Gift of Music

Affording a Musical Instrument

Owning a musical instrument can be prohibitively expensive for young, aspiring musicians and their families. 

A French horn, for example, can be as much as $4000. A student violin can range from $500-$1000; drums range $400-$2000; a trumpet from $300-$1000; a cello from $1200-2500; and a basic upright piano from $3000-$6500. And these are for basic instruments.

Illustration of a French horn with a stylized, minimalist design, featuring gold and black colors.

French horn
$4,000

A digital illustration of a violin with a bow standing upright in front of a bookshelf.

Cello
$1,200 – $2,500

Illustration of a set of drums, consisting of a large bass drum at the bottom, two smaller tom drums in the middle, and two cymbals at the top, all against a black background.

Drums
$400 – $2,000

For more advanced musicians costs can rise well into the thousands. These costs put owning a musical instrument out of the reach of many individuals.  Renting can be a viable option, but here, too, it is often beyond the reach of many. This is where If Not for Music comes in.

Through donations of money and instruments, and by creating strategic partnerships with instrument makers, repair shops, retail music stores, and local school districts we make instruments available to those currently unable to afford them. 

Give the Gift of Music!

Donate an instrument

If you have a musical instrument, any musical instrument, that you no longer want, donate it to us! We’ll get it into the hands of a young musician, and you’ll get a charitable deduction!  Here’s how it works:

  1. Contact us and describe the instrument you wish to donate including the make, age, condition.

  2. We’ll give you simple instructions on how and where to send it.

  3. We arrange for the instrument to be inspected, cleaned, repaired, and tuned.

  4. The instrument is cataloged into our inventory for distribution to a musician.

  5. A receipt for your charitable donation.

Colorful illustration of a bird with blue and orange feathers flying.

Donate

No instrument to donate? Not to worry.

Donate here and we’ll use your donation to secure instruments for distribution or to bring donated instruments back to life and ready to play. An aspiring young musician ought not to be deprived of the joy of music simply because of the cost.  Through your generous donations you can give the Gift of Music!

Music Is…

A young man with curly brown hair and facial hair, wearing a dark shirt, looks directly at the camera with a slight smile, against a light background with watercolor effects.

“Music is...opportunity. Opportunity to self-express, to build self-esteem and discipline, to be a part of a team, to be a student, to be a teacher, to socialize and connect, to contemplate and meditate, to travel, to have experiences you never would have dreamt of, to manifest the dreams you do have, to create lifelong friendships, and to create memories you’ll cherish forever.”

Jesse Snyder
Multi-Instrumentalist, Arranger, Vocalist, Recording Artist
Jesse Snyder Music

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a blue shirt and a headband, holding a baby girl with a large blue bow headband and a light blue dress, outside in a grassy area.

“Music is me time where I can get out of the house, chat with other adults, play wonderful music and be a better mom when I come home to my family.”

Missy Keller
Clarinet, Williamsport Repasz Band