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National Music Museum (NMM)

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Vermillion, SD
National Music Museum (NMM)

We strive to explore, enjoy and preserve the world of musical instruments. Come on in and see! The NMM's collections are some of the most inclusive in the world.
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Included are many of the earliest, best preserved, and historically most important musical instruments known to survive. Spanning hundreds of years of culture, the NMM’s musical holdings range from priceless Italian violins to celebrity guitars, from organs to orchestrion, from harps to harpsichords, from dombaks to didgeridoos, from Les Paul to Sgt. Pepper, from Stradivari to Elvis. Founded in 19

73 on the campus of The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, the NMM is one of the great institutions of its kind in the world.

05/28/2026

The Civil War was an important turning point for both Black Americans and band culture in the United States. During the Civil War, Black Americans were finally allowed to join the military and fight for their country. Additionally, the Civil War inspired a flourishing period of band music, often known as the Golden Age of Bands, during which composers like John Philip Sousa and Patrick Gilmore composed popular tunes for bands which were exploding massively in popularity. This bugle was owned by the first two leaders of one of the first Black bands in Ohio!

NMM 7060 🎺 Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999

05/26/2026

May is Military Appreciation Month! Join us in celebrating the music history of our armed forces all month long.

During the Civil War, military bands had many important purposes and used over the shoulder horns, like this one. Brass music signaled many of the troops’ daily activities, which had a profound impact on those who fought. “Taps,” a trumpet solo now used to commemorate fallen troops, originally was a Civil War nighttime bugle call which told soldiers to go to bed. During battle, troops suggested that the music bands played had the capacity to turn the tide of the conflict and felt braver because of the music.

NMM 317 🎶Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979

05/21/2026

Small instruments like these plastic ocarinas were part of the War Department’s Special Service Entertainment Kits. These ocarinas were easy to learn and could entertain and distract soldiers during downtime. Troops could also pass these ocarinas out to citizens of occupied territory to make friends with the locals. At some points during the war, these ocarinas were ordered at a rate of 60,000 instruments per month!

NMM 14986 🎶Arne B. Larson Estate, 1988

05/19/2026

May is Military Appreciation Month! Join us in celebrating the music history of our armed forces all month long.

America’s earliest military bands used the fife to communicate their marching route because of its high pitch range which allowed soldiers to hear its music across the camp. These instruments were especially popular during Colonial America and during the Revolutionary War, but after brass valves developed prior to the Civil War, trumpets, bugles, and other, louder brass instruments replaced the fife and drum corps in military bands over time.

This fife was made by William Callender, who was the first known American-born woodwind maker who studied under an American teacher, Isaac Greenwood. Callender and Greenwood were not purely instrument makers, but were skilled tradesmen called turners who made wooden tools with a lathe, including a fife. Callender and Greenwood both served the Continental Army as turners during the Revolutionary War. Following the war, Callender continued turning fifes until his death in 1839.

NMM 15448 🎶 Gift of Lynn and Steve Dillon, 2023

05/14/2026

May is Military Appreciation Month! Join us as we celebrate our American military history throughout the month.

While Elvis is best known for popularizing rock and roll, Elvis also served in the US military for two years in West Germany. Prior to his military service, Elvis’s seemingly wild music and dancing infuriated many older Americans. His time in the armed forces helped ingratiate him with Americans across generations. This guitar was played by Elvis later in his career, but was damaged during one of his performances, proving that he didn’t calm down THAT much after his experience in the military!

NMM 14715 🎸 Anonymous gift, 2013

05/12/2026

May is Military Appreciation Month! Join us as we celebrate the music history of our armed forces.

American Private First-Class Bruce E. Howden, Jr. received this instrument from an elderly German civilian while recovering in a hospital from an injury he received at the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 during World War II. Howden organized a band out of other patients which performed and entertained one another at the hospital. One of the other patients was an elderly German man, who gave Howden the clarinet because he was grateful for the medical assistance and companionship he got from the Americans. Howden kept this clarinet for the rest of his life, and this instrument can represent the ways music brings people together, even across wartime divides.

NMM 9940 🎶 Given in memory of Bruce E. Howden, Jr., by his widow, Hilde Howden, 2000

05/07/2026

May is Military Appreciation Month! Join us as we celebrate the music history of our armed forces throughout the month.

Troops have used music to pass the time while they are not in battle for generations. Across different wars, the music and instruments they played changed. This guitar was made in Vietnam during the 1960s and was presumably bought by an American soldier during the Vietnam War. Just like many other soldiers across time and place, the soldier who owned this guitar played music in his free time to express himself during a difficult time in his life. What kind of music do you imagine was played on this guitar?

NMM 14999 🎸 Gift of Lynn Wheelwright, 2015

05/05/2026

May is Smithsonian Military Appreciation Month! Join us as we celebrate the music history of our armed forces throughout the month.

Music has had both official and unofficial roles in armed conflict for a long time. Lieutenant James A. Cross brought his violin with him when he left his home in New York to fight in the Civil War. This violin undoubtedly offered him and his comrades necessary respite from the horrors of both battle and camp life with the music he played.

Cross also carved different images into the violin: 13 stars for 13 original American colonies, his name and regiment identification, and his wife’s name, Mary, with the year he left for war. Representing his country, those he fought with, and those he fought for, this instrument highlights what was important to Cross, and likely many other soldiers.

NMM 5794 🎶Purchase funds gift of Margaret Ann and Hubert H. Everist, 1994

05/01/2026

May is Smithsonian Military Appreciation Month!

Starting today, these special gallery guides will be available for the duration of the month. They highlight the music and stories of our armed forces throughout our permanent galleries and special exhibition, "Of Thee I Sing."

We are also beginning the Blue Star Museums program today, offering free admission to veterans and active-duty military personnel and their families from May 1 through Labor Day. Thank you to everyone who has served our country!

04/30/2026

Check out this summer's concerts at the Levitt in Sioux Falls! We are proud to be sponsoring their Friday July 31st show featuring Joanne Shaw Taylor.

🎸 See you there!

Address

414 E Clark Street (Corner: Clark/Yale)
Vermillion, SD
57069

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+16056583450

Website

http://www.nmmusd.org/

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