Museum of Making Music

We had a very enjoyable trip to San Diego this week. It was quick - we went down Monday morning and came back last night. While Les was working, I decided to explore a little. San Diego has so much to offer - the wonderful San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Wild Animal Park, Legoland and much more. There are also little places off the beaten path...


The Museum of Making Music is one of those places. It has exhibits over a 100 year period in American Music, 1890 to 1990. I thoroughly enjoyed the museum, perusing the various instruments and advancements that have been made.


A museum volunteer must have felt sorry for me being there by myself, because he kept interrupting me whenever I would stop to read a display! He was certainly knowledgeable, but I personally prefer reading at my own pace and stopping at what interests me!


I loved this ad for a piano - can you imagine getting one for $150?


The strange contraptions on the front of these guitars are early attempts at amplification.


Of course they had a Jazz music display!


These trumpets are for Les and Dad, the two trumpeters in my life!


I was fascinated by this organ. I finally had a question for my volunteer, but he didn't know anything about it! It is a Hammond S-6 Chord Organ. I researched it online and found a wealth of information!


See all these buttons? They are chords. Just press the correct button and you get a full chord sound! There are a total of 96 buttons, eight for each key. If you look closely, you will find C in the middle. Going from left to right you have G, then D, continuing on in the "circle of fifths." Going from right to left from C, you have the "circle of fourths", starting with F. I'm a music theory geek and loved this!


If you have a couple of hours to kill in north San Diego, I highly recommend this museum!