MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM

On Thursday, March 7, Geri and I toured the Musical Instrument Museum, located about 20 miles north of downtown Phoenix.  The museum, founded by the former CEO of Target Corp., was opened less than three years ago.  It is spectacular, both in terms of its design and in terms of the collection of musical instruments that it boasts.

The building itself has a contemporary feel and features an S-shaped two-story central corridor, with exhibit halls extending on either side.  The architecture is interesting, but I really didn't have the time to give it any justice.  Here are a couple of shots that (sort of) worked out.

The second floor, where we spent much of our visit, has displays of musical instruments from all over the world that are nicely displayed amid other artifacts from each of those countries.  The collections are, in a word, overwhelming.  Visitors are given a set of headphones at the beginning of the tour.  Nearly all of the exhibits include video displays that begin playing on the headphones as the visitor approaches the display.  Pretty clever.

As usual, I found myself taking photos of only parts of the instruments or displays that I found most interesting, such as the following.

The ground floor includes displays on the history of musical instruments.  Here are a few shots from that area.

There were a number of instruments even more unusual than these.

I liked that I included only a portion of the guitar in the above image.

The brass instruments got their due also.

Now I know what a flugelhorn is.

I was happy with the reflections caught in the bell of this saxophone.  

Even if you have no particular knowledge of or interest in music, I would strongly recommend visiting this museum.