Musical Instrument Museum — Attraction in Phoenix

This museum is absolutely incredible—there’s so much to see that I felt like I couldn’t fit it all in my head! The collection is vast, beautifully curated, and filled with treasures from all over the world and across time. After four hours of exploring, I was happily oversaturated with sights, sounds, and stories.

The tour uses a location-aware headphone system. They were crucial to enjoying the museum. I suspect it would be possible to connect to your own wired headphones instead of the museum provided set. Still, those were more than adequate and the sound experience was pretty seamless.

Some highlights include an interactive room where you can play various instruments, and a room with mechanical players featuring an awe-inspiring mechanical orchestra that performs daily at 12 and 3. There’s also an exhibit showcasing items from famous musicians, spanning Johnny Cash, Elvis, Taylor Swift, and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, which was a big hit with the whole family.

We also paid for the Stradivarius exhibit, and it was absolutely amazing. It showcases the evolution of the violin in stunning detail, and the docent brought so much history and context to life. While I highly recommend this exhibit, as first-time visitors, I realize we could have skipped it and still felt like we’d seen a full and fulfilling museum. As it was, we went there first, and while it was incredible, the rest of the museum already offered so much to absorb.

If you’re planning a visit, I recommend starting with your area of interest since it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of what’s on display. For example, I might have started with North American music first rather than jumping into the global galleries. That said, I saw so many amazing things I didn’t even know existed, so no matter where you begin, you’ll be blown away.

Just know that you won’t absorb this museum in one day—it’s an experience worth returning for. Highly recommended for families, music lovers, and anyone curious about the world. This is truly a gem that celebrates the universal language of music.

Possibly my favorite...

Need an indoor rainy day idea? We finally visited the famous MIM, Musical Instrument Museum. We've lived miles away for years but have waited until the kids were but older to enjoy it. The museum is large! We spent 5 1/2 hours but could have spent a couple of days to see, and listen to, and read everything. I love music, but I can only imagine that a true musician would be in heaven! Everyone is given a headset that will automatically play as you near the displays. It's a relaxing existing a you wander and hear different sounds from around the world. The main galleries are organized by country and display multiple instruments, costumes, photos, and videos from each place. Peeking in the conservation lab was fascinating to witness as they work to restore and preserve priceless instruments. Probably the most popular gallery was the Artist gallery. Many musicians throughout different decades are displayed in their own little "shrines". It was fun to see the kids get excited to spot the artists they recognized like Taylor Swift and Elvis. Nana enjoyed showing them one of her favorites, John Denver, as we listened to him sing This Old Guitar and look at the actual guitar that inspired the song. The kids loved the"Experience gallery" where they could touch and play all different kinds of instruments. Their interest wasn't held in all areas, I'll admit, but Rori (6 yo) really was drawn to the music boxes and dolls in the Mechanical Music gallery. We also kept them interested and searching to read the plaques by instruments to find what different Sinai sounds they were made from (cow, sheep, pig, goat, camel, and even manta ray!) Mom and I really enjoyed the quality of food in Cafe Allegro. The green chive Mac and cheese was so good, get bbq chicken Flatbread was yummy and my fried chicken sandwich was basic but had great flavor. The kids picked hot dogs and treats from the...

The staff is very unpleasant. From the moment we entered the museum, I was turned off to the experience. The ticketing staff had no humor, no joy. They didnt offer a map or give any info about the museum's layout. We were also treated like criminals for bringing in a water bottle. We didnt know it was not allowed. The lady was practically grabbing it out of my hand as I was drinking it, prior to leaving it with her for safekeeping. I couldn't even put the cap on and she already had taken it back out of my hand. This all occurred by the ticketing desk, nowhere near any exhibits. The whole attitude was just very off-putting. The museum houses an impressive collection of instruments, but the presentation and layout is highly repetitive. The signage mainly shows name of instrument, name of maker. With such a vast collection, you come away overloaded by names and dates, but entirely lacking in history and significance. I don't feel I learned much today. I would not return here. The elitist vibe is unwelcoming. It was also inconvenient to carry around headphones and a little box to be able to listen to everything on the tv's. I understand the purpose, though. Lastly, I felt the selections of music playing on the headphones/music performances on the tv's were, well.... odd choices. How were those specific examples chosen to represent the music of various countries? The music clips tended towards the bizarre and almost primitive. It felt like the curators were going for shock and awe, not really picking the most representative or even pleasing selections. A lot of the recordings were downright difficult to listen to. I felt the museum tried so hard to cover every corner of the globe that they sacrificed delving into any one theme. The lack of historical connections was noticeable. Instrument, Instrument, instrument.... but what meaning or purpose...