musical instrument museum

Want to know what kind of guitar fits into this case? Keep reading and I'll tell you.

The MIM, as they call it, opened in Scottsdale recently. We went for a visit while my sister and brother-in-law were here. They say that there are 10,000 instruments, from all over the world, in the museum and... we saw them all. Do you want to know how long it takes to look at all 10,000 instruments? Four hours. We were exhausted after our four hour tour. They give you head sets to wear that are attached to a little unit you wear around your neck. As you come up to a display, it picks up a signal and plays an audio recording of the sound or music that the instrument makes. It was really pretty nifty. The funny thing was, all the people had these head sets on and would talk really loudly to each other because they couldn't hear themselves very well. There were a few gentle "shhh, you're talking kinda loud" reminders going on.

Even though I took pictures of all the different types of instruments, I'm just sharing a few of the guitars and other string instruments. We have a few stringed instruments in our house so they were of interest. Although, my favorite thing that I saw was not a string but a key instrument. It was an old player piano and also the machine that was used to make the paper rolls that went into them. They had a video showing the factory and assembly of the paper rolls. I found it to be very interesting.

So, on to the guitars. We were in this first room with a variety of guitars on display. There were a sampling of some from all countries, a bit of an overview of what we would be seeing later in the full museum.

There was a floor display in the middle that had a few guitars on stands. An original Les Paul guitar from the early 50's was one of them. It was one of the first 50 produced. My husband is a fan so he was pretty interested in it. Just as we were standing there a little boy came charging up to the display shouting "a guitar" as he shot right through the barrier and landed his hand right on it. The whole guitar started to teeter back and forth on its stand as his mother grabbed him and whisked him away. You can imagine the look and audible gasp that we all made as we watched that guitar slowly rocking until it settled itself back into place! I think Chuck lost a little color in his face. We didn't see the boy and his mother ever again as we toured the museum. She may have taken him home.

There were many interesting shapes and sizes. Including the one that fits into the mystery case in the first photo up there. Did you guess what kind of guitar goes in it?

Well the air guitar of course. I guess there really is such a thing. And here we thought people were just being funny!

Here are a few other interesting string instruments.
Lots of detail.
Really intricate detail.
This is just a small sampling of all the string instruments. We saw some unique pieces that people make out of discarded items like old oil cans and such to make a guitar or other instrument. People are pretty inventive when they don't have much to work with. Music really is a universal language.
If you are ever in the area and have a full afternoon open, I suggest visiting the museum. It was really fascinating to see all 10,000 instruments and hear the music that they make.

Remember when we were in Jerome and we spotted a young couple and I mentioned that we had seen them earlier in the week? Here is the guy. He had a "retro" outfit on and a little knitted pink hat. It was a little pig hat complete with snout and ears. They were a colorful couple and we were so surprised to see him as soon as we pulled into Jerome. We knew it was him because we was wearing the same funky jacket and hat! They looked like they might be residents of that eclectic little town.
It's monday. Why not play a little tune on your air guitar. It will make you happy!