The African-American Music Museum should be on your list if you are coming to Nashville.
The Museum itself is less than ten years old and was extremely well designed. It uses every kind of media from old photographs and relics to video to clever interactive exhibits. It is exciting and fun just to be here. Kudos to the museum's designers for such an engaging and attractive set of displays.
We were warmly greeted at the ticket counter. They offer you a wristband to download music from the exhibits. Take it. We found it helpful for the music and playlists, and days later when you might not remember something you heard or saw you can hop online and see/hear it again. The links are good for 60 days, so you have time to enjoy them afterward.
You start with a film on the roots and development of African American music. We found it helpful, but it also set the tone for the rest of the visit – noting how African rhythms and traditions evolved and changed based on the African American experience up through today. The general spin is positive.
From the video you go into a large room with interactive displays regarding several eras in African American music from the times of slavery through reconstruction, the early 20th century, the Harlem Renaissance, the ’30s, the Civil Rights movement, and the present. You can basically spend as much time as you want to explore the various times.
From this central point you can explore several adjacent galleries based on the various periods. These go into greater detail with lots of photos, artifacts (notably including Louis Armstrong's trumpet), music, video, and interactive exhibits. I would recommend going through the whole thing as many of the exhibits include fun surprises.
The museum tries to appeal to everyone and succeeds based on how I saw others react. One of my favorite memories is an interactive exhibit involving a gospel chorus. An elderly woman in a walker of things moving with the music as she joined in. This is typical of this museum where you would see people of all ages and stripes simply enjoying the music and frequently dancing along with it.
Other exhibits include video of live concerts, but I would call out in particular several of the interactive exhibits. One had you acting as the producer in the mixing studio (you can download your "creation"). Another would have you click on an artist, hear a sample of their work, and follow up with their roots, peers, and followers. You can spend hours on this.
The name of this museum tells you that the focus is on African American music. Certainly there are influences far beyond African Americans (which are touched upon), but the focus is on the roots, social forces, people (both in front and behind the scenes), and, of course, the music itself.
There is an abundance of things to see, do, and enjoy. There are some limitations, likely due to copyright issues with some artists, but you should have no trouble finding things to learn, hear, and explore.
If you save your receipt, you get something like one or two dollars off on admission to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We'd recommend going there, too. It is also terrific, but it's fun to see how much the two have in common without always being fully aware of it.