MMI

Bill and the Hill Billies in Disney, an example of a four part string band that grew in the south over 150 years ago and became country, gospel, appalachian and so many others.

Today we spent over four hours at the Museum of Musical Instruments. I have no idea how Phoenix bagged this huge attraction but it is an amazing collection of over 10,000 instruments from all over the world that trace the origins and sources of music in all cultures and eras.

Each national collection contains videos of the instruments being played in real life, often with tribal or native dances. Your earphones are triggered wirelessly by proximity to the exhibit.

I thoroughly enjoy learning about every instrument you could imagine and many you could not. I saw my first Hurdy Gurdy player, the original Moog Synthesizer, exhibits on the making of Steinway's and Martin Guitars, a room highlight great American instrumentalists and their guitars like Elvis and Santana. Music is the language of the soul, and it has added so much to my life that I cannot imagine living without it.