Learning to play an instrument and being part of a Band allows children to develop their creative thinking skills, learn how to make decisions and problem solve. Students gain a sense of responsibility, self-discipline, achievement and accomplishment; and most importantly, learn to work together as part of a group.
Finally, being in the Band is fun! It’s loud, it’s challenging, and performing on stage in front of an audience is an awesome way to build confidence.

Key Music Australia believes that the MOST important rule when selecting an instrument, is that the student actually WANTS to play it. Choosing an instrument that students are interested in and want to learn how to play, gives them the best chance to be successful.
Please click through to our Instrument page to learn about what instrument choices are available, and to watch some videos to help students identify the instrument they would like to play in the band. Year 2 students will also have a Band Demo Day at school where they will get to see and hear the instruments being played.
It is essential that all students and their parents read about the instruments before completing the enrolment form, as there is some important information to assist in your decision.

The Band Instrument Demonstration Videos are available to view HERE

Each school has a fleet of instruments available for families to hire (excluding keyboard and drums / percussion). Hire instruments are owned by each individual school’s Band Committee, and each Band Committee manages the hire fees, servicing and repair of these instruments. Key Music Australia’s only involvement with hire instruments is to assist Band Committees during the enrolment process with allocating specific instruments to students. Once the year commences, all communication about the hire instrument needs to go directly to your Band Committee.

The number of each type of instrument available varies at each school.

Students in Training Band are given priority access these hire instruments. If there are any hire instruments remaining after the Training Band Round 1 allocations, students in more senior bands may nominate to hire an instrument; however families should be aware that most students after their first year in Band will need to purchase an instrument, or hire from an external venue such as a music store.

Where interest in a particular instrument exceeds available hire instruments, families will be contacted and advised of the oversubscription. Students who have indicated a 2nd preference may elect to switch to this, otherwise instruments will be allocated based on when enrolments were received. 

Once the hire instrument fleet has been exhausted, families may choose to provide their own instrument or hire from another venue such as a music shop, or may elect to choose another instrument with availability to hire. At some schools where the hire instrument pool is smaller, late enrolments may not have any hire instrument options.

Purchasing a musical instrument should be seen as an investment in your child’s musical future and not something that is done quickly. Many schools have fleets of instruments for hire and we strongly recommend that you consider hiring from the school for at least your child’s first year of music lessons – if this option is available. 

There are 2 ways that students can provide their own instrument – 

1. Hire from another venue such as music shop – families considering this option should carefully check all associated fees and requirements regarding instrument care / servicing. Some venues offer a ‘hire to purchase’ arrangement which allows your rental fees to contribute to the purchase cost of buying the instrument outright after the lease period expires. External hiring is generally more expensive than hiring through the Band Committee at your school.
2. Sourcing your own instrument eg. buying a reputable branded instrument either new or used, or borrowing from friends / family. It is important to note that cheap musical instruments sold at supermarkets or chain stores are generally always more costly in the long run. Families considering purchasing an instrument are encouraged to read our tips on this here.

If you have acquired an instrument from family / friends, please consider if the instrument is actually suitable for your child – if the instrument was owned by a more advanced player, the model may not be suitable for beginners; an adult instrument may not be the appropriate size for a primary school child; or an instrument that has not been played in many years may require significant work to be made suitable to be played again. 

Just like a car, musical instruments require regular cleaning and servicing. Please ensure that any instrument that you purchase / acquire has been serviced before Term 1 commences.

All Band Conductors and Music Tutors at each school are engaged by Key Music Australia. All of our staff have verified Working With Children Checks, and we conduct regular training with all our staff. 

Whilst every effort is made to provide consistency across the year, some of our staff’s schedules do change, and lesson days / times / or staff allocated to lessons are subject to change over the year. 

The advantage of taking music lessons with Key Music Australia is that our Music Tutors and Band Conductors are in regular contact with each other, and our music lessons will incorporate the required band music and feedback from our Conductors about Band Rehearsals .

Music Lessons are provided for each Instrument type (often by a specialist tutor for each type of instrument) and students may only join a lesson for their specific Band Level.

Lessons may be arranged before school or after school (at Mt Colah and West Pennant Hills- music lessons are arranged in school hours). Lessons are for 30mins and are held at the same day and time each week.

Music Lesson timetables are set at the beginning of Term 1. There are several factors that go into drafting lesson timetables – staff availability, room availability, and the number of students per instrument and per band looking for lessons. Schools with larger Band Programs and/ or more popular Instruments have more students looking for lessons – and this allows us to sometimes provide multiple lesson options at different times and/or days. Sometimes, there may only be enough students to offer 1 lesson per week that is suitable for your child’s instrument and band level – as such, it may be necessary for you to move existing extra-curricular activities that have more flexibility (eg.  swimming lessons are an example that often have more options than music lessons!)

As part of your enrolment, you will be given the option to nominate if there is 1 particular day that you know will not suit your child for music lessons for the year. With over 500 students, it is impossible for us to accommodate every specific request, however we will take this feedback into consideration wherever possible to try to find the best timetable options that suit the majority of students.

We understand that the lesson timetable that we offer won’t suit every family’s schedule. If the lesson options offered do not suit (or if KMA is unable to offer you a lesson option), you are welcome to organise music lessons from an external provider.

Training Band rehearsals are held once per week for 1 hour usually in the morning before school (or occasionally straight after school, depending on your school). Band Rehearsal days are subject to change each year, and each school’s exact day will be confirmed at the start of Term 1