BUYING AN INSTRUMENT

If you don't already own a musical instrument, here are some suggestions and recommendations on where/how to get one.

Local Music Stores

Champaign-Urbana has a number of very good music stores with a variety of instruments in stock. Go to one of these stores and ask the staff to help you with finding an appropriate instrument for a beginner student:

The Guitar Center
712 W. Town Center Blvd,
Champaign, IL 61822
(217)378-8780
https://stores.guitarcenter.com/champaign/

The Guitar Center sells not only guitars, but also keyboards and ukuleles.

The Music Shoppe
27 E Marketview Dr.
Champaign, IL 61820
(800)842-0035
http://www.themusicshoppe.com

The Music Shoppe sells keyboards, guitars, ukuleles as well as band and orchestra instruments.

Online Music Stores

When shopping for an instrument online, I would suggest reading the reviews written by people that have purchased the instrument and look for instruments that have a large number of high reviews.

Musician's Friend (https://www.musiciansfriend.com) is a very good online music store that sells keyboards, guitars, ukuleles and a variety of other music gear and sound equipment.

You can also find lots of musical instruments at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com).

Used Instruments

If you don't want to spend the money for a new instrument, a used instrument might be a good alternative. Sometimes you can find used instruments at local thrift stores or pawn shops. There are also lots of online venues for selling/buying used instruments such as Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and Varagesale.