School band season

School Instrument Rentals in Rhode Island

Your child got the band letter. We handle the rental, the paperwork and everything that happens afterwards — the instrument itself ships in from NEMC. Families from Westerly to Woonsocket have started here since 1991.

Rent a school band instrument

We rent through NEMC, one of the country’s long-running school music rental programs. That means month-to-month terms with no long contract, rent-to-own credit so every payment goes toward owning the instrument, and an optional damage protection plan for the realities of a middle-school locker.

You can start the application on the NEMC portal, or at our in-store kiosk at 58 Main Street. It takes a few minutes, and the instrument is picked up and returned here rather than shipped to your door.

Rental basics

  • Month to monthNo long-term contract
  • Rent-to-own creditPayments build toward ownership
  • Damage protectionOptional plan available
  • Pick up and return hereServicing goes back through NEMC
The NEMC rental kiosk inside Wakefield Music

Apply at the kiosk in the shop, or from your phone.

The band instrument wall at Wakefield Music, marked sales and rentals

The band instruments in the shop are for sale. Rental instruments ship in from NEMC.

A trumpet, saxophone and clarinet at Wakefield Music

What you can rent

The NEMC program covers woodwinds, brass and percussion in the sizes school programs ask for. Bring the band letter and we will match it to the right instrument.

Woodwinds

Flute, clarinet and alto saxophone — the usual starting three.

Brass

Trumpet, trombone, French horn and baritone, in the sizes school programs ask for.

Percussion

Bell kits and snare packages — the standard starter setup for school percussion.

Why families rent from a shop instead of a website

A rental instrument is going to get dropped, jammed, and left on a bus. When that happens with an online rental, you are on your own with a shipping label. When it happens here, you bring it to Main Street and we take it from there — NEMC services the instrument and we hand it back to you at the counter.

We also size the player in person. A fifth grader who cannot reach the trombone’s sixth position, or whose fingers do not span a clarinet yet, will quit — and no website can catch that. And when your child outgrows the instrument or moves up to a step-up horn, the rent-to-own credit is already sitting in the account.

One more thing worth knowing: the rental, the lessons and the sheet music are all in one building. Lessons run in our studios, the band folder comes from our sheet music room, and anything the instrument needs is arranged here rather than by you.

Serving band families across Rhode Island

Rhode Island is forty-eight miles top to bottom. From our door at 58 Main Street in Wakefield, almost every school district in the state is inside an hour’s drive — which is why we see families from well beyond South County every September.

South County. South Kingstown, Narragansett, Peace Dale, Kingston, Wakefield, Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton, Exeter and West Greenwich are our home ground. Most of these families are ten to twenty minutes away.

Washington and Kent County. North Kingstown, Wickford, East Greenwich, Coventry, West Warwick and Warwick — a straight run up Route 1 or 4.

Newport County. Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton and Jamestown, over the bridges.

Providence metro and the East Bay. Providence, Cranston, Warwick, Johnston, Barrington, Bristol and Warren.

Northern Rhode Island. Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, Cumberland, Woonsocket, Smithfield and North Providence.

Westerly and the Connecticut line. Westerly, Ashaway and Bradford families often find us closer than heading west.

If you are driving a distance, you can start the application on the NEMC portal before you set out.

Rental questions we get every September

Rates depend on the instrument and the plan you choose, and NEMC updates them periodically, so we quote them in the shop rather than publishing a number that goes stale. Ask us in the shop, or start the application on the NEMC portal, and you will see the current monthly rate for the exact instrument on your child’s band letter.

Yes. The NEMC program applies rent-to-own credit, so the money you pay each month builds toward ownership rather than disappearing. If your child sticks with it, you are already partway to owning the horn.

There is an optional damage protection plan. Bring the instrument in to 58 Main Street and we send it to NEMC for servicing and handle the paperwork — you do not deal with boxes or shipping labels.

No. The rental is month to month. If your child changes instruments or decides band is not for them, you are not stuck paying out a year.

Come in and we will size the player in person. It matters most for younger brass players, whose arms have to reach, and for small hands on a clarinet or flute. Call ahead so we can have sizes ready.

Yes. Adult beginners and homeschool families rent from us too. The same month-to-month terms apply.

Visit us at 58 Main Street in Wakefield, Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and start the application at our in-store kiosk. We will tell you there and then how soon the instrument will be ready to collect.

The rental program covers school band instruments — woodwinds, brass and percussion. For guitars and ukuleles we usually point families toward an affordable starter instrument instead — browse the starter packs in our inventory or ask us in the shop.

Band starts sooner than you think

Bring the band letter to 58 Main Street, Wakefield. Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–5pm.