Music & Musical Instruments

The Museum's music collections contain more than 5,000 instruments of American and European heritage. These include a quartet of 18th-century Stradivari stringed instruments, Tito Puente's autographed timbales, and the Yellow Cloud guitar that belonged to Prince, to name only a few. Music collections also include jukeboxes and synthesizers, square-dancing outfits and sheet music, archival materials, oral histories, and recordings of performances at the museum. The vast Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated Sheet Music is a remarkable window into the American past in words, music, and visual imagery. The Duke Ellington and Ruth Ellington Boatwright collections contain handwritten music compositions, sound recordings, business records, and other materials documenting the career of this renowned musician. In various ways, our collections find expression in performances of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and in other public programs.

This violin was made in the United States in the 19th century. It is an instrument of amateur construction with a neck, pegbox and scroll of commercial German origin of the same period. The name “Miles Standish” is scratched into the varnish of the back beneath the button.
Description
This violin was made in the United States in the 19th century. It is an instrument of amateur construction with a neck, pegbox and scroll of commercial German origin of the same period. The name “Miles Standish” is scratched into the varnish of the back beneath the button. There is a handwritten label inside the violin that reads “Repaired by I.B. Wilson, Music Dealer and Repairer, Moundsville, W. VA., Sept. 30th, 07 190.” This violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce, one-piece back of American burl maple cut on the slab, ribs of American maple with even medium-fine figure, neck, pegbox and scroll of faintly figured maple, and a semi-opaque brown varnish.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1800 - 1899
ID Number
MI.394503
accession number
214741
catalog number
394503
This fiddle was made in Middle Appalachia in the first half of the 20th century. This instrument is unique in its design and construction, incorporating a wooden clapper extending from beneath the end ofthe fingerboard.
Description
This fiddle was made in Middle Appalachia in the first half of the 20th century. This instrument is unique in its design and construction, incorporating a wooden clapper extending from beneath the end of
the fingerboard. The clapper is free to vibrate against the top of the fiddle, presumably created to add a buzzing or percussion effect to accompany the tune being played. The narrow body and design of
the tailpiece has no apparent accommodation for holding the fiddle between the performer's shoulder and chin.
The donor of the instrument, Mr. Wallace Kuralt, bought it at a flea market in North Carolina in the 1960s. He believes the proprietor bought the fiddle from another flea market source in or around the border between New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey. The provenance of the instrument is most likely a rural community in the mid-Atlantic region of the east coast of the United States.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1900-1950
ID Number
1992.0517.01
accession number
1992.0517
catalog number
1992.0517.01
This fiddle was made by John Castor of Piney Woods, Mississippi in 1850. This folk violin from traditional violin shape has “filled” center bouts, creating a “guitar-type” outline. The instrument bears a strengthening bar inside the body extending from bottom to top block.
Description
This fiddle was made by John Castor of Piney Woods, Mississippi in 1850. This folk violin from traditional violin shape has “filled” center bouts, creating a “guitar-type” outline. The instrument bears a strengthening bar inside the body extending from bottom to top block. This fiddle is made of a one-piece table of pine, one-piece back of irregularly figured maple, ribs of similar maple, maple (?) neck, pegbox and plain “handle” in hammer shape. The back of the fiddle bears a label that reads: “Made by John Castor, “Piney Woods” near / Woodville, Miss. in 1850. He was left / handed, and the best jig fiddler in / the whole country. Castor heard Charles / Wyn(er) (?) (a pupil of de Beriot) play and / out of gratitude gave him this violin. / Wyn(er) (?) gave it to William Feltus, he to / Thomas M. Wetherill, my brother, and / my brother to me, Mayer Wetherill / in 1857.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850
maker
Castor, John
ID Number
MI.69.14
accession number
282344
catalog number
69.14
This folk fiddle was made by Alvin Potter of Morristown, Tennessee in 1919. The body is without ornamental purfling. The f-holes have been lined in the lower wing area. The instrument is strung with metal strings.
Description
This folk fiddle was made by Alvin Potter of Morristown, Tennessee in 1919. The body is without ornamental purfling. The f-holes have been lined in the lower wing area. The instrument is strung with metal strings. The violin was acquired with the folk violin (catalog #66.411), both of which were collected from Morristown, Tennessee and said to be of local origin. This fiddle is made of a one-piece table of pine, one-piece back of slab-cut walnut, ribs, neck, pegbox and scroll of plain hardwood, and is unvarnished.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919
maker
Potter, Alvin
ID Number
MI.66.061
accession number
261087
catalog number
66.061
This folk fiddle was made in St. Mary's County, Maryland in the 19th century by an unknown maker. This fiddle and its accompanying bow are probably from the black slave cultural tradition of the American plantation.
Description
This folk fiddle was made in St. Mary's County, Maryland in the 19th century by an unknown maker. This fiddle and its accompanying bow are probably from the black slave cultural tradition of the American plantation. The instrument is made with a skin top nailed to a gourd body, and was recovered from an outbuilding of a large estate in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. This folk fiddle is made of a table of hide fastened with fifty-five iron nails to the gourd body which has two “slit” soundholes, neck of walnut with pegbox and four ash pegs, and a hardwood fingerboard and bone nut. The bow made for the fiddle is modeled after classical bow design.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
ID Number
MI.75.44
accession number
316462
catalog number
75.44
This violin was made by A.B. Calhoun in New England in 1896. Makers of folk instruments typically incorporate unusual materials, design or construction methods in building inexpensive but clever hybrid models of familiar, commercially marketed musical instruments.
Description
This violin was made by A.B. Calhoun in New England in 1896. Makers of folk instruments typically incorporate unusual materials, design or construction methods in building inexpensive but clever hybrid models of familiar, commercially marketed musical instruments. This cigar-box shaped fiddle has enlarged top and bottom blocks that also form the entire upper and lower ribs. The outline is completed by two straight side ribs nailed to these blocks. The table and back are also nailed to the end blocks, but glued along the length of the side ribs. The neck is attached by two screws.
Accompanied by a bow painted black and a fitted case painted in imitation of bird's-eye maple, the fiddle shows signs of much use in the grooved wear marks on the fingerboard. The instrument was acquired by the donor in the New England area of the United States, but there is no known written reference to the name A. B. Calhoun.
This violin is made of yellow pine, with neck, pegbox and pegs of hickory stained reddish brown, with the pegs, pegbox and fingerboard painted black.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1896
maker
Calhoun, A. B.
ID Number
1991.0706.01
accession number
1991.0706
catalog number
1991.0706.01
This Apache Fiddle was made by Chesley Goseyun Wilson in Tuscon, Arizona in 1989. Honored with a National Heritage Fellowship Award in July 1989, Chesley Wilson crafted this instrument for presentation to the Smithsonian Institution.
Description
This Apache Fiddle was made by Chesley Goseyun Wilson in Tuscon, Arizona in 1989. Honored with a National Heritage Fellowship Award in July 1989, Chesley Wilson crafted this instrument for presentation to the Smithsonian Institution. The tsii'edo'a'tl (Apache for "wood that sings") is
typically made from the agave plant and is also called ki'zh ki'zh di'hi (buzz buzz sound), which fairly describes its musical properties. It is used in social settings, especially for ceremonial and love songs.
Early documentation of the Apache fiddle is unclear. It may be aboriginal in design or modeled after European violins introduced through Spanish influence in the 19th century. While early examples (before 1920) are commonly ornamented with simple red and black geometric designs, more recent makers have incorporated more intricate and colorful decoration as seen in Chesley Wilson's work. An extensive collection of Apache fiddles is housed in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History (Department of Anthropology) and Museum of the American Indian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1989
maker
Wilson, Chesley Goseyun
ID Number
1989.0653.01
accession number
1989.0653
catalog number
1989.0653.01
This folk violin was made in Morristown, Tennessee around 1875-1899. The body of this instrument is constructed entirely of American ash, with a flat table and back. The “ribs” are sawn to shape from one solid piece of ash.
Description (Brief)
This folk violin was made in Morristown, Tennessee around 1875-1899. The body of this instrument is constructed entirely of American ash, with a flat table and back. The “ribs” are sawn to shape from one solid piece of ash. The table bears simple “S” sound-holes with ornamental dots inside the upper wings. This instrument, with slender violin shape, bears long exaggerated center bouts. The violin was acquired with the folk violin by Alvin Potter (catalog #66.61); both of these instruments were collected from Morristown, Tennessee and said to be of local origin.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1875-1899
ID Number
2016.0031.15
catalog number
66.411
2016.0031.15
accession number
2016.0031
This folk fiddle was made by George Schramm around 1850. A true homemade instrument, it is a “Cigar-Box Violin” of trapezoidal outline with small center bouts and crude f-holes. The table and back are flat and bear pastiche-filled channels in imitation of purfling.
Description
This folk fiddle was made by George Schramm around 1850. A true homemade instrument, it is a “Cigar-Box Violin” of trapezoidal outline with small center bouts and crude f-holes. The table and back are flat and bear pastiche-filled channels in imitation of purfling. The pegbox and closed scroll are similarly fanciful in execution. The instrument is accompanied by a cardboard, paper-lined case. This violin is made of a two-piece table of pine, back of plain American sycamore in one piece, ribs of similar sycamore, plain maple neck, elongated pegbox and compact, deeply cut scroll with one volute, and a thick opaque reddish-brown varnish.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
Schramm, George
ID Number
1981.0530.07
accession number
1981.0530
catalog number
1981.0530.07
This violin was made in the United States around 1840-1860 by an unknown maker. It is made with ribs set into channeling of the table and back without corner blocks or linings.
Description
This violin was made in the United States around 1840-1860 by an unknown maker. It is made with ribs set into channeling of the table and back without corner blocks or linings. The fingerboard is of maple, stained black, with a paper finger position chart showing notes from a-flat to d'''-sharp glued to the fingerboard. The violin has a case that is a rectangular, compartmented box of unfinished pine, nailed together. It has a hinged top, and is lined with machine-printed wallpaper. The date for this violin is based on the historical period when this type of paper was popularly used in the United States. This violin is made from a one-piece table of pine with exaggerated “S” sound-holes, back of similar pine, cut on the slab, ribs of plain maple, maple neck, pegbox and crude scroll, and is stained a reddish-brown color.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1840-1860
ID Number
1981.0864.01
accession number
1981.0864
catalog number
1981.0864.01
This folk fiddle was made by Claude L. Richael of Grove City, Pennsylvania around 1930. It is unusual in that the corner blocks are glued to the outside of the ribs to form a traditional violin outline.
Description
This folk fiddle was made by Claude L. Richael of Grove City, Pennsylvania around 1930. It is unusual in that the corner blocks are glued to the outside of the ribs to form a traditional violin outline. Richael, in a letter from 1932, claimed that although he could “make more improvement in the outward appearance of the instrument,” the violin “is perfect in tonal properties from the first.” This violin is made of a two-piece table of pine, back and ribs of hardwood, maple neck, pegbox and scroll, stained mahogany fingerboard, and a heavy opaque reddish-brown varnish.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932-1933
maker
Richael, Claude L.
ID Number
MI.364772
accession number
122570
catalog number
364772
This folk fiddle was made in the Taos area of New Mexico around the 1920s. This folk fiddle comes from the Taos region of New Mexico.
Description
This folk fiddle was made in the Taos area of New Mexico around the 1920s. This folk fiddle comes from the Taos region of New Mexico. According to its previous owner, this fiddle was used in the village of Truchas by the Penitentes brotherhood to accompany sung prayers (alabados). The wooden case made for this instrument is lined with commercial fabric from the 1920s. The instrument with a long rectangular “box” body bears ornamental “S” sound-holes on the table. The neck is terminated in a plain, flat peg-head with four pegs. This violin is made of wood, painted black overall. The neck is reinforced with a metal plate at the top block area.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1915-1925
ID Number
1981.0181.01
accession number
1981.0181
catalog number
1981.0181.01

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