Multibillionaire Paul Allen lifted a Dale Chihuly glass guitar above his head and smashed it to smithereens, opening his $240 million-Experience Music Project museum of American popular music. "Let the experience begin!" Mr. Allen shouted as confetti and streamers fluttered down.

The normally reclusive Mr. Allen spoke for about five minutes — one of his longest public speeches —to welcome a crowd of several hun- dred at the grand opening outside. Mr. Allen, a musician since childhood, originally conceived of the museum as homage to his idol, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. As cofounder of Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates, Mr. Allen has the money.—
an estimated $28 billion - to make his dreams come true. The museum's scope has since expanded to cover all of pop music, from soul to country, hip-hop to techno-rock.

The museum — a unique hands-on blend of artifacts, video arcade, nightclub, music, class and amusement park - is opening, with a three-day bash featuring dozens of performers, including James Brown, Beck, Eminem, and Alanis Morissette. Its goal is to illuminate the path of creativity, perhaps even provide touchstones for emerging talent, Mr. Allen said.

"When people realize what it is - as it evolves, it's going to be a pretty spectacular thing," said Mr. Gehry, the world renowned architect who designed the curvy, colorful building.
It's a model for how to reawaken the arts for young people."
The 71-year-old Los Angeles-based architect dismissed reports that he doesn'tlike rock and roll. "Some of my; best friends are rock-and-roll people. It's just my age," he said.

The crowd that gathered to watch the opening remarked on the building — likened by some to a colorful pile of rubble or a blob of Jell-0 — in the shadow of Seattle's landmark Space Needle.
"At first I thought it was awful, but I was walking around a couple weeks ago and now I think it's pretty," said Rita Jones, 67. Differs agreed. "When it was first going up, I had
my doubts, but now you step inside and it's incredible," said John Pleas, 34, who described the building as - "a big spaceship."

Among the features that captured the attention of visitors to the museum is a colorful, two-story sculpture made entirely of guitars, which looks as if the instruments are exploding from the floor.

Dear Mr. Kringle:

It is good to be in the Holiday season once again. I am looking forward to relaxing and being
with my family this year, but I also know this is a busy time of the year, especially for you.
This year I am not going to ask for a three page list of things, just a few of the bigger,
more important things. I have started taking guitar lessons recently,and bought an electric
guitar over the summer. An electric guitar, however, is only good for certain kinds of music,
that is why I would like an acoustical guitar with a pick-up so it will plug into an amp. I am
also nearing the age of 16, so I would like to have a savings account started for my first car.
One other thing, I would like to have a TV in my room because our other TVs always seem to be
in use. Thank you for taking time to read my letter out of the many you receive this time of year. I know you will do your best to locate these items and get them to me. I appreciate your effort.

Cordially,
Daniel Meyer

"I guess I'd have to say that rock 'n' roll is the one thing that meant the end for the accordion," store owner Ratuenberg says. "Kids want to play guitars and drums."

The accordion might have faded from popularity, but not at the Allegro Music Co., where it remains as popular as ever. Students, mostly adults, take accordion lessons at the store, although more students take guitar and drum lessons. It's the guitars and drums that have become the best selling instruments at Allegro, but it's also those instruments that have allowed Allegro Music to remain competitive in a crowded marketplace, Rautenberg said.
"When I went into business, there were three or four music stores in the area, and now there are about 25," he said. Even so, Rautenberg said he has an advantage over the others because he owns the building he's in, he has no employees other than music teachers, and his overhead is small compared to the big stores. While it's still adults who concentrate on the accordion, it's kids who come in for drum and guitar lessons. "Usually mom and dad bring the kids in and talk about lessons and buying instruments," he said.

So as not to put people in over their head before they're ready, drum students start lessons with a rubber pad and a set of sticks. Then, if they want to continue, they buy a single drum, such as a snare, or an entire set Drum sets, depending on their quality, can range from a few
hundred dollars up into the thousands. The same thing goes for guitars, which have a wide range
in price. Accordions can range from $250 up to $7,000 depending on the amount of custom work involved, Rautenberg said. But an accordion is an instrument that might be kept for a
lifetime, he said.

While guitars, drums and accordions dominate the store, there are other instruments, too.
Rautenberg sells flutes, trumpets, saxophones, several types of harmonicas, banjos and accessories for all of the instruments. Rautenberg said he likes to think of Allegro as "the biggest little music store in the area."

Several years ago, through a
chance encounter by one of his
staff, some jerk learned of John Dopyera,
son of the John Dopyera who
invented resonators. The younger
Dopyera and his wife, Margaret,
were longtime Syracuse residents
who moved to western Pennsylvania,
near Erie, in ihe early
1990s. Vanco introduced himself,
and soon the two were collaborating
on an exhibit.

The elder Dopyera was a first-generaiion
immigrant who came
to California from Slovakia
around 1907. In Europe, the family
had been millers and instrument-
makers, the latter being
typical of millers when they
weren't grinding grain.
In California, Dopyera and a
brother. Rudy, were making banjos
when a customer approached
with an idea for a louder guitar.
An unworkable idea, it turned
out. So the brothers came up
with their own idea. Earlier guitars
were of wood; the wood
body vibrates, amplifying the
sound.
The Dopyeras made metalbodied
guitars. The body itself
doesn't vibrate. The amplification
comes from an aluminum
cone, a resonator, concealed in
Ihe body. The resulting guitar is
roughly three times louder than a
traditional acoustic guitar.
With financial partners, the
Dopyeras founded the National
Guitar Co. and enjoyed several
years of brisk business. The allsteel
guitars were expensive, but
professional musicians considered
the instrument worth it. Traditional
guitars were rhythm instruments.
With a National, guitarists could move from rear stage forward. They could make
themselves heard. In the early 1930s, the Dopyeras
and National .split, and it was
years before the family would reacquire
the company. In the interim,
the brothers came out with
another resonator guitar, with an
inexpensive plywood body and a
more effective resonator. They
sold these through ihc Dobro Co.
Dobros, as the guitars became genetically
known, pleased both the pocketbook
and the ear and soon grew
popular with pros and amateurs
alike.

Most guitar players learn to play
out of love of music, but Flora resident Matt
Kingery appreciates the instrument that produces
the sounds he loves. To Kingery, every
guitar has its "very own sound and lone," and
he says there's a good reason for this.
Kingery has been making electric guitars for
the past two years. He starts from scratch, at the
lumber yard, choosing materials that he says,
"makes all the difference in the world," in the
process of creating the sound he wants his finished
product, a custom-made electric guitar, to
make.

Whether it sounds like "ringin' a bell" as
Chuck Berry described in "Johnny B. Goode" or
like a soft cry, as in George Harrison's, "While
my Guitar Gently Weeps," Kingery knows how
to develop the sound.

"I can change the sound by using heavier
wood on the body of the guitar," said Kingery.
"Maple makes a brighter sound because it's a
hard wood, a sound something like Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitars made.
"Eric Clapton, on the other hand, started out
with a rich sounding guitar, probably
mahogany. The wood is porous and produces a
more rich and mellow sound," he added.

Kingery's guitars are styled from the three
traditional body shapes: Les Paul, Stratocaster
and the Telecaster. These instruments are solid
with the electronics located on the outside of
the body. He pointed to a guitar on display on
the wall of Applebee's Restaurant "Now, that
one is a semi-hollow body guitar."

Electricity filled the showroom of the Guitar
Center Wednesday night in Arlington
Heights. And not just from the amps fueled
by all the electric guitars in stock.
The finals of the so-called Guitarmaged- '
don, or the ultimate guitar showdown, took
place on a stage set up in the middle of the
showroom. Similar showdowns"took place
Wednesday night at the 75 Guitar Centers
across the country, including three other
Chicagolarid stores
"One of our goals is to get the guitar play-
,ers back, in the forefront," 'said John Sabb,
assistant manager of the Guitar-Center in
'Arlington Heights. "In the'80s you heard a
lot of guitar sdlos, but in today's music the
guitars are in the background. We're trying
to change that."
During the month of June, guitarists playing
different styles competed m playoffs for
the chance to. represent the store at the regional level this Sunday.That competition
takes place at6:30 pjn. at Joe's on "
Weed Street on the Near North Side of
Chicago. In" all, 12 contestants will vie for the Midwest
title for a berth to the national show-
-down later this month in Boston.
Wednesday night four finalists went up
against each other. Surrounded by neariy
50 fans, with electric'guitars hanging from .
the rafters, the contestants gave.it theirl .
best shot They included Michael Daiiz, 23,
of Schaumburg playing classical guitar; :
Tim Seisser, 17, of Arlington Heights play-
mgtess guitar; SaarSchnitmah. 18, of
Chicago playing electric guitar; and Shawn
Maxfield, 24, of Sterling playing electric guir
tar. "Ifeej honored to be here," said Seisser,
who plays bass in the Rolling Meadows
Jazz Band. 'There's a lot of musical energy
here?' Each guitarist played a three-minute solo;
They performed for the audience, fcs well as
a panel of three professional judges. They
included Steve Kikoen, owner of the Guitar
Studio of Arlington Heights; John Monaco,
lead guitarist with the band Enuf s Enuf;
and Lane Kerr,: a representative from .
Fender Music Co. Judges looked at their
. originality, creativity, technique, performance,
stage presence, continuity and
audience reaction.
'1 don't expect to win, but I'm trying to
show people that classical guitar can hold
its own in this Mhd of competition," Danz •
said. "Classical guitars are sqrt of thought
of as the ugly stepsister of guitars, but it
really .does have a beautiful place in music."
Three of the four finalists played a varied
repertoire, mixing styles and versatility in
their segment. Only Maxfield played a song
from beginning to end. . .
On his neon yellow Ibanez Jem guitar,
designed by famed guitarist Steve Vai, Maxfield
played a hip variation of the national
anthem. He went on to be named the win-
ner, followed by Danz and Schnitman and
Seisser who tied for third place. "
"I'm shocked," said Maxfield, a computer
serviceman by day. 'Tna not in a band or
anything, I write music and play guitar. I
just like to play." Guitar Center officials
thought his selection for the store title was
fitting. Beyond showcasing talented guitarists,
they see the showdown as a way to
bring more musicians in. "We want to let
guitar players know that this is the place for
them to come," said sales clerk Paul Buschbacher.
"We want them to feel like they can
come in here to play

Many of us have items we love to miss. These are things we feel we can't do without, but forget about once we have them for awhile. After the newness dulls, these things are put away and forgotten. Months later (perhaps years), a sporadic yearning will come upon us to take these items out of storage and put them to use.

Such was the case of the missing Stortz guitar. For years, that guitar was shuffled from house to house and from state to state. About two years ago, I felt the need to play. Without much thought, I went to the closet to dig out the instrument. It wasn't there. I searched every closet but found no guitar. I came to the conclusion that I didn't have it. Insistently, I searched my parent's house for the guitar but to no avail. I decided it was still at my oldest brother's house. Mom insistently told me that either I had it or that a friend had borrowed it and failed to return it. Deciding that it had fallen into the universal layer (the same place socks go after being put in the dryer) and never to be found, I forgot about my need to s t r um a few notes. Nevertheless, I wished all along I had the instrument. I hadn't seen it for over two years.

It wasn't until the weather turned cold last week that 1 was digging in the closet (one that measures 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep and as tall as the room) when I discovered that the lost was found. The black textured case looked just the same as I recalled. I wrapped my fingers around ilie handle and hoisted it into the open near the couch and set in on the floor. I loosened the latches, opened the case and lifted out the instrument. Everything was in tact. The old thing hadn't changed at all. I sat on the couch and set the guitar on my lap. Hesitantly, I strummed my thumb across the strings. The instrument was out of tune, but in some strange way it was a beautiful sound. I played that guitar for the rest of the
night, trying to remember the right finger positions for the various notes.

The blue punch tape with my name on it was as legible as ever on the case. Looking close, one could tell that the name tag had been placed over another. That old guitar (I have no idea what Mom paid for it in 1977) got its wear starling with my oldest brother when he was in the seventh grade. He enrolled in a two-year program at some school. Karl had the guitar to himself for one year until my next oldest brother, Jim showed an interest in strumming. Therefore, the brothers shared the guitar for one year. Scott had it for a year all to himself. Then it was passed on to me. Part of Family Tradition. I can't recall having much an interest in playing the guitar, but it almost seemed tradition that all the kids in the family would take guitar lessons. Maybe it was because the lessons came once a week during school hours and guitar class was more attractive than the alternative However, I can't recall what the alternative was. Perhaps it was because my brothers never spent time practicing and I wanted to prove a point that if I tried something I'd stick with it However, I can't recall practicing much myself or becoming very proficient.

Nevertheless, I took lessons for two years. From St. Louis to Nebraska, Back to St. Louis, To Marcelme... Waynesville... Chillicothe...but when I entered high school, the black case sat dormant. When my oldest brother started elementary teaching at a parochial school in Nebraska,
he though it would be a good idea to have the guitar at his disposal to use whenever he wanted. He kept it for a couple years, getting very limited use out of it. His ideas of playing for the students remained mostly in his mind Knowing this, I decided I could get more use out of the old guitar. So, at a family reunion, the guitar changed hands.

I've been practicing on-and-off ever since, trying out more guitar lessons (including online/downloadable lessons), and toying with the idea of starting a noobish band with some friends. And now I'm blogging about it. Hooray!