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| - I had never heard of this place before a Lyft driver took me from the airport to the nearby Desert Botanical Garden (review: http://bit.ly/2iTMXzG), and he was so big on this museum that he had brochures in the back pocket of the passenger seat. It must have worked because on my very next business trip to Phoenix, I decided to take a detour toward Scottsdale to find this place. It honestly looked like a sterile corporate business park upon approach, which should come as no surprise since it was founded by Robert J. Ulrich, the former CEO and Chairman of the Target Corporation. What was surprising was how cavernous this place is inside with over 6,600 musical instruments on display broken out geographically.
My 4th grade music teacher, Miss Nelson, would have loved this place since she forced me to play "Greensleeves" on the autoharp in front of my class. Covering over 200,000 square feet, the museum starts with an impressive gallery of guitars in a semicircular room (photo: http://bit.ly/2zWa5bE) followed by a room of musical instruments which appear to be a sneak preview of what you're about to see on the second floor (photo: http://bit.ly/2AEkp4q). A long escalator ride upward takes you to the Geographic Galleries where you walk through five cavernous rooms representing the major regions of the world. In each room, there are unique instruments that represent each country in that region. Yes, every country has its own section.
Through a wireless guidePORT you're given at the front desk, you basically walk up to any exhibit with a video running, and you can listen to that performance as you approach it because the headphones are activated automatically. Needless to say, you should take your time perusing these rooms because each exhibit provides a fascinating insight into that country's culture (photo: http://bit.ly/2icRWM7). Despite the exotic sights and sounds found in most of the rooms, the United States/Canada gallery is the largest with special sections devoted to the electric guitar, Steinway pianos, rap, country, Hawaiian music, and even a miniature symphony orchestra in a lucite display case (photo: http://bit.ly/2yBxL0T).
Once done with the Geographic Galleries, you walk down a spiral staircase back to the first floor where you can enter the Artist Gallery. Here you find exhibits dedicated to musical icons ranging from Elvis (photo: http://bit.ly/2yBy9wn) to Carlos Santana (photo: http://bit.ly/2jm9R6y) to Taylor Swift. I wanted to visit the Experience Gallery, but it was closed when I visited and appeared to be focused more on kids anyway. That's my one minor criticism, the lack of opportunities for adults to interact with some of the more popular instruments like they allow in Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture (review: http://bit.ly/2lkGq5q) or LA's Grammy Museum (review: http://bit.ly/2mlxEVk). Regardless, this is one truly impressive collection well worth visiting if you happen to be in Phoenix.
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