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Matanuska Music gets gold stars for service
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How it all began in my house....
Studies show that playing an instrument is good for your kids. It raises brain awareness functions, teaches discipline, relieves stress, and gives kids a sense of accomplishment. It can also give parents a headache and knock them into a lower income bracket. All my kids play instruments, and it can make things oh so exciting in my house in the evenings. I have a jazz saxophone, electric guitar, beginning flute, and of course Hot Cross Buns on the ol recorder. Oh what fun it is to go to the store and buy earplugs.
In spite of that, I am in support of musical instruments played by children. My son and daughter are both in the jazz band at their middle school, and my littlest girl just got her very own flute. She had originally wanted to play the tuba, but she is ten years old and weighs sixty one pounds, so the physics just weren't going to work out for her.
The first thing the band teacher told my daughters class was NOT to let anyone else touch their instrument. My daughter promptly handed hers over to my son for inspection, and he, who had not ever played a wind instrument, promptly got the cleaning rag stuck in it while he was "looking" at it. The cleaning rag had to be removed with pliers by my husband, and in the process, bent the internal workings of the pads thus rendering the D and F pads useless. My daughters band teacher was concerned that this would be costly and time consuming to fix, and scolded me and my daughter for letting somebody else play with it.
I go to Matanuska Music in the Valley for all things band. On band night at the beginning of the school year, the Anchorage vendors are always there, and they always look bored because the crowd is at the table for Mat Music. Tucked away on Willow St in Wasilla, Matanuska Music is THE place to go in the Valley. These guys have always done right by me. It is family owned, and every single staff member is very educated and knowledgeable in just about anything you can think of. The owner has been able to tell me what size reed my sax player needs by asking her age, which is magic to me. When I was ready to buy the flute for my younger daughter, I of course went there and got a great deal, as well as some wisdom on maintenance and care of said instrument.
So I hung my head in shame on Monday, and took my daughters injured flute to their shop for diagnosis, fully prepared to leave without a large chunk of my paycheck and my dignity. I was running a little behind, and was hoping to use being late for work as an excuse to skip any small talk as to how the flute got into this condition.
The gentleman who sold it to me was behind the counter, and started inspecting it right away as I gave him the cliff notes version about what had happened. And here is the best part of the story: he fixed it right there while I waited, and didn't charge me a dime. I was so excited! I told him that my daughters teacher had chastised me and said it would take time and money to fix, and he just shrugged with the kids are kids attitude and put it back in its case. I was so relieved. I was in and out with time to spare. I even got to work on time!
If you are a parent in the valley with a child wanting to play an instrument, DEFINITLY patronize this establishment. Anybody who thinks they can't afford their kid to be in band, give them a call, they have a very reasonable payment plan. They also have the best customer service I believe I have ever encountered.
Music enriches the lives of our kids, so don't deny them that chance. Just be sure to invest in the best equipment you can afford for them, and earplugs and aspirin for you.
Matanuska Music is located at 280 North Willow St in Wasilla. You can contact them at 907-376-4006 or visit them on the web at www. matmusic.com
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