Music Educators: What I Wish I Knew Then... (1/2/2025)

Greetings!

Since my retirement at the end of the 2023 school year I have worked for three different music companies across two states - Missouri and Texas. What I have observed and learned from this experience has led to many thoughts and conversations about how I would do things differently if I knew then what I know now about instruments and accessories but especially music stores and the behind the scenes preparations that make an instrument drive and the school music experience successful for all. 

Music companies work all year long to make instrument rental season a success. Why? because their livelihoods depend on it, literally. And also because their business is connected to your business. The financial foundation of any school music company is the rental business, which generates income for months and years in perpetuity. Without this income, the music stores that supply your programs with instruments are incapable of dealing with the demands of supplying instruments and supplies to hundreds of music programs and thousands of music students.

Instruments don’t just show up on your doorstep. Actually, these days they do, but not until they go through an extensive process that begins immediately after a rental season ends. Here is the basic process:

1. Instrument and accessory preferences are assessed and set for the next school year by you (the director) and your music store Ed Rep. Examples of these are: instrument brands and models, mouthpieces, ligatures, reeds, lubricants and method books. And last but not least - program numbers. These numbers are estimates of how many beginning students your program will have next school year and how many on each instrument offered. Music vendors use this information to order the instruments and supplies needed for the next school year.

2. Directors and Ed Reps set instrument drive dates and classify them as in-person or online. Some directors still want instruments at the drive - what the heck? So many things can go wrong when a student leaves with an instrument without any training on how to properly assemble it.

3. Instrument and accessory quantities are sourced by someone in the company who must keep pace with very specific and current product knowledge as well as extensive business relationships. The person who does this job is usually very close to the owner(s) of the company if not the owner. 

4. Instruments are purchased. This means that they are actually paid for by the music store BEFORE they get to you. This requires incredibly large amounts of money and/or credit. Ordering begins in October just after fall rental season dies down. 

5. Educated estimates and guesses are part of the equation. In other words, if you have a program where students rent instruments from a local store and you do not SPECIFICALLY ask for certain instruments and accessories, then the music vendors have to GUESS! That’s right - guess. This is not at all comfortable for them, as you can imagine. But they do it anyway because as I said before, their livelihoods depend on it.

6. Instruments and accessories begin arriving by the pallet load in January and must be unloaded and stored. Some companies will open every case, unwrap and prep each instrument and even play test them to insure that the student and the teacher do not have to deal with problems or damages due to the un-packaging process. This is a HUGE service and advantage to the teacher!

7. As rental season approaches, music stores update online preference lists for each school and program. Their warehouses are organized and stocked and procedures set in place for when the orders start coming in by the thousands. Programs that did a Spring rental drive will have an August or September delivery date set and the orders will take all summer to prepare. A large band program with 150 beginning students might take a week to complete. The computer work to complete a single online instrument rental with accessories takes more than a moment, believe me! 

8. Instruments and accessory orders are filled and organized. Sometimes music stores run short on certain instruments or accessories and of course method books. This means that an emergency re-order has to happen during EVERYONE'S busiest moment of the year! Because of this very scenario, the term “back order” was invented and is not a pleasant experience for either the customer or music store. In order to avoid this scenario refer to step #1 of this process, Instrument and accessory preferences are set with the director and Music Store Ed Rep!

9. Orders are delivered to the schools, picked up at music stores or (in some cases) mailed directly to homes. Everyone is happy…except the Ed Rep who now has to track and deliver back ordered items. See step #1 on this list to avoid making yourself, your student and your Ed Rep sad.

What would I do differently if I knew then what I know now?

1. Educational Representative or Road Rep - Your Ed Rep is an invaluable tool in your tool box and should work for you, your program and your students. They should have an open line of communication and be available to solve problems. They should be knowledgeable and educationally savvy. That is to say they should know their way around certain educational obstacles. You should have them saved as a contact on your phone and know their email. They should visit you regularly. A rep that only communicates once a month in an email is of no use in the real world. I had two favorite and memorable Ed Reps and they were both named Mike, but with different last names. If I could go back and do it again I would have used them and the resources of their company even more.

2. Exclusivity- Exclusivity with a local music store streamlines all processes and focuses the work of the music store and the Ed Rep on YOU, YOUR STUDENTS and YOUR PROGRAM. Can’t be exclusive in Springfield? Has anyone defined exclusivity? How exclusive do you have to be before….?  I would be as exclusive as possible… if I could go back and do it again.

3. Brands, Models and Accessories - I would have been incredibly specific on this. Mouthpieces are the biggest upgrade you can do on a student level instrument. If you can get an upgraded mouthpiece and a Rovner-like clarinet ligature with every clarinet order with no increase in rental price, wouldn’t you? What if you could start your trombone students on an F-attachment instrument? Have you asked? You don’t get what you don’t ask for. So what if every single student doesn’t have one, most will though because it is in your school preferences when the order is made. 

4. Take a tour - ask your Ed Rep to take you on a behind the scenes tour of the warehouse or prep area. Ask what can be upgraded and the cost. What can be done for no cost increase. Look at all of the accessories available. Not all oils are the same. Synthetic oil should be used on some (Yamaha) valves because of the close tolerances. How about trombone slide lubricant? There are many different products and you need to be specific. What reeds can be included with woodwinds? Again, be specific about reeds and strengths because most students stay with the same brand and strength when they go to re-purchase. Answer all of these questions before the end of January. I would have done this every year with all of the local music stores. It would have made an enormous difference in what my students came in with the following year.

5. Don’t be a “Brand” director - This is a term I learned recently in my new state of Texas. Brand directors simplify the process by going all one brand with no other thought process. Why would you want all of your instruments to be one brand when there are other choices that are just as good or better? I may have been a brand director at one time but then I had an experience with a Trevor James flute from the Hoover Music Store liquidation. I had never heard of the Trevor James brand before but I played it for a week then went back and purchased the remaining three that nobody wanted because they were so called “off brand”. That was an education and a win! Look into Backun clarinets, Di Zao flutes and Shires brass instruments if you want to get educated a little more. There are so many choices these days. I would have picked other brands and models besides the standard brands…I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

6. Information Dissemination - Especially in the Springfield community with two major suppliers I would make sure that each music store had my program’s supply preferences (even if you use one exclusively). I would also bring a printed copy to each physical store because there are always parents who think they can get a better deal or haggle with a store employee. On the other hand there is always a store employee who doesn’t know what your program supply preferences are or doesn’t access them online. All of this is extra effort but it can pay off.

7. Teamwork makes the Dreamwork - Plan your instrument and supply preferences as a team. That includes directors and teachers that may not be in your building regularly such as high school directors. Over ninety percent of students entering high school instrumental music programs will still be playing the instrument they started on in sixth grade, and most will finish their music experience on it as well. That being said, all instructors should be involved in the process of choosing the instruments that will predominantly be used in a program. I also do not recommend telling your entire program to re-equip in high school! 

8. Spring or Fall - If I were still doing the same job as when I left Springfield (Wilson’s Creek and Cherokee Band) I would definitely move to a Spring instrument drive. In a large program this gives everyone involved the time to get the job done right and as a result have less problems to deal with when the actual teaching begins. The counselors and schedulers in Springfield ask for next school year elective choices by the end of January so getting lists of students signed up for band or orchestra should be possible by April. I didn't say it would be easy, but it should be possible!

9. Old School vs New School Ordering - Almost all of my instrument drive nights were in-person events with instruments and accessories on site. There were always inconsistencies between the multiple vendors, out of stock items and other issues that had to be dealt with in arrears. Let me make this clear. I would NEVER EVER, EVER, EVER do that again! In the post-pandemic world, we simply have the parents (customers) order online through a website link with instrument, accessory preferences and prices all pre-loaded. Parents can place an order in 5 minutes as opposed to waiting in lines at an in-person event or even at a physical store. I would then set a September delivery date that would allow me (the teacher) enough time to set class procedures in place and teach fundamentals. Having all of the preferences set in place with all of the vendors will produce much better results on the day of delivery. I would even give that day a name such as D-Day or B-Day or Christmas in September!

10. Advocate and Act - Many parents and students view band and orchestra as just a class. I firmly believe that band, orchestra and choir are an educational and life experience that covers a large part of a student's time in school. Use your position to advocate for all programs in Springfield and not just your program. This means go to meetings, participate, adjudicate and advocate. It also means march your band in the parade, keep the band in the stands until the end of the game, take the spring trip, compete at the highest level that your group is capable of and set goals both reachable and lofty. Speak out when you have a position to be heard and take action when action is required. Most importantly, always strive to make the experience a better one for your students, your program, your school and community and yourself.

Jim Zinecker

Retired Band Director