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First Take it away sale
Sheargolds in Maidenhead, Berkshire were quick off the mark, making the very first Take it away sale when the scheme launched last month. We interviewed manager Steven Palmer to find out what he thinks of the scheme, and to get tips on what to look out for when buying an instrument.

What got you interested in Take it away initially? My friend Chris Wright from Drumwright took part in the pilot last year. I saw the advert and thought it could work well for us.

How do you think Take it away can help your customers? It is a great scheme allowing customers different opportunities dependent on their level of ability. It gives beginners the chance to get their first instrument, and it gives competent players the opportunity to move up to the next level. We have experienced both in the past two weeks of the scheme! 

What do you think are the main obstacles for people starting out playing music? Being able to obtain an instrument to play. Pianos for instance aren’t one of the cheapest instruments to learn to play, and with children you never know if they are going to stick with it so you don’t want the burden of spending vast amounts of money on an instrument that is only going to be played for six months. 

Probably the worst thing the parent can do is buy the cheapest keyboard to give their children a start: you cannot learn to play the piano on a keyboard, it’s a completely different instrument! This puts the child off. The parent thinks they made the right decision to have bought a cheap keyboard because the child has only lasted 6 months, but the truth is they haven't given their child the best start.

The other big obstacle for people starting out is playing. With the guitar, the hard part is getting past the first hurdle of learning about the instrument itself and the first few chords. Once you master the first 3 chords, you can play almost any song! 

What advice would you give to somebody buying their first instrument? Buy the best instrument you can afford in your price range. The better the instrument, the better it sounds and the easier it is to play. The better it sounds the more you want to play, and the more you play, the quicker you will progress. 

Any plans for marketing the scheme over the coming months? We're doing a lot of online advertising with the scheme, hopefully encouraging people to come into the shop, also lots of in-store displays. Our next aim is to reach local schools and make them aware of the scheme.

There are currently 84 shops across England running Take it away.

For details of all stores visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/takeitaway/stores

For more information about Sheargolds visit www.sheargoldmusic.co.uk

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