83 Inspiriting Facts About Musical Instruments That’ll Stir Your Heart

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51Cliff Burton

Cliff Burton

Cliff Burton, a bassist of Metallica from 1982 to 1986, practiced bass guitar for 6 hours a day, even after joining with Metallica.


52. After breaking up with his girlfriend, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) wrote 'For Emma, Forever Ago' in his father’s remote hunting cabin. He hunted deer for food, once having to trade venison to afford repair of his guitar. After months of relative solitude, he emerged, having recorded all 9 songs.


53. Astronauts have to relearn how to play the guitar while on the space station because they tend to overshoot the frets due to weightless arms.


54. Bob Dylan's guitar from the controversial 1965 concert where he "went electric" was missing for almost 50 years. After it was found and authenticated, it was sold at an auction in 2013 for a record-setting $965,000.


55. As a child, John Mayer became so obsessed with his guitar that his parents took him to a psychiatrist twice.


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56Dave Carroll

Dave Carroll

Musician Dave Carroll wrote a song about his experience of how his guitar was broken during a trip on United Airlines. It caused 10% fall in United Airlines' stock price.


57. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is the longest name of a place on Earth. It Translates to, "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who traveled about, played his nose flute to his loved one."


58. The wheel was invented thousands of years after boats, woven cloth, rope, sewing needles, baskets and even the flute.


59. Ferrari engines are musically engineered to sound perfect by utilizing 3rd and 6th harmonics on the air intake, like a flute or organ.


60. A carved bear femur called Divje Babe Flute was found in 1995 and is suspected to be a Neanderthal flute, indicating the existence of music 43,000 years ago.


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61David Carradine

David Carradine

David Carradine was an accomplished flute maker and custom made the flute he played in Kill Bill from bamboo he planted on the Warner Bros lot.


62. Niccolo Paganini, thought by many to be the greatest Violin Virtuoso of all time, was so incredibly good that many thought he was the Son of the Devil or he had sold his soul for his talent. He was even forced once to publish letters from his Mother to prove he had human parents.


63. Albert Einstein was also a gifted musician, playing both the piano and violin with exceptional skill. He once said: "The greatest scientists are artists as well."


64. Lindsey Stirling was told on national TV that she was ultimately unmarketable and that her violin and dance routine couldn't fill a theater in Las Vegas.


65. Acme City whistle founder Joseph Hudson once accidentally dropped his violin and it shattered on the floor. As the violin broke, it emitted a unique warbling sound which led him to an idea to put a pea inside a whistle. Pea whistles went on to replace policemen’s ineffective rattles for communicating.


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66Blackbird

Blackbird

There is a violin (Blackbird) made out of stone that is fully playable.


67. In 1713, Giuseppe Tartini dreamt that he had sold his soul to the devil. In the dream, the devil played a masterful Sonata. When Tartini woke up, he composed Violin Sonata in G minor.


68. The first recorded inventor of roller skates, Joseph Merlin, wore his invention to a masquerade party. In an attempt to make a grand entrance, he rolled in while playing the violin but ended up crashing into an expensive wall-length mirror.


69. In 2013, Wallace Hartley's violin was confirmed found in a British man's attic and was eventually sold at an auction for $1.7 million. Hartley is famous for leading the eight member band as the Titanic sank on 15 April 1912.


70. Ed Sheeran wrote and recorded most of "I See Fire" for The Hobbit the same day he screened the film, learning violin in the process.


71Climate

Climate

Most likely, the reason Stradivarius violins are awesome is because of climate change. The wood used in them is denser than most because it grew during the "Little Ice Age," which caused trees to grow more slowly than typical.


72. In a 2014 study in Paris, top violinists could not distinguish a Stradivarius from a new violin.


73. When the Soviet Union was pushing towards Berlin, an SS soldier was forced to play piano for his captors. They made it clear in sign language that he would be executed the moment he stopped. He played for 22 hours, after which he collapsed in tears. They congratulated him, then shot him.


74. 87 years ago, there was a day that the BBC had no news to report. So they just played piano music.


75. When Sun Ra (American jazz composer) played a gig at a mental hospital, it prompted a patient to talk for the first time in years. The patient walked directly to his piano, and said ‘Do you call that music?’

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