When you stop in Anoka, there are many unique small businesses located on Main Street, including Lyric Arts, Antiques nn Main, and Avant Garden to name a few. Then you have those other places in different corners of the city that may or may not have looked for. I would recommend Anoka as an essential stop if ever one travels to Minnesota. You just don’t know what to expect. For this particular instance, I didn’t know that on Second Avenue there was a small place called Mr. Mark Music, where I found a new hobby to try.

For a long time, I have known friends who play guitar. I thought, “Yeah, that’s cool” but ended up overlooking it for a while. Eventually, the majority of the music I listened to used the guitar as a staple.

When I first entered the building, which was only a few blocks away from where I live, I wasn’t too shocked by how small it was. After all, Anoka is a small world. At the counter was a young woman named Lily, I suppose in her twenties. She asked what I was looking for, and I told her I was looking for a guitar to start with. She told me to feel free and look around. The room held acoustic, electric, and flamenco guitars, and yes, even a lap steel guitar, which is the instrument used to play the closing theme for SpongeBob Squarepants.

As much as the electric guitars appealed to me, Lily shared that from her experience the acoustic is the best to start with, and honestly, it sounds better to me. She even allowed me to start playing them to see which had the best feel for me, and I found just the one. The service at the checkout was very smooth, even though I was there close to closing hour.

I eventually returned to Mr. Mark’s to purchase more items like a capo and a tuner, and Mark himself was there. He handed me a sheet of paper with the names of the strings from bottom to top order, which I wasn’t looking for but did in fact need. Nowadays, I practice when I can. As of this writing, I have improved a bit.

On the downside, Mr. Mark Music is somewhat small, as stated previously. If you are looking for non-string instruments, Schmitt Music is just around the corner. Also, the place reeks of cigarette smoke in the back, and the air smells dusty. It’s not exactly a lung-friendly place.

I highly recommend this store if you’re a new musician. You will run into the same friendly faces each time because it’s so small. Whether experienced guitarists will want to shop there, I can’t quite say yet.

In all of historic Anoka, you will love to stop at many places, but Mr. Mark Music is a must for guitarists and those who hope to be.