Live Out Your Singer/Songwriter Dreams with the Albrecht Music Library's Martin Guitar

Hey, did you know that the Albrecht Music Library has a guitar you can borrow? As in a real, honest-to-goodness, hand-made, six-string guitar? As in a Martin guitar like Elvis, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and the Beatles used?

Well, it’s true. The Albrecht Music Library is an amazing space at Penn. As Liza Vick, the Head of the Otto E. Albrecht Music Library and Eugene Ormandy Music and Media Center, says, “With the new emphasis on Penn being a destination for the arts, we love providing creativity tools." Ormandy Center staff members Catherine Rutan and Eric Krewson have taken note of requests for acoustic instruments, and they both report that a guitar is the item most frequently requested. Liza remarks that, “For years, the Music Library has loaned not just sound recordings, music scores, and books, but also a few electronic musical instruments.”

The Martin D-10E guitar is the first acoustic instrument you can borrow from the Music Library. For Liza, the guitar is “an instrument that is relatively easy to learn, handle and play and is durable enough for us to maintain.” Eric adds, “I was attracted to the guitar because of all you can do with it: you can play a melody, or multiple melodies, simultaneously; you can play tone clusters and chords; and, importantly for me, you can accompany yourself singing.” Catherine and Eric describe the sound of our new Martin guitar as sweet and mellow, pleasant sounding, and easy to play. If you fancy more of a punchy, power rock sound, we have you covered. The Martin D-10E has electric pick-ups built right in, so you can easily plug it in to your favorite guitar amp and rock out!

Borrowing the guitar is almost as easy as borrowing a sound recording. Come to the Ormandy Music and Media Center, which is part of the Albrecht Music Library, and is housed in Room 424 at the west end of the fourth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Ask Catherine or Eric to bring you the guitar. Show your valid Penn ID, and you’ll soon be on your way. Need picks, a guitar strap, or a capo (a small, removeable clamp placed across all the strings to raise the pitch)? We have those, too! Need music to play, or tutorials to help you learn? Catherine and Eric are more than happy to point out those resources to you, many of which are also available in the Music Library.  

So what are you waiting for? Whether you’re a seasoned troubadour or you’ve never held a guitar, come to the Ormandy Center of the Albrecht Music Library and try out the Martin guitar.