Many parents have a quiet moment of panic when their child comes home from school wanting to learn to play a musical instrument like the piano, violin or tuba. Likewise, many adults discourage themselves from learning an instrument because they're worried about the expense. While it's true that brand new instruments are pricey, a good musical instruments store can help you find cheaper ways to try out that new musical hobby before you spend a lot of money.

If this is a new hobby for you or your child, the best idea is to find a store that sells and rents instruments. Renting an instrument is a great way to try it out for a few months. Alternately, you can try to find a used instrument to buy. Some stores will have bulletin boards advertising used instrument sales, or a store clerk can tell you where the best places to look in your area are.

In order to really explore your new musical hobby, try to find some private lessons. Again, your local musical instruments store can help. Many offer lessons directly. Taking lessons at the store can also mean big discounts on new instruments or music down the road. If they don't offer lessons, they can almost always direct you to a qualified teacher in your town.

Once you've gotten used to your instrument and are ready to get serious, then it's time to buy. Having a relationship with your local store can help, as you can look for prices online to compare, and maybe even bargain down the price a little, if it isn't the cheapest already. If they won't bargain, perhaps your store will offer free or discounted lessons or sheet music to make their offer more tempting.

A musical instruments store is more than just about selling instruments themselves. They're the first place you should look for buying all the things you need to play or maintain your instrument, like reeds, grease for brass valves, new guitar strings and so on. You can also find a wide range of music books and sheet music for you to practice. Just remember that it's not enough to just buy the practice books, you also have to use them!

A musical instruments store is often the heart of your town's musical community. Get to know the store, as you'll probably be spending a lot of time there as you get further into your musical hobby. Your musical instruments store could be the key to you or your child's musical improvement and growth.