In April, my daughter, Carly, visited from Brooklyn, New York. She mentioned she’d like to go to the MIM.

The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix is one of my favorite places in the world. I’ve been there at least five times since in opened in 2010. I’ve written other posts about The MIM.

Here are some of the sights we saw on our visit (click on the smaller pictures to enlarge and reveal captions):

Satsuma-biwa (plucked lute) from Japan

Yangqin (struck zither) from China

Dramnyen (plucked lute)

Detail of head carving

The mariachi exhibit:

Guitarron

Mariachi harp

Charro outfits

Drums:

Rattlesnake-powered snare drum

Slit drums

Tlalpanhuehuetl, Aztec drum (this one made in the 20th century)

Costumes:

Shava (the deer), costume for Buddhist dance of the Mongol people

Kukeri costume, Bulgarian. Male dancers go house to house wearing these bell-adorned costumes, bringing good health and luck to their neighbors.

Carly admiring beautiful African costume

A tapa from Oceania, a textile made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree:

Grand piano made for Czar Nicholas I of Russia:

Baryton (bowed and plucked lute), Austria

Detail of head carving

Pretty cool, huh?

What about you? Have you been to MIM, or to another musical instrument museum? (I know there’s another in Paris, and maybe elsewhere.) Share in the comments below.