🎸🎺 May 22 – Buy a Musical Instrument Day: Strike a Chord and Embrace Your Inner Rockstar 🎤🥁
The origins of Buy a Musical Instrument Day are a bit fuzzy—kind of like your first attempt at tuning a violin—but rumor has it this melodic holiday may honor the birthday of Mary Had a Little Lamb composer Lowell Mason, born May 22, 1792. A man of many notes (literally), Mason was a major player in bringing music education to public schools in the U.S. So yeah, you can thank him for that one time you squeaked out “Hot Cross Buns” on the recorder in 3rd grade. 🎶🧁
Affiliate Disclosure
Just so you know, this post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click through and buy something, I might earn a tiny commission—enough to keep the lights on and maybe snag a celebratory cupcake. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, pinky promise.
🎷Fun (and Slightly Offbeat) Facts About Musical Instruments
The world’s oldest known musical instrument? A 40,000-year-old flute made from bird bone. So yes, your prehistoric ancestors were basically the original indie band. 🦴🎵
There’s a museum in Sweden dedicated entirely to failures, and yes, it includes some pretty strange instruments that never caught on. (Looking at you, Sordun.) 😅
Harps are the national instrument of Ireland, Paraguay, and... Burma. Unexpected trio, but okay. ☘️🌎
🥁 10+ Quirky Ways to Celebrate Buy a Musical Instrument Day
Buy a Weird One – Skip the guitar and go for something gloriously niche like a theremin, ocarina, or singing bowl. ✨🌀
Start a “One-Person Band” Challenge – Drum with your feet, strum with your hands, and strap a harmonica to your face. You are the concert now. 👣🎸👄
Thrift Store Treasure Hunt – Hunt for a dusty old banjo or accordion in your local thrift shop. Bonus points if it smells faintly of mothballs and magic. 🪕👃
Rent Before You Commit – Not ready for a full relationship with a cello? Try a musical instrument rental! You’ll avoid the guilt if things don’t work out. 🎻💔
Learn One Song—Badly – Pick your anthem (perhaps Bohemian Rhapsody?) and learn just enough to confuse people, not impress them. 😆🎤
Host a Mini Jam Session – Invite friends over, BYOI (Bring Your Own Instrument), and make some joyful noise. Cowbells welcome. 🎉🔔
DIY Instrument Crafting – Shoebox guitars. Water bottle maracas. Rubber band banjos. Unleash your inner five-year-old and build a band from recyclables. ♻️🎶
Musical Flash Mob (Kinda) – Grab your new instrument and serenade strangers in a park. Unexpected kazoo solos? Yes, please. 🎵🛹
Dress Like Your Musical Hero – Whether it’s Prince, Dolly, Bowie, or Beyoncé, channel your inner icon and strut around with confidence and eyeliner. 💄🕶️ Check out our themed t-shirt in our Etsy store!
Name Your Instrument – Because everything's better with a name. Say hello to “Clarence the Clarinet” or “Drumbo Baggins.” 🎷🧙
Use Your Instrument in Non-Musical Ways – Turn your trumpet into a vase. Use your ukulele as a cheese board. Art, baby. 🎺🧀
🎻 Theme: “A Symphony in the Kitchen”
Imagine: You're surrounded by vintage records, twinkling lights, a mandolin on the wall, maybe someone’s noodling on a ukulele in the corner. Dinner is served on mismatched plates like a jam session of flavors. Everything feels like an impromptu concert of taste.
🎼 Main Dish: Stuffed Shells Crescendo
Stuffed pasta shells in a three-part harmony of ricotta, spinach, and lemon zest, baked in a tomato-cream duet.
Ingredients:
12–16 jumbo pasta shells
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup cooked spinach (chopped + squeezed dry)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
Salt + pepper
1 cup marinara + 1/2 cup heavy cream (or use a vodka sauce for extra oomph)
Instructions:
Cook shells until al dente and set aside.
Mix ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, lemon zest, egg, and seasoning in a bowl.
Stuff shells with filling and nestle them into a baking dish.
Mix marinara and cream together and pour over the shells.
Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20–25 minutes, until bubbly and golden.
Optional: Top with a few basil leaves and a dusting of extra Parmesan before serving—aka the encore.
🥗 Side: Melody Salad with Balsamic Crescendo
A salad that hits all the right notes: sweet, savory, crunchy, tangy.
Ingredients:
Arugula + baby spinach
Sliced pears or apples
Crumbled goat cheese
Toasted walnuts or candied pecans
Dried cranberries
Balsamic reduction or fig vinaigrette
Toss it all together like you're mixing a track—layer by layer.
🍷 Drink: The Highball Harmony (Mocktail or Cocktail)
Sparkling grape juice, rosemary, lemon, and optional gin—a sip of something smooth and surprising.
Ingredients:
Sparkling white grape juice or tonic water
Lemon slices
Fresh rosemary sprig
Ice
Optional: 1 oz gin per glass
Build over ice and stir with the rosemary sprig. Bonus if you serve it in a vintage glass while making eye contact with your cat like you’re in a French arthouse film.
🕯 Bonus Vibe:
Light a candle in an empty wine bottle.
Queue up a moody jazz or acoustic playlist.
Place a tambourine on the table. Will anyone play it during dessert? Who knows.
🎼 ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM IDEA 🎨🎵
Instrument Pet Profiles 🐾🎻
Students "adopt" an instrument (real or imaginary) and create a profile: name, favorite genre, what it's made of, how it sounds, etc. Great for creative writing and descriptive language!
🎸 SECONDARY CLASSROOM IDEA 🎤📚
Music & Math: Decoding Frequencies 📈🎧
Dive into the math of sound waves and frequency. Explore how instruments produce different pitches, then graph or analyze wave patterns.
🎺 Quirky in the Workplace
Office Gong of Decision-Making
Every time someone solves a problem or finishes a task, they get to hit the ceremonial office gong (or just slap a pie tin hanging from a ceiling tile).
🎬 Movie Pick: August Rush (2007)
Why it fits: A young musical prodigy uses his talent and an old guitar to find his long-lost parents. The film is overflowing with music, from street performances to symphonies, and shows how an instrument can become a compass for the soul.
Bonus: The scene where he discovers a guitar for the first time? Pure music magic.
📺 TV Episode: The Office – “Andy’s Play” (Season 7, Episode 3)
Why it fits: Andy Bernard, ever the musical dreamer, lands a role in a local production of Sweeney Todd. His musical theater obsession and awkward passion for a capella singing highlight the hilariously earnest (and sometimes tragic) journey of musical expression.
Alt pick:
📺 Glee – Pilot episode (Season 1, Episode 1)
Where the high school misfits find their voice—literally—and the power of music begins with just a few instruments and a dream.
🎧 Final Notes
Whether you’re musically gifted or just really, really enthusiastic, Buy a Musical Instrument Day is all about embracing creativity, noise, and a little bit of chaos. So treat yourself. Add some strings, keys, or bells to your life—and let the off-key concert begin. 💃🎹
📣 Hashtags to Jam With
#BuyAMusicalInstrumentDay #SoundtrackOfLife #QuirkyHoliday #PlayItLoud #MusicalMayhem #UnlikelyRockstar #KazooCrew #DIYBand #CelebrateQuirky #InstrumentalVibes 🎺🎸🎤
