Melissa & Doug Toys - Beginner Band Set

Comments about Melissa & Doug Toys - Beginner Band Set:

My 3 year old granddaughter wants to be a percussionist just like her grandpop.

Comments about Melissa & Doug Toys - Beginner Band Set:

We got this for my daughter's birthday. We picked this specifically due to her love of all things musical.

Within an hour we threw away the harmonica (cheap plastic harmonica that blew so horribly out of tune and high pitched at that!) and the kazoo (there wasn't any way to actually get air through it or anything inside of it to create the classic, kazoo sound!).

That being said, we love the box it came in. 2 years later and that is still what we store them in. All of the other instruments play nicely and have held up through 2 years of play and a cross country move. If you want a kazoo or harmonica, look elsewhere, otherwise this box is for you!

Comments about Melissa & Doug Toys - Beginner Band Set:

This was a very disappointing toy set. The harmonica is awful, the xylophone was worse. The only thing that works is the castanets.

Comments about Melissa & Doug Toys - Beginner Band Set:

For the price, it's not fair to expect concert quality instruments, but it is perfectly fair to expect the items to do what they're supposed to do on a basic level. The xylophone and the harmonica don't work. It's hard to elaborate without demonstrating, but the sound from the bars on the xylophone were blunted (had no sustain) or flat out had the wrong pitch (even the plastic Playskool models can accomplish acceptably accurate pitch) and the harmonica sounded as if it had been thrown against a wall and had the reeds knocked out of alignment, making it sound detuned. Manufacturing these instruments can be done in cost effective ways while still retaining good outcomes with sound quality. Durability might be another story, but they're not supposed to be family heirlooms at this price (which is fine). Still, it's fair to expect that they do what they were designed to do.

No word from the company after writing, so I guess this will just end up in the landfill. Save your money, though. You can get separate pieces that will actually work for pretty cheap and you won't be driven crazy by the dissonant noises your child makes even when using the pieces correctly.