museum of puerto rico music

andrejso

This is a traditional museum with things to look at and maybe read. A bit disappointing that there wasn't more sound and music to sample. However, it was well worth walking around the beautiful old house that holds the exhibits.

Anniem71

The museum is quaint. Seeing the history and the feel of the music was quite interesting. The set up could be a little better. Informative, staff is friendly.

662marc

The museum is very small but be sure to ask for a guide! Our guide not only explained the instruments and history but played a few of them for us and even let us try some ourselves. A real bonus for us was a display of artistically created guitars by a reknowed Puerto Rican artist. I hope someday they have the money to record some of them being played.

shikse

The museum could be much better! The house architecture is so amazing and the backyard is beautiful. But the museum is poor in information. We have a lot potencial in this theme, Puerto Rico have the best musicians in the world, they should have a room of that. MUSIC!!! I think that they should put some music according with the instruments of each room. That little detail, that is so important, I assure you that is going to make the museum exceptional!

KarenGr

Despite mixed reviews we felt the museum was worth a visit. We loved it all!Our great, articulate, informative guide shared fascinating and intriguing histories of the impressive array of instruments. The best part is that being a Saturday, there was a dance class with live music and no doubt we would have been able to join in had we had the time.This visit took no more than one hour. They closed for an hour at lunch.If you're expecting a Manhattan or Paris museum forget it! This is a museum from the heart and soul of Puerto Rico.

173ErikM

To pesen about the history of Puerto Rico and the Great artists of the caribe Here in Ponce,Puerto Rico you can see and feel it for yourself a most do for all visiting our Beautiful Island...

russellt849

This museum was one of the reasons we took a day trip to Ponce from Fajardo. It's a small museum with lot of instruments in various states of repair. We were the only one's visiting and received a personal tour by one of the staff. She spoke fairly decent English but very fast so you have to listen real close. Most all of the signage is in Spanish only, so we couldn't really dig too deep into the exhibits.Strangely there wasn't any music playing to demonstrate the instruments or the different musical era's. The guide wasn't a musician and couldn't really answer any of my questions about the instruments beyond her speech.For a FREE museum it was worthwhile to visit but I had hoped for me and would have been willing to pay to see an improved exhibit. It's certainly worth free, but it won't take more than a 1/2 hour to see and don't get your expectations too high.

ChuckDouglas

Supposed to be open, was closed Sunday. Couldn't get in. Wanted to see this. disappointed with this spot.

albert407

This is a small free entrance museum that belong to the Intituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. The house is in great shape, the stain glass is beautiful and almost all house is from the 1900's. the tour is very short, about 20minutes long, you will learned more about the instruments than the local music. it worth it!

MariaW336

The small museum has a good collection of instruments. The lovely house is well kept and clean. The guide was polite and spoke English well, although very fast, but was not a musician and clearly not into music. The most amazing thing, however, is that THERE IS NO MUSIC!!! None whatsoever, total silence in the Museum of Music, also no video of anyone playing to or dancing to any musical instruments. Very puzzled, we asked why and our guide told us the music system had been broken for months. Also, the light on one of the rooms was not working, we could barely see the lovely instruments there. Finally, there is no information anywhere in English (or any language other than Spanish). The museum could use a short brochure or simple written materials at least in Spanish and English to explain the evolution of Puerto Rican music, the instruments, etc. Plus, they should have some information on the internet, at least hours of operation. There is so much potential in this unique place; with a little thoughtfulness and a small investment, it could greatly improve.

sdlax

I went on a Saturday afternoon around 3, the gate was locked up, and the only indication of why is that the sign on the outside which has the name of the museum and the operating days and hours had all the operating days and hours scratched out. So maybe they open sometimes and maybe they don't, hard to tell. And I can find no website for this museum either.(They post some notices on the door itself, but that's dozens of feet beyond the gate. So if the gate is locked you can't walk up and read the signs on the door! Duh!)So it's as if it doesn't exist, because I'm not in the Ponce area for that long, and I can't keep going back into town just to see if this one museum is open at some hour or other.Would it be too much to ask for them to post an explanation of if and when (even if it's "varies") open outside the museum, and/or set up a one-page website where they can explain this. (I didn't have the hotel call, but apparently from a review below they also don't bother with an answering machine.)

lefty0418

We enjoyed this museum very much. It was a quick tour and we were fortunate enough to get a guide that spoke English. I found her to be very knowledgeable and she answered some questions that we had regarding some of the instruments. As mentioned before, the negative is that the building is not air conditioned, but as it is not a long tour, bring a hand fan and you'll be fine.

DakotaTraveler10

A nice little museum, but there was not an English-speaking guide when we were there. It seemed to be a comprehensive historical site, however. There was no admission--or air conditioning!

JanetteCarrasquillo

My family and I took the tour. It is very interesting knowing about Puerto Rico's music legacy. They will let you play some instruments. At the end, they will take to a living room with instruments where you can sit and play. We had a lot of fun playing. The only very bad thing: NO air conditioning. But it is worth the heat.

learnedtraveler

We had a private tour to Ponce and this was one of our stops. Because the guides don't speak English very well, our guide translated for us. The Museum guide demonstrated some of the instruments and sang some of the songs that told stories about the culture. Our guide sang them in English it was so fun. We learned so much and loved the museum guide he seem to enjoy himself as much as we enjoyed him and he was an excellent musician as well!!