As I have a collection of musical instruments from the various countries (mostly South-East Asia) that I've travelled in, all artistically attractive and none over about twenty dollars Canadian, I have no compunctions about displaying them.

There are Malaysian and Thai bamboo flutes, a Chinese ar-hu (Asian violin), a Korean hand drum, a Taiwanese drum rattle, and a couple of other oddments... all lined up along the basement stairway wall (insulated and drywalled), with a Korean poster showing a Chinese orchestra in calligraphic style at the centre of the collection. Very artsy, and very inspiring - as indeed it reminds me to take them down off the wall and practise often!

And not only me - my 21-month old daughter, an aspiring musician, will ask me almost daily, "Mama, p'ay biolin, p'ease? P'ay Mama's biolin?" Or possibly 'dwum' or 'weecorder', but the violin is the favorite.

"Be ca'full," she reminds me solemnly as I take it off the wall, parroting my oft-repeated warning. "Kaf'rine be ca'full!"

Yes, she needs help to keep the bow from sagging, and her little fingers repositioned, and it makes a sound like a cat being forced to do aerobics, but it's worth it to see the delight she takes in 'making music like Mama' - and in getting a sound out of the recorder and remembering to put her small thumb over the bottom hole - in finding 'Middle C' on the electronic keyboard correctly - in trying to repeat a rhythm I've tapped out on the drum for her - in naming a melody I've just played on the flute.   

So maybe an outside basement wall isn't the best place for a two-thousand dollar guitar... but I don't think I'd care, if keeping it hermetically sealed deprived the world of another music-lover and potential musician....   :)