A real gem of a museum in southwestern Greater London. Do join one of the three tours per day, 75 minutes long, as it illustrates the workings and sounds of many of the self-playing instruments. Wonderful! Guide Clive told us how the museum evolved and about its current purpose-built building, then demonstrated several of the instruments and machines, many of which show incredibly ingenious design and function. Clive knows the museum pieces well and even reveals his own musical talent during the tour. The tour includes hearing Gershwin play and concludes with the theatre Wurlitzer upstairs. Café and gift shop available.

Absolutely wonderful collection of self-playing instruments many of which were quite unexpected. Highly recommend to join the tours, they are remarkable. All people working in the museum are pleasant and love that place. Also have not found it on their web site but they organize screens of silent movies with life cinema organ playing.

The Musical Museum is a must go! Really recommend you stay for the tour. Its so interesting and fun! The lovely man is very (sorry I forgot to ask the name) knowledgeable and helpful. He makes the tour very fun and interesting.

Excellent museum. We went Friday midday. Had lunch there, which was really good value. Then the two of us were shown around the museum. Lots of instruments were demonstrated working, by our excellent and extremely knowledgeable guide Clive. We also had an impressive demo of the Wurlitzer organ. Definitely recommend it.

Fantastic museum full of wonderful historic exhibits. The extensive collection of phonographs, music boxes, player pianos and organs was brought to life on the guided tour. Marcus was a brilliant guide, very knowledge and friendly. Lovely to be able to watch and listen to many of the instruments actually play - the organs in particular had real theatre. The tour culminated in a Wurlitzer performance - this magnificent instrument was recovered from a nearby theatre and was great to hear. A hidden gem of a museum - even has free on-site parking which is a rare thing in London! There's also a café upstairs, and a gift shop on the ground floor.

A real blast from the past! Super experience with musical boxes, mechanical music from 19th century. They have tours 2-3 times a day every Fri-Sun. Our guide Edward was very passionate and enthusiastic about the tour, thank you so much, highly recommend!

An hidden gem! If you are a fan of musical instruments or machines, you can't miss it - it's easy to reach with a dedicated bus stop which drops you 2 mins from it. Our (volunteer) guide was amazing and passionate, the visit was extremely enjoyable. We'll be back!

Lovely little museum full of magical self-playing instruments. The tour give is lovely and it’s fascinating to see the instruments in action. Would definitely recommend!

Went here for a friend's recommendations. A really fun couple of hours and love that you can play some of the instruments. The gentleman who is guiding the tour is wonderful. Thank you for the fun afternoon!

What an amazing museum, a real gem with so much to look & listen too. We had a great guide for 20 of the U3A group I was attending with. Had a super recital on the Wurlitzer theatre organ, still used when they show black & white movies, and tea dances.

We have visited this place a few weeks ago and I was completely amazed by it. The guided tour has made it special. We were allowed to try some of the instruments too. It is a shame it's too far from the city. 12 years in London and I didn't even know this place exists. Keep this place going!

Just seen Wizard of Oz on big screen with a mighty Wurlitzer intro. Great !!! Dorothy sounded great and so much more detail to see than when watching on TV. Really worth seeing on the bigger screen. There is a tea shop too.

This was a real blast from the past! I came with no expectations but left feeling inspired and with a spring in my step too! There's a lot to see though for the most part I was drawn to the organs and pianos especially those pianolas that play themselves. One great feature that brought the experience to life was the performances from the staff. Such a good idea, after all it's a museum of music not just the instruments. We were only passing through but I wish we had more time there. Nevertheless a great experience and if you are a musician I highly recommend a visit!

Well worth a visit

This is truly a hidden gem in the outskirts of London in Brentford. I came in at 10 and was in awe of the beautiful antique instruments on display. A volunteer tour guide began our tour at 10:30, demonstrating a variety of instruments and machines in action in chronological order through history. This fellow was quite humorous and so knowledgeable! I learned so much and my heart was so touched that even though I had to abort my tour early for travel plans, I donated the same amount as my ticket. I was so moved by this organization's mission that I would have been happy paying three times the ticket fare.

Very enjoyable experience for those who like music and history. Would recommend the guided tour because you can listen to the instruments and even play them! (no need to be a musician)

(Translated by Google) Gorgeous (Original) Bellissima

Loved the collection of mechanical instruments on display and the tour by the incredibly knowledgeable, and clearly passionate, gentleman makes these old instruments come alive.

Absolutely wonderful and captivating experience, but make sure you see the museum via the free tour where they start up and play most of the instruments starting from the 18th century right up to modern times. There’s also a small cafe on the first floor. Very interesting and thoroughly recommended.

Wonderful hidden gem with a fantastic and informative tour from Simon! Nice little gift shop and a very special Wurlitzer performance 🎹 Looking forward to watching the streamed events 🙂 Thanks to all the team for such a lovely visit.

Best museum ever!! Came for the music, stayed for the tour and the people. Everyone was lovely - the receptionist, guide, cafe lady. Just an incredible experience hearing the pianolas and the guide even let me try the Pleyel double piano.

Very interesting to see such complicated machines making brilliant quality music. Go half an hour before the tour in order to use the instruments yourself. At the end a demonstration of the Wurlitzer organ and then get to play it yourself. There's parking, a cafe, a view of the Thames and a gift shop. Entertainment for all ages. Takes about 2hrs

Loved it you must go

Amazing place.....well managed..Great

Last time I was in the area it was called the Piano Museum, now it's in a new building with lots of exhibits and great staff. Good cafe too.

A lovely museum, and very interesting indeed. The tour guide was a very friendly chap who demonstrated instruments upon request and had a lot of interesting information about them. The curator is also very knowledgeable and I had the luck of bumping into him in the cafe; we exchanged anecdotes of our mechanical music travels (hence my username...!)

An interesting and informative interactive visit , More suited to slightly older children (my grandson was 5 who enjoyed his visit in part).

Fabulous concert played by a 26 year old self trained organist who was playing at Brentford for the first time and hopefully not the last!

Fabulous little gem of a museum. The small car park belies the treasures inside. Staff very friendly. Roy the guide, very knowledgeable and demonstrated many of the exhibits. We were even able to play a piano/pianola. For the curious, a great few hours. You'll learn all about mechanical music from the music box to the mighty Wurlitzer.

Such a welcoming place! Not too crowded and good for a day out with the family, if you are interested in music. Lots of interesting facts about the history of musical instruments clearly explained by Marcus, our tour guide. Thank you!

Absolutely enjoyed a visit. The guided tour is brilliant and involving. You can see the instruments, you can listen to the music they make and can even play on them! My 9 year daughter and me were amazed and enjoyed every minute!

Such an amazing and wholesome place! We had a fantastic guide, Mike, who gave us a thorough tour of the automated pianos (pianola), recorders, and other various instruments! There was such a cool classical, even steampunk vibe throughout. Love love love this place!

Superb museum of early automatic music making machines.

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing a guided tour with Adrian, who couldn't possibly have been more amiable and informative. The museum itself is a quaint cruise through automated musical history. Fantastic. I'll be back for the live events.

Extraordinarily interesting little museum with a café. Visited here on the morning we were headed home after a day in Kew Gardens, really recommend one of the tours, there are three a day most days. Had a tour with Clive, and couldn't rate him and the museum higher. Remarkable collection of functional historic musical devices. Hearing and seeing them in action is well worth it.

Wonderful museum. Definitely a hidden gem of London. Wonderful guide, Marcus. His knowledge of all the player pieces is amazing. Its astonishing that all the old players still play.

Just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas here with their resident organist, Richard Hills at the Wurlitzer. The staff are all friendly and welcoming and the museum holds a plethora of different instruments to enjoy. Wonderful and well worth a visit.

Amazing place to visit and some wonderful examples of musical history

A real diamond in the rough. A genuinely fun outing, thanks to a warm welcome by the utterly lovely gentleman in reception, the super sweet lady in the café… and our amazing tour guide Roy. He is a 91 year old ‘national treasure’ who easily rivals our other British sweetheart David Attenborough - all of whom we need to protect from covid at all costs! As a retired clockmaker he knew all the ins and outs of all the mechanisms of the musical automated machines he was showing us. Most of us don’t stop to question where the music devices we love now originated from, particularly in the form of home entertainment. Actually getting to see these historic pieces in action was unexpectedly entertaining (which is no mean feat considering how easily jaded we all are nowadays!). Anyway, a really worthy museum with some unforgettable volunteers - who could definitely do with more community and national support! And I repeat: PROTECT ROY! Wear your masks people!

It can't be denied that guitars are seriously under-represented (they had one electric bass in a room dedicated to rock and blues) but the rest of it was absolutely fascinating. The collection centres around automated pianos and other instruments from the late 19th and early 20th centuries - the era of pianos for people who couldn't play the piano. There were plenty of working examples to illustrate how the automation process (metal discs, paper scrolls) came about and was put into practice. The guided tour we went on lasted about an hour and was completely absorbing

Thanks to your guide, Edward. Very interesting. X

We loved this place. Sure, the focus is mostly on mechanised instruments such as pianolas and player pianos, but they were fascinating. The tour guide, Roy, was wonderful and super knowledgeable, and we left feeling that it was definitely good value for money. They lady in the admissions desk was lively, the cafe had really nice fresh sandwiches at good prices, and the small gift shop was interesting too.

More than half of instruments here are not working ..serious letdown.

Had a great time, tour guide Roy was an absolute gem. His passion for these unusual instruments shines. Great collection 🎆

Fantastic tour with a very knowledgeable gentleman. The tour will teach you a lot about old music technology and the development of it. I will definitely be going again and I cannot recommend it enough!!

Amazing, Roy the guide is a real treasure.

Well worth a visit if you're interested in (mechanically operated) musical instruments, or just musical instruments. The guided tour is especially worth joining (included in the entry cost) - you'll get much more out of your visit - well, I did. Roy was our guide; what a knowledgeable, friendly and entertaining chap he is. Watching and listening to the Rachmaninov piano roll play was the highlight for me. There's a nod towards more recent musical technology and you can get cakes and drinks in the cafe on the 2nd floor.

Great little museum, the guided tour is time well spent Fascinating to see how some of the more complicated machines work Best and most interesting museum I’ve been to for a long time

Great tour by the one and only Roy! Don't miss it.

Absolutely lovely. Edward was lovely and super knowledgeable about all the instruments!

Top demos of the Wurlitzer from Roy

(Translated by Google) Restful in modern times of time constraints and useless performance ... (Original) Rustgevend in moderne tijden van tijdsdruk en nutteloze prestaties...

Great exhibits, friendly and welcoming volunteers and staff, superb entertainment. Do not miss!

A fascinating museum of music technology from late 1800s onwards. Roy the passionate and witty tour guide explains how it all worked and we got 2 hours worth of demos... We even had a go at pumping the player-piano! Delightful surprise in Kew and worth a trip - make sure you join at tour time.

A wonderful collection of pianos, organs and self playing instruments. Fairly steep admission charges.

It was very very good. If you come here, you must go for the guided tour, especially that it's already included in the price. The tour guide was amazing, made everything super interesting. Unbelievably rare instruments here, they're all unique and fascinating. 2 hours flew by very quickly because the tour was so detailed, there wasn't even enough time to try everything. The whole museum is very cleverly built showcasing everything chronologically from the first music box made 250 years ago to an Ipad.

There is so much to see at The Musical Museum, but for the best experience your should time your visit to take the guided tour, which adds a whole other dimension to the experience. Definitely worth a visit.

Fascinating museum, all ran by volunteers. Am absolute must-see for their self-playing instruments and absolutely delightful guide. Indeed worth a detour out of Central London.

I didn't actually go to the museum all I did was listen to a concert from the comfort of my armchair! This just shows how much we are watched/tracked in our lives!

What a fascinating place. Thank you for making the Museum safe despite Covid, and for an absorbing tour with brilliant demonstrations

Fabulous! One of London's hidden gems!

A very interesting place to go I LIKED it.

Such an amazing venue. Definitely something I'd go back to time and time again.

Interesting place and tours.

(Translated by Google) A real gem, enthusiastic guide to 10 stars (Original) Igazi gyöngyszem, lelkes kalauz 10 csillag

An excellent venue (for a Blake's Seven convention). Excellent acoustics as you would expect. It is a shame the restaurant only takes cash, otherwise I would have bought more of the good food.

Very good place. Amazing automatic music playing machines and superb tour. A must go place for anyone likes music.

A very informative, fun and interactive experience. Very friendly staff and overall is a spectacular place with a vast collection of musical history. I haven't a fault. I sincerely recommend.

Fascinating tour. Now I know what Wurlitzer was all about.

Wonderful museum, full of historical mechanical instruments. Make sure you take the guided tour, to learn their history, hear and see them playing.

Fascinating self play instruments and great tours. Have to experience the Wurlitzer......

Private party, staff were very friendly and helpful, the tour was very interesting. Try it!

Great Instruments all displayed and in amazing condition tour guide was a legend. if you love anything mechanical whever that be music box to orchestrions well worth a visit happy travels 🦊👍

Very interesting place

Was at museum for a special event, Steam Pipes, so not there as a museum visitor. Is a small shop selling music/musical themed items, average priced, and a tea room where prices were also average. Tea room however was very small for the amount of visitors for the special event, there are low tables to sit at or high counter but once people were sitting and queuing there wasn't a lot of room to move about. We did man she to get a wheelchair in, and got a table, but people had to move out of our way - staff were very helpful in moving chairs etc out if way. I'm guessing the main auditorium is where our event was and this was a reasonable size, but a little cramped as I think event organisers had sold the maximum amount of tickets possible, which is good for them. Wurlitzer organ in auditorium is amazing, fresh sound and looked great too, really has been taken care of. Building is wheelchair accessible and we saw special toilets on ground floor, by entrance, and 2nd floor, where event and auditorium were. As event was busy is was a little difficult to move around with wheelchair, just due to sheer numbers of attendees, but I imagine that if you're visiting museum it wouldn't be too busy and you could move around freely.

Very good place started band night and I like others perform on stage

This museum is a labour of love - like all the best museums. Run by passionate volunteers in the main, it's well worth supporting them with a visit. Make sure you attend in time to take the (free) tour. Seeing these instruments in action is fascinating.

What a gem of a museum!! Shame we missed a part of the guided tour. Roy Huddlestone is one of the best tour guides I’ve ever encountered!! What a fabulous and informative tour!! He demonstrated some of the most melodious and awe-inspiring musical instruments with an excellent narrative with each! An unequivocal five stars, will be back for the whole tour!! A simply incredible and enchanting experience!!!

Great place for music lovers. The guide there is a historical person - who is an expert in music science. Lots of fun with the kids

Edward our guide was fantastic! My husband and I went with our 4 year old son and we joined his 1030am tour. The lovely receptionist let us join event tho we were a bit late. Edward had great musical knowledge, recounted fun stories and the instruments themselves were incredible - we loved it. Thank you Edward!

A gem of a museum. The tour was interesting and well paced. We had a five year old with us, who loved the music. Parking is available. Don’t be put off by the barrier, if you go in to reception, they will lift it for you.