cheap horn makes kids blame themselves. 
A Clarinet for a Beginner (the Invincible Plastic Yamaha) The invincible plastic Yamaha, and the $30 mouthpiece swap that matters more than the horn. 
A Flute for a Beginner (the Door Where the Trap Runs Backwards) The one door where the trap runs backwards: overspending. A $1,500 flute is not a beginner flute. 
Trombone for Beginners The cheapest way into brass, and the one instrument where buying used early makes sense. 
A Cello for a Beginner (Rent It; It's Never Too Late) A rental, sized to the player. And welcome, it's never too late. 
Violin vs Viola: How to Tell Them Apart (and Which to Pick) The thin top string is the tell, and the choice is not permanent. Violists always have a seat. 
What's the Difference Between a Violin and a Fiddle? Same instrument. The name follows the music, and any rental violin plays fiddle tunes tonight. 
Trumpet vs Trombone: Which One for Your Kid? Trombone gives up first sounds sooner; trumpet is easier to hold and advance on. Size and braces break ties. 
Flute vs Clarinet: Which One for Beginning Band? The clarinet's wall is month three (the break); the flute's is week one. Let the kid's ear pick. 
Clarinet vs Saxophone: Which One First? Cousins with a reed each. The sax is easier to start but several times the money at every step. The first songs
Easy Trumpet Songs for Beginners (Honest About the Face) The first songs live on about five notes. The real gate is the lip muscles, and that's normal. 
Easy Violin Songs for Beginners (Real Songs, First Position Only) Real songs in first position, plus any Disney melody from an easy fake book. 
Easy Clarinet Songs for Beginners (Recognizable Beats Impressive) Recognizable beats impressive, and the month-two wall is tonguing, not the song list. 
Flute Songs for Beginners (What 'Easy' Actually Assumes) Most 'easy' sheet music online is graded against players, not beginners. The true first songs. 
Easy Saxophone Songs for Beginners (Careless Whisper Can Wait) Start with Tequila and the method-book tunes. Careless Whisper is scheduled, not denied. 
Trombone Songs for Beginners (Imperial March and Friends) The beginner songbook is the movie theater, and most of it sits in first position. 
Easy Cello Songs for Beginners (Easy Is Not Beneath You) Easy already sounds rich on a cello. Ten minutes a day. Charts and first notes
Trumpet Music for Beginners (Real Sheet Music for Five Notes) Real sheet music for five notes, and the truth the valve chart hides: trumpet fingering is half air. 
Flute Fingering Chart for Beginners (B, A, G First) You only need the first corner of the chart, and no sound for a week or two is normal. 
Clarinet Notes for Beginners (the First Three, and the Break) Filled and open circles, the first three notes, and the register break that's normal and temporary.