Whether you’re a hobbyist or an aspiring musician on a budget, your first piano is no small investment. Even a small, beginner-level one can set you back several hundred dollars, at least if you’re after a certain level of quality. But rather than sacrifice performance and go for a cheap piano, you could rent one instead—it’s just as affordable, more low-maintenance, and offers a wider range of options.

You can usually rent a piano from music shops or rental agencies (which are usually associated with the former). One thing you’ll notice with rental shops is their large selection of pianos, often larger than the typical store’s brand-new range. You’ll find consoles, grand pianos, baby grands, and even digital pianos and keyboards. Of course, you can test them beforehand and see which one works best for you.

Another advantage to renting a piano besides the large selection is that it doesn’t require any serious commitment. If you’re a beginner and just want to see if you like it, there’s no point spending thousands of dollars on what may end up being an unwieldy piece of furniture. You can keep it as long or as little as you want, or even keep renting while you save up for your own. Or if you decide you’d rather play baseball, you can turn it back in with no strings attached.

Most piano rentals work on a monthly basis, meaning they charge a flat fee every month. These range from $30 for a beginner-level piano to $150 for a grand, usually with moving fees and periodic tuning added to the cost. If you’ve been playing for a while and expect to buy your own eventually, try looking for a rent-to-own deal—these allow you to rent the piano until you’ve paid enough to cover the cost of the instrument, at which point it becomes yours. The only risk with this arrangement is that you risk losing money if you change your mind midway, and may even have to pay penalties.

Start looking for piano rentals in your area. Even if you find better rates online, dealing with people face to face is a lot safer—at the very least you’ll know where to go for repairs or refunds if necessary. You may need to undergo a credit check and place a deposit. Once that’s done, all you have to do is choose your instrument and start making music!

When people begin learning to play the guitar most of their focus is centred on the guitar itself with sometimes little consideration given to how important it is to have good acoustic guitar amps.  This is a big mistake for guitarists that are looking for a thick, rich sound from their guitar.  It should also be noted that a great amp can give you a great result however an excellent guitar plugged into a bad amp will sound terrible no matter how good you are.

When considering buying your first acoustic guitar amplifier there are a few things that you should think about before you commit to a particular brand or type.  These things include the cost of the amp, what size amp suits your situation, what features does the amp have and it is important to go to the music shop and plug in some amps and play to see how they sound.

The cost or budget that you have for an amp is going to be significantly less than you would spend on the guitar however there are a great range of amps for around the $100 mark which are great for beginners. These amps are generally ok if the guitarist is practising by themselves but are limited when it comes to playing with other guitarists and other musicians as they cannot be heard well over other larger and more powerful amps.

The size of the amp as I have just mentioned does matter as playing with a smaller amp is generally not suitable for jamming with friends especially if there are multiple guitarists and a drummer for example.  Depending on the situation that you will be playing, the size and power of an amp should increase especially if you are going to be spending a lot of time playing in a group.

Some of the features that mid range acoustic guitar amps will have include an equalizer with three bands – high, medium and low, an overdrive button, reverberation control, headphone input and a master volume dial.  As well as considering these features it is also important to know that amps come in two main types tube and transistor with the tube amps being more expensive.  Deciding which one will depend on how much you wish to spend as well as how good the sound of the amp is when you give both acoustic guitar amps a try in the store.

Cordless microphone, which are also referred to as wireless microphones, are widely used by performers from rock bands to musical groups.  The cordless feature has many advantages over its corded predecessor but still contains the same basic technology of the original microphones.  A microphone consists of two main components which includes the transmitter and the receiver.  The microphone has the transmitter part which picks up what is said or played and sends it to the receiver which then broadcasts the voice or music.

With the introduction of the cordless microphone many performers where then able to move freely around the stage without having to worry about getting tangled in cords all over the stage.  Cordless microphones are available in two main types which includes the self contained microphone which is hand held and has a transmitter built into the handle and the lapel wireless microphone.  The main differences between the two microphones is that the hand held microphone has the transmitter built into the handle of the microphone while the lapel cordless microphone has a small lead that runs to a small battery powered transmitter which is usually clipped on the waist.

Bands that perform at live venues often use a variety of cordless and lapel microphones to allow them to easily move around the stage (or the audience) during their performance.  In a majority of cases the hand held cordless microphones are used by the singer and other members of the band who also sing with the lapel microphone adapted and used as a pickup from the guitar wirelessly to the amp.  The various guitar players have a pickup near the strings of the guitar which picks up the sound and transmits it to the amp from a small battery powered transmitter which normally clips on the back of your guitar strap.

If you are looking to buy a cordless microphone it pays to look around and try some of the different brands available at various stores.  The quality of the sound will differ from the cheaper brands to the more expensive so it will generally come down to how much you are prepared to pay.

Cordless Microphones

Just as there are left handed scissors and left handed tools, guitars to are available for left-handed people.  In many cases left handed people who wanted to learn to play the guitar were often persuaded to learn on a right-handed guitar which made some of the chords and chord progression very difficult to play.  The answer to this was to either search for and purchase a guitar that has been specially designed for a left-handed player or use a right handed guitar turned upside down.

Today left handed electric guitars are readily available in most music stores as the demand for these types of guitars especially left handed electric guitars has been increased by the popularity of famous left handed guitar players.  Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney are all famous guitarists that played left-handed on specially made guitars.

To determine whether or not a left handed electric guitar is right for you the best way is to try both a right handed and a left-handed guitar next time you are at the music store.  Play each of the guitars and note which one feels the most comfortable in terms of strumming, fingering of chords and practising chord progressions.  You should be able to tell quite quickly which guitar feels the most natural when you are playing.

Apart from the difficulties that a left-handed person faces when choosing and playing a left-handed guitar it is also a challenge to find teaching and learning material for this type of guitar playing.  The increase in the amount of online material for electric guitar players has provided some much needed resources for left-handed guitar players who have been searching for information on guitar basics and left-handed guitar techniques

Music stands have been around in some form or another for as long as music has been recorded on sheets of paper.  Many of the first  stands used by musicians were the small stands that were incorporated into the design of most pianos which allowed the pianist to have the sheets of music conveniently at eye level while playing.  Music stands today come in many styles and are crafted out of materials such as plastic, metal and wood.

Some of the earliest stands included stands designed to rest on a table as well as those that where tall enough to stand alone.  These early music stands where made of wood and many of the stands where quite ornate which matched furniture that was in the music rooms of these houses during that period of time.

Today stands are available in many different types of material with the most popular being metal.  Metal stands are very durable with a majority of these designed to be folded up when transported.  Folding stands are the most popular type of music stand on the market.  The design saves space and makes it easy to transport one or more stands around to the multiple venues that a band may perform at.

Music stands are also available for specialized uses such as for marching bands.  These types are generally made of metal and are quite small when compared with a regular music stand.  The marching band type of music stand also have clips and attachments to allow these stands to be attached to the various instruments that make up a marching band.

Some people who have a sense of history still have some of the early styles of music stands that are handcrafted with wood.  This sort of thing goes in and out of fashion, but a beautiful ornate music stand can be quite striking in a music room with other furniture items and instruments such as a piano.