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Looking for one used trumpet
Back in September our eldest daughter surprised us when she announced that she was interested in learning how to play the trumpet. I have no idea where this came from, and I found it especially interesting considering the fact that she comes from a family that is not exactly musically inclined. Allow me to illustrate. A few Christmases ago, Santa brought our youngest a table harp like the one illustrated here. It came with a tuning key, and of course it needed to be tuned up after being jostled about in Santa’s sleigh. My husband and I could not tune it. The two of us sat in front of his computer (which has a handy music program on it for musical idiots like ourselves) but we could NOT match the sound that was coming out of the computer to the one that was supposed to be coming out of the harp.
Thankfully we have a neighbor who has a better ear and she tuned it for us, otherwise it may have resulted in marriage counselling.
So yes, the eldest wanted to play the trumpet. The school lay the options out for us: either we pay for instrument rental (bronze, silver or gold-level!) or she uses the school instrument. We elected for the latter, since it was the cheapest and we aren’t able to see into the future and determine whether she’s going to be the next Louis Armstrong. Mistakenly, I had assumed that she’d be able to bring the instrument home to practice, so now we’re glued to the woodwinds/brass category of UsedOttawa, looking for a good (and cheap!) instrument. Time is ticking.
Surely there has to be someone who chose the trumpet in seventh grade music class and gave it up?
But here’s my question. How do I know if what we’re buying is a good trumpet or not? If I was buying a secondhand microwave or a toaster I could test it out myself. But what do we do in this case? Ask for a musical demo?
Andrea Tomkins
Mother of two imps and wife of one. Writer, photographer, pro blogger, adventure-seeker, Ottawaholic, social media evangelist and lover of STUFF. Also known as @missfish on Twitter.
Kaitlin
Have you thought about inquiring with music departments at UOttawa and Carleton? They sell their instruments at the end of each term/year, but they may also have a few lying around, or know where to find one (and how to evaluate its quality…)
Heather Thom
My cousin would sell you her trumpet for $80. Bought for $200.
Would you like me to connect you to hear more details?
She loved playing the trumpet in HS!
It’s great your daughter wants to try it!
Amanda
I would ask the perspective buyer to meet you at a music store for the purchase. Not only is it a safe and public area for you to make the transaction, but it’s also a place full of people who are musically inclined. Good Luck! 😀
Writing: >> a peek inside the fishbowl
[…] looking for a secondhand trumpet and feeling like a bad mom over at the UsedEverywhere blog today. […]
Winn
Have you considered posting on http://finder.trashnothing.com/
It’s amazing what people can find here and for FREE too!
joanne
hi Andrea why not bring her along to our marching band at coseley, where we supply instruments and give lessons.
We are a youth marching band whom are currently looking to recruit new members. The band consists of members from the age of 7 years upwards.
The practices take place on a Thursday evening at 7.00 pm,.also on ocassions the odd weekends, at The Coseley School. We provide a variety of instruments eg: -trumpets, barratones drum.. and percussion. We cater for beginners to experienced players, offering lessons to all each week.We also have members of colour guard, where you can practise your dancing skills while using our flags! Uniforms are also provided free of charge, The band also participate in the local community events and enter BYBA compertitons.
ALL of this for a very very small fee, sooooo come onnnn join in the fun!!
:
I have posted information on here, under the name of The Coseley Comets where there are some picture of the band, Hope this is of help to you x
Tiffany
We have a used trumpet at my work Barclay’s Exchange 🙂 Its a holton for 197.99.message me if ur interested
Rob Driskell
Hi Andrea,
I have an old school trumpet that you can have for your daughter. You can have it for free! It’s just collecting dust and I would rather someone gets some use out of it. E-mail me if you are interested.
Rob
Rick Rangno
Give me a call. I play and teach trumpet professionally and would be happy to help you pick out a good instrument. generally speaking if you give me the make and model I can give you a yea or nay right off the bat (there are some truly horrendous instruments out there!!) Once you zero in on a few I can play them and steer you to the best deal. No charge or anything (OK…maybe a coffee) – I just hate having someone buy junk!
Rick Rangno
I guess you need my number…(613) 749-6602 🙂
Luke
Not sure if your question has been answered yet, but get your daughter to learn the trumpet first, once she has the hang of it she can decide if the trumpet sounds good. Or just ask other parents to see if they have a kid who stopped playing trumpet and would sell it to you. Music stores are bound to have one, long and mcquade would be your best bet, just ask them for a trumpet in the price range your looking at and they will give you the best one for sure. I find it absolutely ridiculous that they don’t let her take the trumpet home, how else is she supposed to learn? I’m in my senior year of high school and although i don’t play in band because i play guitar and am at a much higher level than the school band i’m positive i see kids bringing their instruments on the bus, and i know when i was in middle school people did. Good luck finding that trumpet.
binki
Trumpet!? Excellent choice. Don’t worry too much about the quality of the instrument. Just have her blow a G and a few notes using each of the valves. If you get a note and if the valves don’t stick, it’s good to go. Her music teacher can check it out but it should be fine. Looks like Rob just gave you his. Sweet! Another happy ending.
andrea
We found a trumpet! Thank you to Rob (above!) who kindly donated his trumpet to a worthy tween. Thank you Rob!
Here’s a video of me trying it out for the first time. I had to give it a go. Suffice it to say, the dog wasn’t too pleased:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fishbowl_fish/6264048052/