As part of our ‘Musical Voices’ vision, we are fully committed to removing as many barriers to making music as possible.
Purchasing a musical instrument for lessons can be a significant investment before your child’s first lesson with some instruments costing £1,000s. In order to help, HMS is making many more instruments available to hire at heavily subsidised rates.
HMS has a large stock of high quality instruments currently available for hire or subsidised loan to young people receiving tuition from an HMS teacher and/or to those who are a member of an HMS ensemble.
Planning is underway to make this service available more widely to young people who do not learn with an HMS teacher in future.
* Collection may be available from a music centre closer to you – this will be confirmed by the instrument team.
All hire instruments are set within one of 3 hire ‘bands’ according to its value. The fee is invoiced termly as part of your usual bill for lessons and/or ensemble membership.
Pupils in receipt of 100% or 50% HMS financial support are eligible for the subsidised fee. Instrument hire is free of charge for young people in the care of the Hertfordshire local authority.
Sometimes the free or subsidised hire of an instrument is included as part of a special promotion or offer.
Below is a list of instruments available to hire with details of:
- what ‘band’ each instrument is in
- how much a good quality beginner instrument would cost new
- the HMS termly hire fee
- the subsidised termly hire fee
Band A
| Instrument | Average instrument value | Hire fee | Subsidised fee |
|---|
| Violin (all sizes) |
£150 |
£25.00 |
£12.50 |
| Viola (all sizes) |
£200 |
| Keyboard |
£250 |
| Classical Guitar (all sizes) |
£80 - £100 |
Band B
| Instrument | Average instrument value | Hire fee | Subsidised fee |
|---|
| Flute |
£300 |
£32.50 |
£16.25 |
| Clarinet |
£300 |
| Trumpet / Cornet |
£250 - £350 |
| French Horn (beginner) |
£500 |
| Tenor Horn |
£350 |
| Baritone |
£500 |
| Trombone (Tenor only) |
£400 |
| Cello (all sizes) |
£500 |
| Electric/Bass Guitar and Amp |
£350 |
| Digital Stage Piano |
£400 |
| Drum Kit (electric) |
£400 |
Band C
| Instrument | Average instrument value | Hire fee | Subsidised fee |
|---|
| Oboe |
£2,000 |
£40 |
£20 |
| Alto Saxophone |
£600 |
| Bassoon / Mini Bassoon |
£3,000 - £5,000 |
| Double Bass (all sizes) |
£1,500 |
| French Horn ('double') |
£3,500 |
| Euphonium |
£700 |
| Tuba |
£2,000 |
Stringed instruments
Most string instruments are available in different sizes to suit children age 4+ and we offer instruments from 1/4 size to full size in most cases with some 1/8th, 1/10th and even 1/16th sized instruments also available.
Hiring a string instrument in particular is helpful as you can easily swap your hire instrument for the next size up as your child grows without the need to buy and/or sell them yourself!
Woodwind and Brass instruments
Some woodwind and brass instruments are available in smaller sizes e.g. mini bassoons whilst others are altered to accommodate younger players e.g. a curved head flute. These instruments are often in a different key or a simplified version of larger instruments so it’s worth checking with your teacher which instrument would be most suitable for your child.
If you haven’t been assigned a teacher yet, the instrument team can help by checking with our expert teachers on your behalf.
Some instruments, e.g. saxophone or tuba are simply not suitable for pupils until they have the strength or lung capacity to play them – from approximately age 8-9 onwards.