An Interesting Situation I ran Into Today - Wonder if anyone Else Has Or Your Thoughts

[MasterWannabe]

I have been fixing up older horns for about 12 years now in order to get quality horns in the hands of students cheaper than renting. I had a parent call me looking for a trumpet. I had 2 available (a 1971 Olds Ambassador that looked almost new and a 1956 E K Blessing Standard). The parent said they were trying to find something in the $100 range (i was asking less than $200 for either of mine).
The parent contacted me again and told me the middle school teacher said that the students could only bring Yamahas or Bachs.
Has anyone heard of any schools putting this kind of restriction on the students?
does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle a situation as this.

[Kehaulani]

Tell the teacher the next conversation you will have is with the Superintendent of Schools. You can easily back up your position. But make sure that is actually what the teacher said and the student "heard".

[Dr GO]

@kehaulani said in An Interesting Situation I ran Into Today - Wonder if anyone Else Has Or Your Thoughts:

Tell the teacher the next conversation you will have is with the Superintendent of Schools.

I would not recommend going to the Superintendent as the fist course of action. I would fist go to the band director to ask them and where they get such information isolated to just two horns, and what it is of the quality of these two horns that led them to this recommendation. If they state it is because these companies donate to the program, then that is a reason to go to a Superintendents. But I doubt that if the Superintendent is first approached, that this would change the behavior of the band director.

Direct communication with the person making a recommendation is the first step to take in the art of communication. If the person making the decision does not hear directly of the conflict between themselves and others, then there is no conversation, and less then optimal decisions continue to be made.

[Dr GO]

@masterwannabe said in An Interesting Situation I ran Into Today - Wonder if anyone Else Has Or Your Thoughts:

Has anyone heard of any schools putting this kind of restriction on the students?
Yes I have and see my comment above

does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle a situation as this.
Yes, and see my comment above.

As a physician trained in both adult and pediatric medicine, I find ABC analysis works best at changing behavior. Your question is going to the point of a behavioral change, and if you can find an antecedent (A) to a behavior (B), Or rather a consequence (C) (preferentially a positive one) of such a behavior, the a behavior (recommendation of a specific instrument) can be changed.

[Kehaulani]

"But make sure that is actually what the teacher said and the student "heard"." That implies to me that you actually do that before moving on with any further action. Could've been clearer.

[flugelgirl]

You see this sometimes with band directors who are woodwind players and only know two common brands. Sometimes a student can get by with something else if they show it to the band director first so they see it’s not junk. These days more teachers want to see a kid with a horn with both 1st saddle and 3rd slide, but most who are restrictive about brands are just trying to keep the kids from starting on junk horns.

[MasterWannabe]

@kehaulani said in An Interesting Situation I ran Into Today - Wonder if anyone Else Has Or Your Thoughts:

But make sure that is actually what the teacher said and the student "heard".

It is my understanding that this was told directly to the parent(s).

[Kehaulani]

"It is my understanding that this was told directly to the parent(s)"

So, your information is second or third hand?

[BigDub]

Requiring middle school students to have only one of two brand instruments is ridiculous.

Where'd you get that pencil? Not a Tigonderoga #2? Very bad.
Spiral notebook, you got that at Walmart?….oh, no. No. Tell your parents they have to get all your supplies at either Staples or Target or you will receive an incomplete on your report card.

[MasterWannabe]

@kehaulani said in An Interesting Situation I ran Into Today - Wonder if anyone Else Has Or Your Thoughts:

So, your information is second or third hand?

How do you figure that, I was communicating with the parents ?

[Newell Post]

@masterwannabe Print out (or link to) this thread, send it to the parent, and ask him/her to send it to the teacher. Everyone here is an experienced trumpet player. Some are professional, semi-pro, or music teachers. I think it is fair to say the consensus of this group is that a like-new 1971 Ambassador is far better for a middle school student than a worn out Bach Mercedes II or equivalent Yamaha. Furthermore, a like-new 1971 Ambassador can be acquired for a very small fraction of the cost of a new Bach TR300 or Yamaha YTR-2330 and, if taken care of, can probably be re-sold at break-even later on.

[BigDub]

Another thing here is that NO brand or make of trumpet is going to make a great player out of any of these students. Repetition of correct methods. Lots of repetition, even on a no name trumpet will do it.

[J. Jericho]

@bigdub said in An Interesting Situation I ran Into Today - Wonder if anyone Else Has Or Your Thoughts:

Another thing here is that NO brand or make of trumpet is going to make a great player out of any of these students. Repetition of correct methods. Lots of repetition, even on a no name trumpet will do it.

Excellent point. Some of us started out on TSOs, and we weren't discouraged by the obstacles these hunks of tubing challenged us with. A good player will learn how to play regardless of the equipment. Of course, there comes a time when it makes no sense to fight an inferior instrument. At that point a substantial upgrade is in order, according to the student's ability and budget.

[GeorgeB]

@j-jericho said : A good player will learn how to play regardless of the equipment.

That is so true. I learned to play on a 30 or 40 year old Varsity that my teacher told me sounded worse than a tin can. I was working part time after school and couldn't afford much to start. I found the Varsity in a pawn shop for $30, which was a fortune to me in the early 50s. The Varsity didn't sound good but it did the job to get me playing well enough to encourage my teacher to recommend a musician owned music shop whose owner liked to help kids starting out. So I got me a brand new gold plated Conn Constellation 28B for $5 a week. And even that seemed like a lot then because I was only earning $12 a week delivering prescriptions on my bike for a local pharmacy.
But, man, my playing took a huge jump forward with the 28B. I played it with my 5 piece combo between 1953 and 1965 and the horn paid for itself a thousand fold. I sold it when I thought I wouldn't be playing any longer. Oh, how I regret that decision.

Oh, yeah, I still have that old Varsity. I like to play it once in awhile for old times sake.

[BigDub]

I think the reason this subject of brand name brainwashing, so to speak, is such an issue with me is because I had a Sears, Roebuck catalog trumpet as I entered High School band. I also was catching up, not having started quite as early as the others. The stigma of playing such a horn did not go unnoticed by me or anyone else. Kids could be cruel, as we know. My band director, thank the Lord, said, this Trumpet is made for Sears by Blessing, and it is a good horn. That was a good thing, since my parents did not consult him or anyone else about it.
Next thing I knew I was first chair by the time I was a junior, leaving everyone else in the dust!