Get Kitted Out: Back To School Essentials

Now is the time to get equipped for the new school year, and Musicroom is the perfect one-stop-shop for all your musical needs.
Starting lessons on an instrument? You can get kitted out with your instrument and all the accessories you will need. For example, this Odyssey clarinet outfit which is perfect for beginners and rates 10/10 in user reviews, for only £159. Add a Helin pull-through cleaner, a 3-pack of Vandoren 1.5 reeds, and Paul Harris’s superb Clarinet Basics book and CD, and you’ll be ready to make the perfect start.
Alternatively, get strumming with a Pure Tone ukulele pack , which comes with a gig bag and tuition book, and add a set of Aquila strings and a 3-pack of Mahalo uke picks.
Perhaps you are giving an existing instrument a makeover? You might need the Odyssey trumpet care kit, which contains a polishing cloth, a ‘snake’ cleaning brush, a mouthpiece brush, valve brush, valve oil, cork discs and cork grease: everything to get your trumpet ready for the year ahead. Or for guitarists, there is the first aid kit for electric guitar, which provides everything you need to restring your instrument and be prepared for rock greatness.
Moving up a grade? Musicroom has everything you need to prepare for practical and theory grade exams from all the exam boards, including easy-to-find collections of the alternative pieces. If you are doing an ABRSM piano grade, you can even buy your pieces, scale book, and sight-reading tests for each grade in one click, and save on the bundle prices. With all those books, you will need a smart bag to carry them in, so why not add a Mapac music bag? You could also get ahead of the game by equipping yourself with a practice book to last the whole year.
For GCSE or A level music students, Musicroom has the whole range of study guides, revision guides, and practice listening questions for all of the main exam boards. Make sure you buy the right set of books, however, as new syllabuses will be taught from this September. So, for students taking GCSE music in 2017, you will need one of the exam packs, such as this one for Edexcel. 2017 A2 music candidates will find a study guide such as this one invaluable. The music technology syllabus is not changing yet, so the AS music technology revision guide still applies for the coming year.
For students just starting their GCSE or A level music course, to take their exams in 2018, there are new books to get you set up for your course. Step Up to GCSE Music is an invaluable guide to the more rigorous theory requirements of the new syllabuses. *Study guides for GCSE music are available for pre-order now, with new AS/A2 guides to follow in October as well as Listening Tests and Revision Guides over the next few months. You might also like to check out the *Rhinegold Education Online Music Classroom, a brand new online resource featuring teaching resources, listening tests, notation and sequencing software and more within a classroom management system.
No good musician is ever without a pencil, so check out Musicroom’s range of stationery, including this keyboard pencil and treble clef eraser. You could even get off on the right footing with your music teacher by buying them a bag of Belgian milk chocolate pianos…
Words by Jane Werry, Head of Music – The Hayes School