Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Musical Instrument Museum

Established	April 2010
Location	4725 E. Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix, Arizona
Type	musical instruments

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) is a super cool place in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened in April 2010 and is the biggest museum of its kind in the whole world! Imagine a place with over 15,000 musical instruments and related items. These come from almost 200 countries and territories, showing music from every continent where people live. Some larger countries like the United States, Mexico, India, China, and Brazil have many displays. These displays show different types of local, folk, and tribal music.

Discover the Musical Instrument Museum

Main entrance to the Musical Instrument Museum

Street view of the Musical Instrument Museum

The museum was started by Robert J. Ulrich. He used to be the CEO of Target Corporation. Robert Ulrich loved collecting African art and visiting museums around the world. He and his friend Marc Felix got the idea after visiting a similar museum in Brussels, Belgium. The museum's design also got ideas from the Musée de la Musique in Paris, which was updated in 1997.

The modern building is huge, covering about 200,000 square feet. It has two floors filled with amazing galleries. Building the museum cost over $250 million. For each country's exhibit, you'll see a flat-screen video. It shows local musicians playing their traditional instruments. You can listen to these performances using a wireless headset. It turns on automatically when you are near an exhibit.

The museum also has a theater with 299 seats for concerts. These concerts usually happen after the museum closes for the day. Famous violinist Joshua Bell even recorded his album "French Impressions" there in 2011. There's also a cafe where you can eat inside or outside. Many musical artists have performed at MIM. These include Martha Reeves, Lyle Lovett, Wanda Jackson, Jordin Sparks, Ronnie Spector, Altan, Ramsey Lewis, and George Benson.

Explore the Museum's Layout

First floor of the Musical Instrument Museum

Musical instruments hanging from the ceiling

Floor representing the countries exhibited in the museum

Child playing a "Gong" in the Experience Gallery

Ground Floor Fun

• The Artist Gallery: This gallery shows instruments, concert videos, photos, and even performance outfits. These items belong to famous musicians and music creators. You can see exhibits for artists like Elvis Presley, Pablo Casals, John Lennon, King Sunny Adé, and Taylor Swift.
• The Experience Gallery: This is a hands-on gallery for all ages! You can touch, play, and hear different instruments from many cultures. It's a great place to try playing something new.
• The Mechanical Music Gallery: Here you'll find instruments that "play themselves." This includes player pianos, mechanical zithers, and music boxes with cylinders.
• The Target Gallery: This gallery hosts special traveling shows and changing exhibitions. It adds new and exciting displays to the museum's regular collection.
• The Conservation Lab: Through a large window, you can watch experts at work. They are taking care of and preserving the museum's valuable collection.
• Café Allegro: Open for lunch, this cafe serves a different menu each day. You can find global foods, local dishes, grilled items, fresh soups, salads, and desserts.
• Museum Store: The store is open every day during museum hours. You can buy gift cards, books, CDs, instruments, handmade gifts, and other musical items.
• MIM Music Theater: This concert hall hosts many concerts. Artists from all over the world perform here.

Upper Level Adventures

The upper level has the Geographical Galleries. These galleries focus on five main world regions. They show ethnic, tribal, and folk musical instruments from different parts of the world.

• The Africa and Middle East Gallery: This area displays instruments and artifacts from countries in Africa and the Middle East.
• The Asia and Oceania Gallery: Here you'll find instruments from countries and islands in Asia and Oceania. It has five smaller sections for different regions.
• The Europe Gallery: In this gallery, you'll see instruments from Europe. These range from old charter horns and foot-operated drum kits to a child's vessel flute.
• The Latin America Gallery: This gallery features instruments and musical groups from Latin America. It has three smaller sections for South America, Central America and Mexico, and the Caribbean.
• The United States/Canada Gallery: Here, you can see instruments that helped shape music in North America. These include the Appalachian dulcimer, sousaphone, ukulele, and electric guitar. There are also special exhibits on American instrument makers like Fender, Martin, and Steinway.

Museum Galleries Showcase

The Geographic galleries of the museum show instruments and exhibits. They focus on the five major world regions.

The Artist Gallery at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix is where you can see clothes worn by many singers. You can also see and hear the original instruments played by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Carlos Santana, Tito Puente, Taylor Swift and many other artists from around the world.