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Best Music Shops In Baltimore

As music is becoming a more digital affair, musicians are coming to the tragic realization that the industry is driving brick-and-mortar shops underground or out of business while people settle for audio mixing software over authentic sound and computers over actual instruments. Fortunately, Baltimore is a city who loves her music, and audiophiles who feel the uptown beat have kept the downtown music industry alive, if just barely. For those of you who still want a real-life location to go and shop for your musical instruments, here are some stores which are keeping the dream alive.
Mike's Music
4872 Montgomery Road
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 465-0700
www.mikesmusicmd.com

Mike's Music is located in the historic town of Ellicott City, just outside the bustle of Baltimore. True to the flavor of this town, Mike's shows a careful attentiveness to customer needs more akin to the Ma' and Pa' stores of yesteryear, reflective of the traditional feel which Ellicott evokes. Not only does Mike's offer sales or rentals on a hand-selected line of drums, guitars, woodwinds, brass, strings, keyboards and band instruments, but it also provide repairs and lessons.

For something different, try out Mike's Rock Band Class, where students form a rock band and learn to play and perform as a group. During the class, you and your band can perform in front of family and friends. At the end of the course, Mike's arranges a performance to let you and your band rock out in front of a live audience!

Bill's Music
743 Fredrick Road
Catonsville, MD 21228
(410) 747-1900
www.billsmusic.com

Bill's Music has a long history of offering quality instruments and lessons since the height of the rock n' roll craze in 1965. While it is located in Catonsville, people come from all over the Baltimore area to sample their astounding selection of acoustic, bluegrass and electric guitars; brass and woodwinds; drum sets; and all of their audio recording equipment and music accessories. Established and aspiring musicians may use Bill's services to purchase new and used equipment, get lessons or get repairs on their existing equipment — it even has practice rooms for bands! If you want to check it out, you can shop Bill's inventory online and then have your purchases shipped to you, or you can stop by and pick them up. But with a beautiful show floor and quality merchandise, any true musician is going to want to see Bill's place with his or her very own eyes.

Jason's Music Center
8149-B Ritchie Hwy.
Pasadena, MD 21122
(410) 777-9008
www.jasonsmusiccenter.com

Shopping for musical instruments is a pretty big affair. Shopping for a full piano may be one of the biggest music decisions you will ever make. And for making that decision, there are few better places to go in Maryland than Jason's Music Center. Jason's is a family-owned business bringing generations of experience to the table when it comes to musical knowledge. For those looking for a first-class item that will appreciate in value as it becomes a classic over time, Jason's has the finest in name-brand, import and domestic pianos. If you are looking for a low-cost item, Jason's also sells restored used pianos. Despite its small-business personal service, Jason's manages to keep costs low with a no-frills approach. It's definitely the place to go for the best local piano purchase.

Related: Best Music Schools In Maryland

Ted's Musician's Shop
11 E. Centre St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 685-4198
tedsmusiciansshop.wix.com

Ted's has been around for quite a while, and is the kind of place one would go for more "classic" music. If you are a musician who is looking for obscure instruments, difficult-to-find sheet music or help with some musical information out of the ordinary, Ted's may be the place to get it. In addition to selling instruments and music, Ted's also buys and trades, and some of its pieces are old enough to qualify as valuable antiques. Nevertheless, if you are in the market for them, Ted's will sell, or trade.

Appalachian Bluegrass Shoppe
643 Frederick Road
Catonsville, MD 21228
(410) 744-1144
www.appbluegrass.com

Maryland is sometimes called "America in Miniature." So it should be little surprise that next to the thriving hip-hop community of Baltimore lies a relaxed Bluegrass community of Catonsville. Appalachian Bluegrass Shoppe is known and respected for their quality acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins and dobros; and for the world-class, full service which they provide for these instruments. These services include sales, repairs, tuning and lessons. But you don't have to be into Bluegrass in order to take advantages of these services. If you play these instruments in any way at all, they will be happy to provide you with what they have to offer!

Related: Baltimore's Best Live Music Venues

Joel Furches is a freelance writer and researcher for The Examiner and Logos Software, and also manages his own catalog of writing on Hub Pages. Joel is on the board of directors for Ratio Christi. He has a bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Education.
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