Should I buy or rent a first instrument?

The buy-or-rent question has different answers for different instruments, and the deciding factors are not really financial. They are whether the instrument needs professional maintenance you cannot do, whether the size will change, and whether the beginner market is well supplied second-hand.

Step by step

1. Rent where the instrument needs regular professional servicing.Woodwind and brass need pads, corks and valves maintained by a technician. Rental schemes usually include that, which removes both the cost and the need to know when something is wrong — which a beginner does not.
2. Rent where the size will change.Violins, cellos and some wind instruments come in fractional sizes for children and are outgrown every year or two. Buying each size is expensive; rental schemes exchange them.
3. Buy where the instrument is inexpensive and stable.Ukuleles, guitars and digital pianos hold up well, need little maintenance, and are cheap enough new that renting rarely makes sense. They also resell reasonably if you stop.
4. Check whether the rental converts to a purchase.Many schemes credit some or all of the rental payments against buying the instrument. That changes the arithmetic substantially, and it is worth asking explicitly rather than assuming.
5. Consider buying second-hand seriously.Instruments do not wear out the way most goods do, and the second-hand market is full of instruments bought with enthusiasm and played for two months. It is the best value available, and the risk is entirely about condition.
6. Take someone who plays when buying second-hand.They will spot a warped neck, a crack, a bad setup, worn frets or a stiff mechanism in seconds. It is the single most useful thing you can arrange, and most players are pleased to be asked.
7. Check the specific things that matter for that instrument.For a guitar, look down the neck for a bow, check the string height at the twelfth fret, check the frets for grooves and the body for cracks. For a piano or keyboard, test every key and the pedal. For woodwind, check the pads seal and the keys move without sticking. For brass, check the valves or slide move freely and look for dents at the bends.
8. Budget for a setup on a second-hand fretted instrument.A professional setup adjusts the action, the neck relief and the intonation, and it turns a difficult instrument into an easy one for a modest fee. On a cheap or neglected guitar it makes more difference than anything else you could spend the money on.
9. Include the accessories in the budget.A case, a stand, a tuner, a stool, a strap, spare strings or reeds, a music stand. They add up to a real proportion of a beginner budget and they are not optional.

Tips

• A very cheap instrument that is hard to play makes people conclude they cannot learn. If the budget is tight, a second-hand mid-range instrument beats a new bottom-range one every time.
• Some local authorities, schools and music hubs run instrument loan schemes, and some charities lend instruments. It is worth asking before paying for anything.
• If you buy privately, meet somewhere you can actually play the instrument, and take the money in a form you can withhold if it is not as described.

Common mistakes

• Buying a bargain instrument sight unseen online — Condition is everything and photographs hide a warped neck, a crack, leaking pads or a seized valve. The saving is usually smaller than the repair.
• Renting a guitar or ukulele long term — They are cheap enough to buy outright and need almost no servicing, so rental payments quickly exceed the purchase price with nothing to show.
• Skipping the setup on a cheap fretted instrument — High action makes chords painful and buzzing frets make everything sound wrong, and beginners blame themselves. A setup is the cheapest large improvement available.
• Buying a full-size instrument for a child — It is uncomfortable, it encourages bad technique, and it makes practice unpleasant. Fractional sizes exist for a reason, which is exactly why renting suits growing players.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask