Join our musical explorer snail mail club. Get monthly letters in your mailbox that boost your musical knowledge and spark your passion. Adventure awaits.
Become a Founding MemberJoin our musical explorer snail mail club. Get monthly letters in your mailbox that boost your musical knowledge and spark your passion. Adventure awaits.
Become a Founding MemberDavid writes the way he teaches, by telling the human stories behind the topic. It might be an instrument with a surprising history, an artist you haven't heard of yet, or a genre that quietly shaped everything that came after it. By the end you are curious about sounds and songs and artists you never knew to look for.
Included in the letter is a collectible card: a photograph of a real instrument from Mr. David's large collection, numbered sequentially, with quick facts on the back. Somewhere in every photo, one of his Beatles figures is hiding. David will tell you that making these cards is a great excuse to keep buying more instruments. His wife may have a different opinion.
David loves introducing his students to music they haven't heard before. The playlist is his way of doing that at scale: songs to discover, performances worth watching, and context that makes the listening more interesting. He opens with a video about what he picked and what to listen for. A playlist card in the envelope has the QR code so you can start right away.
Sign up for $12/month. You can cancel at any time, but why would you want to? Another musical adventure will be coming your way every month!
Soon after you join, David will send you a welcome letter telling you all about the music explorer club. He'll also include a reference card introducing the five instrument families to establish a common vocabulary for his monthly letters.
Every month a new envelope shows up with a letter full of music history, artist stories, and the kind of context that makes you hear everything differently. The letter also includes a collectible musical instrument card and a playlist that matches that month's theme.
Music is always more exciting when you understand its context. This club is my chance to share the stories behind the music I love, and maybe inspire other people to fall in love with music too.
David Stemmle (known as Mr. David to his younger students) teaches guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, and brass in Durham, NC. He also runs the Instrument Explorer series, where students get hands-on time with instruments from his personal collection of 230 from around the world.
Every time David buys an instrument or album, or learns a new song to teach, he goes deep on the research behind it. He has been collecting instruments, musical knowledge, and the background stories for over 30 years. He loves bringing that knowledge to his teaching, and Notes from Mr. David is his way of sharing that with people who aren't in his classroom.
First mailing ships early summer 2026. Sign up today and lock in your founding member spot.
Become a Founding MemberDomestic shipping only. International coming soon.