Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find repairs for brass and woodwind musical instruments

You'll want to keep your instruments in good condition for as long as possible, but when something goes wrong, having a good relationship with a repair shop can go a long way. With specialty buys like brass and woodwind musical instruments, it's important to connect with repairs professionals for getting years more service from your instruments.

I recommend: Nationally certified shop Craig Christman works on all brass and woodwind instrument models. Look for credentials, special offers and more on the website. Another traditional shop, the Woodwind and Brass Workshop, includes customer testimonials and more to illustrate how this service contributes to fixes for professional musicians and others.

Get quality carrying cases for brass and woodwind musical instruments

To keep your instruments in great condition and safe for travel, get sturdy, reliable hard cases in aluminum, hard plastic or other materials, as well as woodwind or brass musical instrument accessories that will help your instruments last. Browse materials, pricing, size and shape information online.

I recommend: Get discounts and delivery options for brass and woodwind instrument cases at Cases & More online. Find woodwind cases at Reeds and Things for keeping your flutes and other special instruments safe in transit.

Consider service plans and warranties for making the most of brass and woodwind musical instruments

For more insurance against any accidents, look for shops offering free service or warranty protection for pricey woodwind and brass musical instruments. This can maximize your buying power and prevent more money spent a few months down the road from any deterioration of these precision music making items.

I recommend: Look at service plan and warranty information from Pro Winds for your next brass and woodwind musical instruments purchase. Talk to big manufacturer Yamaha about extended warranties for all of the various instruments they make for orchestral or band sound.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  For a woodwind or brass music instrument, use is also a factor. Talk to musicians who borrow these items about keeping them in good condition to save on liability over a long period of time.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find a woodwind instrument supplier

Whether it's flutes, oboes, clarinets or other woodwinds, buyers can find these types of instruments online. Specialized flute stores center more on their particular woodwind instrument, while other sellers diversify with extensive lines of woodwind products.

I recommend: The folks at Flute World offer a 10-day trial before finalizing the purchase. This great commendable service protects the buyer and provides for customer satisfaction from an online business. Get flutes, piccolos and more from Musicians Buy Line.

Locate brass musical instruments

A brass instrument store will usually sell a wide variety of horns, but the instruments technically classified as 'brass' are the ones that require a specific style of play where the player compresses air into the mouthpiece. Trumpets and tubas are good examples of traditional brass music instruments. Others, like the saxophone, are sometimes called a brasswind instrument.

I recommend: Find trumpets from top brass music maker providers in standard and professional models and get free shipping from the shop at Pro Winds. At the Giardinelli online shop, you can get some of the biggest brass instruments, with tubas for sale, as well as the smaller brasses.

View deals on used brass and woodwind instruments

Other sellers can offer used instruments for bargains that will assist in keeping your purchase amount low. Browse pages to see what kinds of deals are available on the specific brass, woodwind or brasswind instruments you're looking for.

I recommend: Get all kinds of deals on new and used brass instruments and woodwinds at the Bethel Music Center. More similar buys, including saxophone models, are available at Sax & Woodwind, another woodwind and brass instrument dealer routinely delivering online.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When possible, consult the musicians. If you have regular musicians who will be using these brass and woodwind musical instruments, get their input on style and features. If not, try to do a little market research to ensure your purchases are on the mark.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find software training for brass and woodwind musical instruments

One great and quick option for learning an instrument is through specialized software programs that teach the basics and sometimes beyond. Check out these handy products for getting good at playing brass and woodwind musical instruments.

I recommend: The Dallas School of Music's Musicked website shows how this company offers a variety of modules for the full range of brass and woodwind musical instruments, including multi-step software programs for pinning down beginning to intermediate aspects of each instrument. Get more music training software options at Hickey's Music Center.

Find other music schools for brass and woodwind musical instruments training

There are a lot of other training centers for brass and woodwind musical instruments courses around the country. Musicians can learn from faculty in various companies, like studios and music colleges.

I recommend: New York's Blue Sky Studios has a whole division of music teachers for brass, woodwinds, strings and more. Other courses are available at the Michigan College of Music.

Get online brass and woodwind musical instruments lessons

For those who don't have the means to attend a traditional music school or to send an employee there, the web offers a great alternative. Students can get credentials of online teachers and sign up for online lessons that will allow them to self-teach to some extent and to become proficient on their choice of instrument.

I recommend: Find online trumpet and brass instrument lessons at the Trumpet Guild site. Or learn from brass music maker Jeff Purtle online: Jeff teaches a range of instruments over the web from Greenville, SC. View a detailed resume and brass instruments information at Purtle's site.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When trying to learn a woodwind or brass music instrument, or helping an employee master an instrument, start with the basics. Often, a good quality instrument and a reliable guide book or resource can produce good effects over time.

Guide to Brass and Woodwind Musical Instruments Key Terms

Learn brass and woodwind instruments key terms to gain knowledge and improve performances

By Rachel Davy, Writer/Editor

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Bell

The bell of a brass or woodwind instrument is the flared end of the instrument. Air is blown through the mouthpiece and projected out of the bell to produce music. The bell can be small, as in the case of a clarinet, narrow like a bassoon, or large like a French horn, tuba or sousaphone.

I recommend: Read the information about trumpet bells at Cannonball Music.

Reeds

Reeds are pieces of wood used in some woodwind instrument mouthpieces. Reeds should be moist or they'll cause the instrument's sound to be shrill or off-pitch. There are single-reed instruments, such as clarinets and saxophones; double-reed instruments, such as bassoons and oboes; and capped-reed instruments, such as bagpipes.

I recommend: Get information about oboe reeds and how to create and care for them at Making Oboe Reeds.

Spit Valve

A spit valve is a button on brass instruments used to release moisture that has built up inside of the instrument. Emptying a spit valve regularly is good for an instrument's sound quality. Using the spit valve is an essential part of making beautiful music.

I recommend: Learn how to clean and dry French horn spit valves at Gracewinds Music.

Valves and Slides

Valves are buttons that change the pitch of music. When pressed down, the music notes become lower because lengthening the instrument causes the notes to go down in tone. Instruments that use valves include trumpets and cornets. The trombone slide works like a valve. When a musician pushes out the trombone slide, it plays different notes. This feature makes it distinct from other brass instruments.

I recommend: Use the information from the Sound Junction to learn about the trombone slide.

Mouthpiece

The mouthpiece of a woodwind or brass instrument is the area where musicians places their lips to blow air through the instrument. The mouthpieces are different for brass and woodwind instruments. Brass instruments have a round mouthpiece where musicians have to press their lips tightly pressed together to produce a sound, while woodwind mouthpieces are placed in the mouth with a reed that must be kept moist with their lips slightly apart.

I recommend: Learn about brass mouthpieces from ProWinds.

Finger Buttons

Finger buttons are the buttons that are pushed down on brass and woodwind instruments to play different notes. All brass instruments have finger buttons, but not all woodwind instruments have buttons. Flutes and piccolos don't, while clarinets and saxophones do.

I recommend: Learn about finger buttons from Mouth Piece Express.