New hours: M-F 10-4, Sat 10-5. By appt or curbside pickup only.
919-286-3801 Retail/Repair - 919-251-9401 Remote Lessons
Get ready for going back to school!
Renting in a COVID-19 Era
In order to minimize contact as much as possible, we will be providing parents and teachers with guidance about sizing their students so that we can set up a new rental from start to finish without the necessity of you visiting the shop.
In the meantime, if you need to up-size because your student has grown, call us ahead of time so we can have the appropriate instrument ready to exchange. If you are starting a new rental, please call or email us and we'll get the process started.
Our staff, particularly our technicians, are keeping abreast of the latest CDC guidelines regarding how long the virus can live on various surfaces, and taking all precautions when working on instruments. See our Repair page for more details.
In the meantime, if you need to up-size because your student has grown, call us ahead of time so we can have the appropriate instrument ready to exchange. If you are starting a new rental, please call or email us and we'll get the process started.
Our staff, particularly our technicians, are keeping abreast of the latest CDC guidelines regarding how long the virus can live on various surfaces, and taking all precautions when working on instruments. See our Repair page for more details.
An Introduction to Renting an Instrument
- Renting a violin, viola, or cello will allow you to play on a high quality student instrument, with a significantly smaller initial investment than it would cost to purchase a similar instrument.
- When you rent at High Strung, all of the rent that you pay on time accrues as credit. This credit can be used for up to 50% of the price of a new violin, viola, or cello when you know you are ready to buy!
- Additionally, our rental program includes a maintenance plan, which covers almost any accidental damage that may occur during the course of your rental! Click here for details.
Renting vs Buying"Why rent when you can buy instruments so cheaply these days?"
Renting from High Strung allows you or your child to begin on an instrument that's a lot better than most folks will let themselves buy for a beginner. Our rentals are preferred by teachers, and are excellent quality, set up professionally before we let them out the door. The rental fees you accumulate over time will build equity you can use towards purchasing an instrument when your child has enough experience and confidence, and you are ready to purchase an upgraded, next-level instrument for them. No surprises. Our rentals include the instrument, case, bow, rosin, fingermarkers, cleaning cloth, i.d. tag and either a shoulder rest or cello anchor. About brand names :We're often asked, "Do you carry X-brand?" or "...my child's teacher says I should get a Z-Brand violin."
If the violin sounds great and plays well, we couldn't care less about the name on the inside. Sometimes they are famous brands, and sometimes they are from such small shops that there's no way they would be well-known names. Violins are wooden instruments. Each one -- even within the same make and model -- will vary in terms of its tone and workmanship. We work with companies that provide consistent quality service and quality instruments. And we never hesitate to return instruments to the vendor if they don't meet our standards for what we know an instrument should exhibit at a particular price level. |
A note to parents of young string players:
"My child wants to play violin...what am I in for?"
Learning a bowed instrument is really, really hard...but also really, really rewarding. With your encouragement, your child will learn to play and develop life skills while doing so. Many studies have proven that children who make music learn social and emotional skills faster than their non-musical peers, and improve their grades overall. It's might sound awkward, at first. Your beginner will need your understanding and support. Attend a few concerts a year. Both the ones your child plays in, and concerts by professionals. Listening to live music provides inspiration and role models. Listen to them practice, and occasionally ask them to play for you, even if they seem embarrassed. (Just don't hover.) Get a private teacher if you can. The public school teachers can only provide limited individual instruction in a class of many students. Remote classes make it even tougher. Private lessons will propel your student towards more competent playing. Your school's teacher will thank you for it. Improve the instrument as your child improves. As your child gets better, their instrument needs to get better, too. |