The first electric guitar played in public. The first Hawaiian-made ukulele. Eric Clapton’s 1956 Fender Stratocaster, “Brownie,” which helped create his signature sound on classic songs like “Layla” ...

The electric guitar wasn’t invented until 1931. But since then, it has become the most important instrument in modern music. Ever wonder which strange new instruments being designed today will come to ...

Digital electronics has profoundly changed musical instrument design. From toy keyboards to performance-grade pianos, synthesizers, and drum sets, to name a few, instruments that once would have been ...

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture. Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work ...

Archaeologists were perplexed by a strange pair of discs found in Oman – only to discover these items were actually a single 4,000-year-old instrument. The cymbals date to the third millennium B.C.

Learn how to make musical instruments with recycled materials using a metal washtub, the washboard, and playing spoons to make homegrown music. One way to save money and have a good time all at once ...

It started after my mother died. She was a concentration-camp survivor—a prodigy concert pianist in Vienna who was taken when she was only a girl. She taught me the piano by holding her hands over ...