A Look Inside Nashville’s National Museum of African American Music
More than a decade in the making, the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) is the newest gem in Music City’s crown. Located in the heart of downtown Nashville, across from the historic Ryman Auditorium, the NMAAM celebrates the dozens of music genres created or influenced by African Americans, from gospel and blues to soul and hip-hop. Read on for 10 things you don’t want to miss at Tennessee’s new museum celebrating African American music history.
Press Play
Warm and inviting, the museum’s main lobby is the first stop on your musical journey. From the 3D instruments carved into one of the main walls to the soft blue lighting that guides visitors throughout the museum to the live musicians serenading visitors in the Dr. & Mrs. T.B. Boyd III & Family Feature Gallery, the lobby is itself a work of art.
“My favorite place in the museum is actually the lobby,” says H. Beecher Hicks III, former president and CEO of the NMAAM. “It really has been fascinating to me to see the joy people experience when they come in and see the museum for the first time.”
Editor’s Note: H. Beecher Hicks stepped down as CEO in August 2023. William E. Jeffries is the current Executive Director.
RFID Wristbands: Curate Your Personal Spotify Playlist
Each visitor receives an RFID wristband that allows you to download playlists, videos and even your own recordings to a digital account attached to your personal email address. A link to your self-curated online gallery is emailed for you to enjoy long after your visit.
“We worked with Spotify and Gallagher & Associates, who designed the exhibits for the wristband technology,” Hicks says. “We wanted ways that people could take the experiences of the museum with them.”
Rivers of Rhythm: An Interactive Journey Through Black Music History
The heart of the museum is the Rivers of Rhythm Pathways. Beginning with the slave journey from Africa to the Americas, the gallery’s interactive touch tables weave the history of African Americans with the music that defined each era. Choose an era from the menu, then explore songs, sounds and speeches from that time period with headphones. For example, the Harlem Renaissance reveals a live recording of Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, a poem by Langston Hughes and a sampling of hits from Black Swan Records.
Walls That Sing
The Rivers of Rhythm gallery walls, which are covered with the names of hundreds of notable African American musicians and recording artists, double as giant video screens. Watch a showstopper by James Brown or a larger-than-life Super Bowl halftime performance by Prince that will take your breath away. In fact, each gallery features a viewing room where visitors can watch live performances and hear the stories of the artists who influenced the genre. These takeover moments occur twice an hour, dimming the museum’s lights to project a shared concert experience onto the walls.
Genre Benders
The hands-on touch tables in each gallery allow visitors to sample songs from artists of a particular genre. You can read a short bio of the artist and listen to songs from their catalog, then, with a few finger taps, discover the music of the artist’s influencers, peers and musical protégés across other genres. Use your wristband to download the new music you discover.
“The concept behind the museum overall is the interconnectedness of music,” Hicks says. “How one genre is not so dissimilar from another, and how the way we live our lives and the way that we experience music is not strictly by genre.
Oh Happy Day: Sing with the Nashville Super Choir
In the Wade in the Water gallery that focuses on African American religious music, you can slip on a choir robe and sing along karaoke-style with Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Dr. Bobby Jones and the Nashville Super Choir. The exhibit video records your performance and lets you save it to your wristband. The choir robe “karaoke” with Dr. Bobby Jones remains one of the most shared social media moments.
Music Makers: Record Your Own Blues Song and Hip-Hop Beats
Other gallery exhibits encourage visitors to create their own masterpieces while learning the history of the music genre they’re making. In the Crossroads gallery, you can build and record your own blues song by choosing different lyrical situations. In other galleries, you can improvise with a jazz band; lace melodies, rhythms and vocals to produce a hit record; or even perfect your pop and lock in the breakdancing studio.
A Treasure Chest of Artifacts
In addition to the interactive exhibits, the NMAAM is home to hundreds of photos, artifacts and memorabilia from throughout African American music history. Marvel at a trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong, a pantsuit worn by Whitney Houston or a jacket from the Purple Rain tour when it’s in town.
Shop Til You Bop
While the RDF wristband gives you access to much of the museum’s digital music collection, the museum gift shop gives you the chance to take home a physical reminder of your visit. You’ll find just about everything – from books, vinyl albums and CDs to instruments, hats and hoodies – all created or inspired by African American musicians.
One Museum Under a Groove
Perhaps the most enjoyable feature of the NMAAM is the sense of community the music creates.
“What I hope people take away [from the museum] is a sense of common humanity. As you’re standing at the touch table, for example, I hope that you’re standing next to someone you don’t know, maybe someone that looks a little different than you do or has a different life experience than yours, but you can still enjoy and bop your head to the same song,” Hicks says.
In 2026, NMAAM added a new feature: the museum officially launched its own radio station as part of the 5th-anniversary celebration. The station broadcasts directly from the lobby on certain days, and it is just another way the museum has cultivated community.
This story first appeared on Livability.com in March 2021 and has since been updated and fact-checked.