The Many Names of a Music Shop

Music shop owners often go to great lengths to choose a distinctive and memorable name. After all, the name above the door is the brand: it appears on the website, the bags, the receipts and, with luck, in the minds of musicians for years to come.

Musicians, however, have a long tradition of quietly renaming shops for themselves.

To some customers, we are simply “the music shop”. To others, we are “the guitar shop”, “the ukulele shop” or even “the violin shop”. The name a customer uses often reflects their own musical interests. A guitarist notices the guitars first, while a ukulele player heads straight for the ukulele wall. We also sell kazoos, although nobody has yet called us “the kazoo shop”. Perhaps the kazoo is rarely their main instrument.

A shop by any other name

Most serious musical instrument shops sell far more than one type of instrument, so they can acquire many unofficial names. In years gone by, when a town might have several music shops, musicians sometimes added a landmark to make things clear: the one by the bus stop, the one next to the barber’s or the one around the corner from the market.

Interestingly, players of traditional instruments often seem more likely to say “the music shop” than “the flute shop” or “the violin shop”. Even the phrase music shop can be ambiguous, because it might describe a shop selling vinyl records and CDs rather than instruments. “Musical instrument shop” is more precise, but it is rather a mouthful. Whatever customers choose to call us, there are certainly worse things than being known as the guitar shop, the ukulele shop or, for completeness, the violin shop.

As a general musical instrument shop, Music Bits Company is all of those things.

Why variety matters in a musical instrument shop

We aim to stock the widest practical variety of musical instruments and accessories that we can physically manage. Instruments, much like musicians, seem more at home in company. A good music shop should feel a little like a band: different voices, different roles and plenty of character. Although no band needs two lead guitarists competing through endless solos, it does need variety.

That is why electric guitars, acoustic guitars, classical guitars and bass guitars sit happily side by side. Each has its own sound, playing style and personality. Yet even the most dedicated guitarist can be drawn towards the ukulele collection. Most will not admit it, but they all look, and quite a few eventually buy one.

One instrument often leads to another

Musicians are naturally curious. Someone who plays one stringed instrument is often drawn to another, and many guitarists experiment with a banjo, mandolin, bouzouki or another traditional folk instrument at some point. Moving between fretted instruments introduces new tunings, chord shapes, rhythms and techniques. It is not a distraction from musical development; it is part of it.

There is no harm in trying something new. In fact, it is excellent for growth as a musician. When we stop experimenting, listening and learning, we risk standing still. A new instrument can change the way we understand an old one.

The same curiosity crosses instrument families. A piano or keyboard player may decide to take up the saxophone, which can be very useful when a band needs another melodic voice. A guitarist might add a harmonica, and some musicians even play guitar and harmonica at the same time with a harmonica shoulder rest. Think Bob Dylan.

A violinist may explore viola, a drummer may try hand percussion, and a guitarist may discover banjo or mandolin. Players can move from keyboards and pianos to brass or woodwind, or from violins to other bowed strings. Along the way there are trumpets, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, recorders, whistles, accordions, melodeons, drums, cymbals, glockenspiels and countless other sounds waiting to be explored. There are a growing number of multi-instrumentalists out there (too much talent!).

More than a guitar shop, ukulele shop or violin shop

This is why Music Bits Company is, and will always aim to be, a general musical instrument shop. Naturally, we stock more of the most popular instruments because that is good business and helps us offer customers a useful choice. But popularity will never be our only guide. Variety matters.

We also work hard to bring together staff knowledge across as many instruments as possible. No individual can be an expert in everything, but a music shop should be able to help beginners choose their first instrument, support experienced players looking for something specific and encourage curious musicians who want to branch out.

So call us the music shop, the guitar shop, the ukulele shop or the violin shop. We are happy with all of them. They each describe one part of what we do, but together they tell the fuller story: Music Bits Company is a place for musical instruments, accessories, advice and discovery, with as much variety as we can fit through the door.