This list of music museums offers a guide to museums worldwide that specialize in the domain of music. These institutions are dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of music-related history, including the lives and works of prominent musicians, the evolution and variety of musical instruments, and other aspects of the world of music. The list includes both existing and historical museums. This list is not exhaustive.
dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven
dedicated to Anton Bruckner
dedicated to Johannes Brahms or Joseph Haydn
dedicated to Gustav Mahler
dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or family members
dedicated to Franz Schubert
dedicated to the Strauss family
dedicated to Arnold Schoenberg
dedicated to other composers
dedicated to Antonín Dvořák
dedicated to Leoš Janáček
dedicated to Bedřich Smetana
dedicated to other composers
dedicated to Frédéric Chopin
dedicated to other musicians
Other museums
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amassed one of the world's most extensive musical collections.
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
The music of Milan has ancient roots. The Ambrosian chants are among the first codified music in Western culture, which fact led to the later development of its concept of scales, for example. In more recent history, the city of Milan has been an important social, cultural, political and commercial center not just in Italy, but in all of Europe.
Josep Guinovart i Bertran was a Spanish painter best known for his informalist or abstract expressionist work.
The Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica is a music museum and music library in the Palazzo Aldini Sanguinetti, in the historic center of Bologna, Italy.
Ernesto De Pascale was a well-known Italian music journalist and independent producer. He played piano and sang and started making music in his early teens.
The Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña is a museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that showcases the development of Puerto Rican music, with displays of Taíno, Spanish, and African musical instruments that were played in the romantic danza genre, the favorite music of 19th-century Puerto Rican high society, as well as the more African-inspired bomba and plena styles. Also on display are memorabilia of composers and performers. The Museum traces the rich musical history of Puerto Rico through memorabilia of prominent musicians and displays of the musical instruments associated with the three genres of music that originated in this Caribbean island.
The Museum of the Asturian People is a museum in Gijón, Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is an open-air artspace containing Asturian popular art installations, large ethnographic items, and three buildings:
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) is located in Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in April 2010, it is the largest museum of its type in the world. The collection of over 15,000 musical instruments and associated objects includes examples from nearly 200 countries and territories, representing every inhabited continent. Some larger countries such as the United States, Mexico, India, China, and Brazil have multiple displays with subsections for different types of ethnic, folk, and tribal music.
Alfonso Noel Lovo is a Nicaraguan composer and guitarist.
The Museu de la Música de Barcelona is a museum in Barcelona, Spain that houses a collection of musical instruments from around the world as well as biographical documents, from ancient civilisations to new technologies from the 21st century. The museum collection comprises 2000 musical instruments, 500 of which are on display, including one of the best guitar collections of the world. The museum covers historical, conservational and research aspects and promotes the city’s musical heritage.
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame is an independent organization whose mission is to educate and to celebrate, preserve, promote, and present rhythm and blues music globally.
Ray Quarles Edenton was an American guitarist and country music session musician.
The Museum of Portuguese Music is a small museum housed in the Casa Verdades de Faria in Estoril, municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It contains a collection of Portuguese musical instruments and other items, as well as a music documentation centre, and is also used for recitals.