The Link Homeschool News Network Product Guide

by Danica Davidson

For one-stop shopping for anything musical, West Music is the place. In fact, the one stop a person has to make is in front of the computer — because everything they want they order online.

By going to www.westmusic.com anyone can find the musical item they want. The website is a recent adaptation to the West Music Company, which has existed since 1941 and is in the top 25 music retailers in the nation. While its actual stores can only be found in the Midwest part of America, its catalogue is sent out nationally and of course anyone can order products from them online.

Click to visit West Music's web site

West Music is more than just a place to buy instruments. It additionally does repairs, and, even more excitingly, it has lesson programs that teach more than 5000 students. For its musical lessons it has won the Retailing Excellence Award for Music Education from Music, Inc. Magazine. Students run the gamut from absolute beginners to those with real practice and skill. Individual lessons are given for most any instrument out there, and all this has made West Music one of the top musical learning centers in the Midwest.

Retail locations are Coralville, Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Marion, Iowa; Cedar Falls, Iowa; Ottumwa, Iowa; Davenport Iowa and Moline, Illinois. Any homeschool students in these areas who are interested in music ought to check these out if individualized lessons are what they want.

West Music doesn’t just give instrument lessons on a one-on-one basis. In fact, they also offer Weekend Warriors, something altogether original in its concept. For anyone who wishes to join a band, West Music is there to help. Those who are interested are helped to find a band of others their own age who are into the same genre of music. Once this is accomplished, West Music does everything it can to help out and let the band members have fun. Rehearsal space is given, along with all the necessary gear, like microphones, amps, guitars or drums. Practice is once a week with a professional coach there to guide. Once this is all done, West Music actually books the band a gig at a hotspot for people to come and listen. So much for the days of garage bands!

For the younger musically-inclined, Kindermusik is available. These have parents and children come to class together, to be taught by licensed teachers about melody and movement. Free demo classes are offered for anyone who wants to come check it out.

If a person is interested in learning the keyboard, there are the Nancy Cree Keyboard Learning Centers, partnered with West Music. Cree has been a teacher since 1974 and has worked on the integrated acoustic/electric studio since the mid 1980s. There are five of these centers, each one dedicated to helping students experience the wonders of music through keyboard.

Music can have very therapeutic effects, and this comes into play for another part of West Music. The Music Therapy Services, assisting people in eastern Iowa, has therapies consisting of listening to music, creating original music, singing and experiencing the joy of songs. “[These] activities provide a motivating and enjoyable way to promote range of motion, strength, muscle tone, and appropriate posture,” say the people of West Music. Likewise, the rhythmic structure of music provides a physiological cue for coordinated muscular movement, such as normalized gait. Music provides access to long-term memories through reminiscence which offers quality of life experiences to those with memory deficits. Finally, music has an effect on mood, which can cut through emotional resistance and stimulate discussion.” Various illnesses can be helped with musical therapies, and West Music offers its help for people who are autistic and have developmental skills, as well as for people suffering from more physical ailments.

Of course, the gigantic list of products on the website is another reason that West Music is so popular. All kinds of instruments are there to be purchased, including harmonicas and drums. A glance through the percussion section reveals numerous possibilities, including some that are quite rare. There are agogo/gankogui, baliphones, bar chimes, bells, boomwhackers, cabasas, castanets, claves, cowbells, crafts, crickets, cymbals, finger cymbals, gongs, firikyawas, percussion packs, guiros, hand-desk bells, maracas, rattles, broomsticks, sandblocks, shakers, spoons, tamborines, temple blocks, thumb pianos, tone chimes, triangles and woodblocks. Clearly there’s a bit for everyone here, no matter how unusual.

Love for music is universal. Discovering a musical store that offers so much, on the other hand, is a rare find. Thanks to West Music, people can order instruments, have their instruments repaired, experience therapy, form a band and be taught an instrument. All a person has to do is go to www.westmusic.com and see all that they have before them.■