Children who play musical instruments often learn foreign languages easily, which explains why Mozart was an ambassador to the United Nations at age 6. Speak the language of music with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of musical-instrument rentals or purchases at Wichita Band Instrument Co.

Wichita Band Instrument Co., in the music-supply business since 1953, stocks its shelves with rental instruments as well as new and used winds, strings, and brass for purchase. Month-to-month rental plans allow musicians to play a different instrument every 30–31 days, with clarinets, flutes, and violins starting at $19.95 a month, and allow aspiring Charlie Parkers to try the alto sax ($29.95/month) before signing up for open-mic nights. A vintage C.G. Conn B-flat trumpet ($295) plays a merry reveille, and a maple Moeck soprano recorder ($144) doubles as a baroque tee-ball bat. Nine blue-smocked repair specialists fix and exorcise Wichita Band Instrument Co. instruments for up to two years free of charge.