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School Band and Orchestra Instruments can be a major investment in your child's future ...
Common Sense can go a long way to preserving that investment.

School Band and/or Orchestra participation during their school years can often build cooperation, leadership skills, responsibility, study skills and disciplines that will stay with them throughout their lives.
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The following is a list of situations parents and students need to be aware of.

• Always set the case somewhere flat before taking an instrument out. NEVER open the case on a person's lap!
• Woodwind instruments often have screws that appear loose that should not be tightened. 
• These Screws are like this on purpose and should never be tightened except by a qualified repairman. When in doubt, ask your dealer.
• On the top joint of clarinets, there are two keys that cross each other with an adjustment screw in it. When one key is pressed, the other rises by this screw. When this screw is tightened, air leaks from the top key and the clarinet will not play.
• A clarinet whose screws were tightened by a band instructor who wasn't qualified to do repairs, was made unusable and the child quit the band program. The screws were so tight, the keys couldn't move. We discovered the problem when the Parent returned the instrument after the child gave up.
• If your child says they need something done to their instrument, repair or adjustment, don't put it off or treat it as trivial as the instrument may have become as unusable as a car with a flat tire and no spare!
• Please contact the Music Dealer you obtained the instrument from and request repair. 
• Always get a price quote on how much it will cost before having work done, if you don't have a maintenance contract. If you do have a maintenance contract, make sure this repair is covered under it or get a quote on how much it or the deductible will cost you before any work is done.
• Most Band rentals have maintenance programs as part of their contracts and are well worth the price.
• If your child needs supplies to use their instrument, don't put them off.
• Cork grease is used to grease the corks that attach mouthpieces, and various joints on woodwind instruments. Without it, the cork will tear and the instrument will need repair.
• Valve Oil is used to lubricate the valves on Trumpets and other instruments that use valves. Without it, extensive damage will occur to the valves. Picture a car without oil for the engine and you'll know what will happen.
• Slide Oil is needed for the main slide on a Trombone. Major damage will occur if the instrument is used without Slide Oil. Valve Oil can be used as a substitute in an emergency.
• Reeds are needed for producing sound on all woodwind instruments except for those in the flute family. No reeds or broken reeds mean no sound.
• Key Oil is needed every once in a while for woodwinds to oil the key joints. Valve Oil can be used as a substitute.
• French Horns must use Rotary Valve Oil. Other instruments who use rotary valves like some tubas and some Trombones with F attachments & most Bass Trombones need this special oil for their rotary components alone.
• Tuning slides on all Brass instruments require a special Tuning Slide Grease. Petroleum Jelly can be substituted.
• Please tell your child when they get an instrument that if something is ever wrong with their instrument they should ... 
• If at school, they should show it to their instructor and ask them to write a quick note (a line or two) on what they think is wrong or what it won't do. 
• If the instructor can't, have the child know they should write the note, show it to the instructor to be sure it's right.
• If there's no note, have the child to write one and bring it with the instrument to the dealer who is supplying it to you.
• If School is out, take the instrument AND the child to the dealer so they can show them what's wrong. 
• If their repairman is off premise, write the note.
• Flavored reeds may encourage kids to develop bad habits so we discourage their use.
• When placing a mouthpiece into a brass instrument, always turn it clockwise while putting it in, at least a quarter of a turn.
• Remember, always turn it clockwise while putting it in.
• Turn it counter clockwise while pulling it out.
• Never put it in without twisting it, or pat or hit it to secure it.
• This twisting action is normally enough to secure it.
• Some work in reverse, so you turn it counterclockwise to insert, and clockwise to remove.
• NEVER, NEVER TRY TO REMOVE A STUCK MOUTHPIECE from a Brass instrument or you WILL damage the instrument beyond reasonable repair!
• Always let your Dealer fix it. They should have special tools for just this emergency!
• No tool in even the best equipt home shop will safely remove a stuck mouthpiece. However, a "Mouthpiece Puller" is cost prohibited for a home shop.
• If your Band Instructor does not have a Mouthpiece Puller, get with some of the other Band parents and BUY him/her one!
• Without daily (or every other day) practice, your child may lose what skills they've developed. Be sure to keep the instrument during the Summer so they can practice on it.
• If you treat their music studies as unimportant, it will become unimportant to your child.
• Best to keep renting your instrument during the Summer instead of turning it in, they need to keep practicing during the time school is out. 
• With most Rent-To-Own Programs, if you turn in a rental instrument at the end of the School year with the intent to rent it again in the fall, you lose the rent you've paid towards the purchase up to this point.

Please Be Careful!
This picture is of a Snare Drum that was accidentally left on a driveway and impacted a car's axle. Through the Maintenance and Replacement Program offered by The Musician's Band/Orchestra Rental Program, this Snare was replaced after the deductible was paid. Each instance is different and may or may not be covered. Contact us for more information.

• Quick contrasts in climate and temperature can cause extreme damage to many instruments. When transporting your instrument, carry it in its case. 
• If neither is available, use a blanket to wrap it in. When you arrive, never leave the case/container etc. in the car but carry it in with the instrument still inside, protected.
• Leave it in the container for five to ten minutes to allow it to adjust to the temperature in the room, or longer if the outside temperature is excessively different from the room's temperature. 
• Leaving an instrument in a Car's Trunk may cause excessive damage in a very short time if the weather is very warm or overly cold.
• Common sense is your best ally when handling, storing and using your Instrument!

Please note: This article is a work in progress and far from complete.

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If your instrument is made of wood, please also see 
"What NOT to do with Guitars & other wood instrument!"