Pay the Piper
So you want to play
a musical instrument?
You think you'd like to learn a musical instrument but don't
know which one to try? You want to know how much they cost? You don't
know where to find lessons?
And once you've learned to play it, will you be able to
find a band or orchestra or other group to play it in? What
maintenance will it need? What happens if it breaks?
We provide the answers to all these questions and more.
Simply click on the links at the top to read about
individual instruments, and those on the left to get helpful advice on every aspect of
playing an instrument. Please note, though, that we only give
advice - we don't sell anything. If you want to buy an instrument
there are plenty of websites on our Links page that can sell you one.
Do take a look at our Links page. It's large, constantly
updated, and contains many excellent sites which you will find
interesting and useful. We're very proud of it!
A new page - we've borrowed some excellent advice from the Choirmaster Press about the vexed question of COPYRIGHT - what it means and what you as a musician have to know about it. Click the "What's copyright?" link on the left.
And when you've finished reading what we have to say, try putting the name of your chosen instrument into the Google search-box
at the foot of each page, select "Web" and click "Search" - you'll be amazed how much information is out there!
In a number of places on this site we recommend
Hugo Pinksterboer's excellent "Rough Guide" series of books
about instruments, and provide a link to each one in case you wish to
buy. American visitors should note that there is a special U.S.A.
version of these books, called "Tipbooks". Rather than
clicking our link, you should instead go to
www.Amazon.com
and use their search box to find "Tipbook Clarinet" or
whichever instrument you are interested in.
WARNING! We wrote this website quite some time ago. This means that over the years some links may have failed. It also means that
information about costs and prices is out-of-date - as a rule of thumb, the prices we give were correct in about 2008. Nevertheless, the bulk of the information
and advice is still very sound, so we have left the website up in the hope that people will continue to find it useful.
Top Site 2004
