Inspire, Play, Discover: Helping Children Explore Music at the Museum

As we head into fall, field trips to the museum are increasing, and we find ourselves asking, and reminding each other, “How do we best interpret the museum for our younger visitors?”

While the primary audience for our museum is adults with an appreciation for music, the museum is also a space for kids of all ages to enjoy and to learn. For the younger visitors, the displays come alive in perhaps different ways than they do for our adult visitors.

For young students, learning how instruments produce sound is a primary talking point. Did you know that everything that makes sound must first have a vibration? Instruments in different families use different methods to produce that vibration. Our school facilitators might be heard asking, “How do you think this instrument produces sound?” “What family of instruments would this belong to? Does it have strings? Keys? An ice cream cone-shaped mouthpiece? Is it electronic?"

For older students, the themes might be slightly different. "Did you know there are many steps to making a musical instrument? Or that there are hundreds of career paths in the world of music? How does the maker of an instrument work with a musician to improve the instrument over time? How does the popularity of a certain style of music affect instrument manufacture, invention, or improvement?"

For all visitors, regardless of age, one of the favorite things about our museum is the ability to play some very special instruments. Our gallery attendants point out to children (of all ages) that the instruments behind the silver cords are not to be touched, while there are many stations throughout the museum where there are instruments that absolutely can and should be touched! Our tour guides explain to the students that the instruments behind the cords are on display to teach our visitors about the history of musical products but the instruments that are not behind the cords were donated to the museum specifically for the purpose of allowing visitors to experience the musical products. No matter the age, we understand the magic of that experience and are so appreciative that we can share that with even our very youngest visitors.

The next time you visit the museum, don’t hesitate to ask our volunteers for guidance with introducing concepts to children and for help playing the many interactive instruments. They love to be creative, and they love seeing the reactions of kids when they touch an instrument. Sometimes, for the very first time!