Music & Musical Instruments - Overview
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. Several of these rare instruments can be heard in performances of the Smithsonian Chamber Players and in other public programs. 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.
"Music & Musical Instruments - Overview" showing 402 items.
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Gibson Kalamazoo Arch-top Guitar
- Description (Brief)
- This guitar was made by Gibson, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan around 1940. The “Kalamazoo” brand of musical instruments including guitars, banjos, mandolins and violins were made from 1934 to 1942. Gibson made a small number of “Kalamazoo” instruments in the 1950s and a decade later, reintroduced the brand with a series of electric guitars and basses, and amplifiers. This six course (6x1) guitar is stamped “FW-566” and has an arched spruce top, maple back and sides, elevated celluloid pickguard, metal tailpiece, and a domed peg head with a pointed top.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1940
- maker
- Gibson Co.
- ID Number
- 1992.0547.01
- accession number
- 1992.0547
- catalog number
- 1992.0547.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Nick Reynold’s Tenor Guitar
- Description (Brief)
- This guitar was made by C. F. Martin & Company of Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1948. It is a four course (4x1) tenor guitar, model 0-18T and serial #104342. This guitar was used by Nick Reynolds (1933-2008) of The Kingston Trio on recordings and live performances during the group’s heyday from 1957 through the late 1960s. The Kingston Trio was one of the most important commercial forces in the folk revival of the postwar years.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1948
- referenced
- Kingston Trio
- user
- Reynolds, Nick
- maker
- C. F. Martin and Company
- ID Number
- 1998.0355.01
- serial number
- 104342
- model number
- 0-18T
- accession number
- 1998.0355
- catalog number
- 1998.0355.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“A Marshmallow World” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “A Marshmallow World” that was written by Carl Sigman and composed by Peter DeRose. Shapiro, Bernstein & Company, Inc. of New York City published this sheet music in 1949. The blue-green cover features illustrations of couples doing winter activities, and a marshmallow as the earth. “Mick” signed the cover in the lower left. There is an inset photograph of Vaughn Monroe in the upper right, who performed and recorded the song.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- publisher
- Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.182
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.182
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“Victor Herbert Songs for Children” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is “Victor Herbert Songs for Children” comprised of songs written and composed by Victor Herbert. Herbert was a famous composer, well known for his operetta “Babes in Toyland.” This collection of Herbert’s songs for children was selected and edited by his daughter, Ella Herbert Bartlett. McGraw-Hill Inc. of New York, New York published this sheet music in 1943. The cover features various illustrations from children’s stories around the sides of the cover.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1943
- publisher
- McGraw-Hill
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.185
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.185
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Bacon Tenor Banjo
- Description (Brief)
- This four-string tenor banjo was made by the Bacon Banjo Company, Inc. of Groton, Connecticut around 1932. It is a “B&D Senorita” model, serial #31245 with 24 brackets and a resonator. “Senorita” models were the lower priced, medium grade, banjos made by the company. There is a metal plate on the back of the resonator inscribed: “MADE BY [/] BACON BANJO CO. INC. [/] GROTON, CONN,” which is also stamped on the strut.
- Fred J. Bacon started the company in 1920. Two years later, David L. Day left the Vega Company to join the Bacon Banjo Company. By 1940, the Bacon Banjo Company had been purchased by the Gretsch Company who continued to make Bacon and B&D banjos until the late 1960s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1940
- maker
- Bacon Banjo Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- MI*71.15
- catalog number
- 71.15
- accession number
- 297495
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“You're One in a Million” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- The sheet music for the song “You’re One In a Million” was written by Harry Harris and composed by Jimmy Durante. The sheet music was published by the Jimmy Durante Music Publishing Co., of Hollywood, California in 1947. The cover has an image of a piano’s keyboard and a violin, with an orange hue. The cover features an inset photo of Andy Russell on the lower left.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1947
- composer; performer
- Durante, Jimmy
- lyricist
- Harris, Harry
- publisher
- Jimmy Durante Music Publishing Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1981.0121.02
- accession number
- 1981.0121
- catalog number
- 1981.0121.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“I Heard You Cried Last Night” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “I Heard You Cried Last Night (And So Did I).” The music was written by Jerrie Kruger and composed by Ted Grouya. The sheet music was published by the Porgie Music Corp. of New York, New York in 1943. This sheet music has no cover, and the top has a warning that reads: “This copy is intended for the use of Professional Singers only, and anyone found selling it or exposing it for sale is liable to a fine or imprisonment or both, and will be prosecuted under the Copyright Law by the Publisher.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1943
- publisher
- Porgie Music Corp.
- ID Number
- 1982.0745.02
- accession number
- 1982.0745
- catalog number
- 1982.0745.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“Now” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “Now,” from the operetta “Song of Norway.” The original music was written by Edvard Grieg, the musical adaptation was done by Robert Wright, and the lyrics were written by George Forrest. The sheet music was published by Chappell & Co. Inc. of London in 1944. The cover features an illustration of a sailboat sailing away down a fjord while a woman standing next to a log cabin waves goodbye. The operetta tells a fictionalized tale of real composer Edvard Greig’s quest to create an authentic Norwegian musical sound.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1944
- composer
- Wright, Robert
- Forrest, George
- publisher
- Chappell and Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.0313.03
- accession number
- 1983.0313
- catalog number
- 1983.0313.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“I Went Out of My Way” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “I Went Out of My Way” which was written and composed by Helen Bliss. The sheet music was published by Broadcast Music, Inc. The grey and red cover signed by IM-HO features an inset photograph of Guy Lombardo, and the cover notes that the song was “introduced and featured by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.” Lombardo founded the “Royal Canadians” in 1924 with his three brothers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1941
- performer
- Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
- publisher
- Broadcast Music, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.0320.04
- accession number
- 1983.0320
- catalog number
- 1983.0320.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“How Do I Know It's Real” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “How Do I Know It's Real” that was written and composed by Dan Shapiro, Jerry Seelen, and Lester Lee. The sheet music was published by Chappell & Co., Inc. in 1941. The light green cover features a photograph of Tommy Tucker, who “successfully recorded and featured” the song as a bandleader for his big band.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1941
- publisher
- Chappell and Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.009
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.009
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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