Designed for children ages 3 to 5, the Preschool Fieldtrips provide an interactive exploration of the Museum. Children will discover instruments like the cello, saxophone, ukulele, piano and more! Tours feature a storytime, a group drum circle and a special take-home surprise!

The Museum’s MusicVentures Fieldtrip takes students on a musical exploration of the people, historical events and innovations that influenced music making and musical instruments. Led by a trained facilitator, students embark on creative thinking adventure through the instruments on display, sound and video clips, and an interactive activity.
The Museum is committed to reaching students from low-income areas who may not be receiving music education in the classroom. We understand that it’s not financially feasible for many schools to take a field trip the Museum so we created the Title One Fieldtrip program to reach schools that serve these students. This initiative, for third grade classes from Title One designated schools, brings these classes to the Museum at no charge.

North Coast Strings is a musical ensemble designed to be an entry point for adults who want to learn to play a stringed instrument (violin, viola, cello, bass) or for those who have played in the past, but haven’t picked up their instrument in a number of years. The orchestra is hosted by the Museum of Making Music and directed by Paula Simmons.
The national New Horizons Band program was developed by professor Roy Ernst of the Eastman School of Music in 1991. The program offers adults, primarily people who are over 50, the chance to learn how to play a concert band instrument and perform with other beginning musicians. The program has introduced thousands of older adults, retirees, and seniors to the joys and benefits of music making. The local North Coastal New Horizons Band is the Carlsbad affiliate of the National program.

The Museum of Making Music offers specialized tours for both Boy and Girl Scout Troops. Throughout the museum, scouts will learn about the history of American Popular Music and become familiar with the different instruments as well as important events and people in the history of making music. In conjunction with the tour, scouts earn a special Museum of Making Music badge and fulfill a number of requirements towards earning their respective music-related badges.

The Museum of Making Music regularly hosts youth camps and educational workshops specifically focused on providing an introduction to making music and encouraging musical development for the whole family! In addition to an annual Summer Music Camp, past educational activities include a girl guitar workshop, a teen workshop on effects pedals, summer classes for preschoolers, music and wellness workshops and Girl Scout camp.


The music program at Joli Ann Leichtag Elementary School is a unique multi-year museum/school partnership that seeks to provide a systemic music education to the 800+ students at the school. This program features weekly music instruction, lessons in music history, and hands-on experience with dozens of instruments.
Each year the Museum of Making Music receives hundreds of requests for donations to support community benefit programs and third-party fundraisers. Unfortunately, we are unable to make financial contributions to these events, but we are more than happy to provide donations of admission passes to the Museum of Making Music. Although we can not accommodate every request, we do consider each and every one that we receive.
Street Address:
Museum of Making Music
5790 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Phone: (760) 438-5996
Fax: (760) 438-8964
Toll Free: (877) 551-9976
Send us an eMail
Please wait...