Found Not Lost

One of the gadgets my daughters cannot live without is their mp3 player. Like all teens they live with their own soundtrack in the background. This is my daughter Jade’s story of the music players. To date

I myself, am an avid music addict.. I can’t go a day without turning on the radio or my iPod to listen to some tunes. If I’m chilling out at home music is almost always a must.

My first portable CD player is one of my earliest memories of a Christmas gift growing up, along with probably my first CD, a Backstreet Boys album. When mp3 players first became popular I remember wanting one very badly, and in 7th grade my mom buying me one with her tax refund money. It was a simple SanDisk player, I still have mine, and it’s still in great condition and works well with a AA battery. That player only had 512 MB of built in memory, a fact that would make many frown upon the little device. It only featured MP3 and WAV files, but had a built in FM radio which I made good use of, along with the expandable memory card slot.

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Back to school shopping is officially underway. Along with crayons and notebooks and other school supplies, and aside from laptops, musical instruments is going to be one of the bigger expenses for most parents.

The following is a post from Jade, 16 years old and high school junior.

Musical instruments, and the ability to play them are great things to have. They are the gifts that keep on giving. People who play musical instruments are considered to maintain and possess a greatly valuable and admirable talent.

I learned to play the clarinet in sixth grade and after a year of playing it I changed to the bass clarinet. I loved the bass clarinet and continued playing it through my freshman year of high school. After which I quit. I don’t regret quitting though I miss it a lot.

The following summer, my aunt bought me a $50 acoustic guitar when I expressed interest in playing it. I attempted to teach myself since I couldn’t afford lessons. Let’s just say the guitar is very dusty and I know one song on the guitar. The acoustic is nice, and I love the sound but my guitar is not the best quality, the neck is a bit too wide and hard for me to play. Sometimes I wish I had gone with an electric or visted an electric guitar store to shop around. A few of my friends have electric guitars and I love them! Maybe one day, when I can afford my own lessons I will revisit the guitar and reawaken my musical talents.

If you or your child are considering picking up a musical instrument there are a few ways to go about it.

Renting is one option, when I first started playing my parents went this route. Music stores rent good quality instruments by the month and if you choose, with an option to buy. However, renting can be impractical if you are going into a year or more of playing. With what you pay for one or two months, you could easily purchase your own instrument, especially if it is something like a clarinet or flute, which can be bought at rather reasonable prices.

Buy your own. Ebay opens many doors when it comes to hobbies, clothing or sports you may be pursuing. We bought my first clarinet on eBay for about a hundred dollars (equivalent two month’s worth of rental fees), it was brand new and came in a nice case with a soft outer carrying case as well. It was a great buy and something that served its purpose and may now be sold or handed down.

Another back to school expense that can be purchased from ebay or similar online stores is sports equipment. When I took up field hockey as a sophomore in high school, I needed basic equipment. Most basic of all I needed a stick. While many people were dropping up to $80 or $100 on sticks, I found an okay-quality stick in my size for $20, plus shipping, it even came with a free practice ball. Buying online has many perks, you are able to trade things like books free of charge, buy things new or used and sell things you no longer need. The main key is to start shopping early and compare. So far, we’ve had good results shopping online.