My daughter has done Grade 4 on the Oboe. We hired it for the first year till we had paid off for it. We have insurance for it now. She loves it and the mournful sound grows on you. The reeds were expensive at first but now they last longer. I recommend it as I belive she has got many oppurtunities just because of the choice of unusual instrument.

You can do jazz flute - really good for improvising and GCSE composition.

Hi Pist! I, too, was about to mention the jazz and 'easy listening' band options easily available to the clarinet.

DD started with the piano and then we, as parents, chose at age 11 between the cello's timbre but bulkier size and the clarinet's jazz and band opportunities and compact size. My secret and cunning plan was for her to graduate to the saxophone as she became taller and bigger.

Guess what? It's two years on now, she loves her clarinet, has done from day one. And she has just got an alto sax just to explore. ... The clarinet has made a big difference to her extra curricular musical life.

And she is left handed.

DD (now age 10) took up the clarinet, 3 years ago, currently grade 2, working toward grade 3. She is in her primary school orchestra and local town wind band; so she has had plenty of opportunity to play. Why did she choose a clarinet? She tried a 30 year old clarinet that had been sitting in a cupboard for about 25 years and fell in love with the sound. She is still playing that clarinet, maybe sometime I'll get around to buying her a new one, but it seems to suit her well; also teacher seems happy with the instrument. Recently, she was interested in an oboe, lovely to look at and a lovely sound, but when I saw how much the reeds were, I had to think twice. The oboe uses double reeds that are not only expensive (check out the price online), but also when you are learning to play, you can get through them very quickly. A good oboe, even secondhand is also expensive. I've told her she can have one when she is older, and a more experienced musician. However, she also fell in love with the sax. We got her a beautiful silver alto sax for her birthday, she hasn't had any lessons yet, but has been able to teach herself as the fingering is so similar to a clarinet. Now the 11 plus is over, we can see about lessons for the sax. Initially, she wanted a bass sax, but she decided to get an alto as the music is in the same cleft as the clarinet, therefore the transition from clarinet to the alto was very easy. Yes, the clarinet and alto sax are popular instruments, but there are reasons for that: they sound lovely, are relatively cheap and reasonably easy to play as a beginner (so they don't get too disheartened in the early stages).
I only played the recorder at school!

Double reeds last quite a long time and most Oboe teachers know someone who can make them really cheaply, I have never paid full price for one yet and my dd is about to do her Sixth grade and has been playing in Orchestras every week for four years. I certainly woud not factor in the price of double reeds as a consideration. As I already said I have two dds playing double reed instruments. It is all really a personal choice. My dd's chose their instruments and are happy with them. Just wish FH and B were more portable. DG

Double reeds cost me a fortune. My son practices a lot but it costs £40 every four weeks if I'm lucky!

£40 for a double reed!!!!!! Where do you get them from?

He goes through one a week at £10 a piece!

He definitely needs to learn to make his own, or at least to be able to clean/repair/adjust and look after them a little better! We used to be able to get cheaper ones mail order (David Lock - Baytree Farm, Stutton, Ipswich, Suffolk. 1P9 2SQ) which sometimes benefitted from a little adjustment, and once my son was older he used to buy cane and make himself a batch of several reeds at once (a frustrating exercise..). He also learned how to keep his favourite reeds going for longer (soaking in vodka? ) and experimented with a few more expensive brands to find his favourites.

All a mystery to me, unfortunately, stuck as I am with purchasing expensive violin strings and bow rehairing!