Mass Appeal: Floor Pianos

Make Music Day

Makey Makey joins Make Music Day for the 3rd time in 2024. Using this circuit board, plugged into a computer, performers of all levels can turn everyday objects into touchpads and use them to make music.

This year, Makey Makey is donating kits to seven Make Music chapters and helping them make homemade giant floor pianos on June 21.

Thank you, Makey Makey!

After eleven years of celebration by Make Music Montclair, the rest of New Jersey is coming to the Make Music party!

This year, with support from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, you’ll be able to check out the musical takeover of a Paterson shopping mall, mobile “Car-aoke” in Fair Lawn, the NJ Youth Jazz Orchestra in Englewood, a “Midtown Make Music Day” in Atlantic City, an Open Decks DJ session in Newark, and over 75 performances at 30 venues in Montclair.

More about Make Music New Jersey

Mass Appeal, a 16-year Make Music Day tradition, brings together people of all levels and ages to make music in large, single-instrument groups.

This year, among the 186 Mass Appeals taking place around the country, there are an incredible 65 bucket drumming sessions. The events are supported by PlayDrums.com and by Vic Firth, who has generously donated thousands of free drumsticks for participants to use and keep.

These events will range from structured classes to free-flowing bucket drumming circles, according to the concept of each local organizer. To take part, all you need is a beat in your heart… and a pair of sticks.

Thank you, Vic Firth!

Not to be outdone, Rhythm Band Instruments, makers of the pitched hollow plastic tubes called Boomwhackers®, is donating percussion kits to 48 communities for participatory Mass Appeal percussion events – over 1,500 instruments in all, with a variety of Boomwhackers, egg shakers, and rhythm sticks to make music accessible to everyone.

Thank you, Rhythm Band Instruments!

Music on June 21 can come from anyone, anywhere, and just about anything.

As if to prove the point, celebrated composer Elliot Cole and percussionist Peter Ferry are once again organizing a series of music especially for Make Music Day, featuring an unlikely but beautiful percussion instrument – the flowerpot!

This year, eleven groups around the U.S. will come out to parks, fields, and plazas to perform Flowerpot Music, a set of easy-to-learn musical games. Anyone can join the events and make a great sound on a flowerpot – no experience required.

Find Flowerpot Music near you!

One of the best and easiest ways to improve the sound of your guitar is putting on a fresh set of strings.

This year, over 100 music stores are participating in String Together on Make Music Day, June 21st, where you can attend a free string-changing session that comes with a free set of acoustic guitar strings from Elixir Strings (for the first 12 registrants at each store). All are welcome, from complete newbies who have never changed their strings, to more experienced players looking for a few tips from a pro guitar tech.

Find a String Together store near you!

You might not know that Gore, the company behind waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex fabrics, has been equally innovative in the area of guitar strings. In 1997, using a new coating technology, the company’s research team developed Elixir Strings, known for their extended life and consistent tone.

This year, Elixir Strings is joining as a Make Music Day partner, providing free guitar strings for String Together, taking place in over 100 music stores across the US and in Europe.

Thanks to Elixir Strings!

In a partnership between the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the Arab World Institute, and the Make Music Alliance, artists around the world will unite their music, and their hearts, through a musical relay on June 21 for Make Music Day.

Starting in New Zealand and traveling throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, this 100% live online broadcast, entitled Pulsations (French for “heartbeats”), will feature musicians in 24 countries performing free public concerts, including

Taking turns on the 4-hour broadcast, each band will perform a 10-minute set, ending their last song with a “heartbeat” rhythm composed by renowned French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf. At that moment, like the passing of the Olympic torch, the band in the next country will join the livestream, match the heartbeat rhythm, and seamlessly begin their own set.

Finally, the livestream arrives at the Arab World Institute in Paris, where Ibrahim Maalouf performs a closing, hour-long show.

Friday, June 21, 2024
3:00PM – 7:00PM (Paris time)
Streaming at makemusicday.org

Check out the full program!

Harman has been a crucial supporter of Make Music Day for the last nine years, part of their unwavering commitment to music and music education.

In 2024, Harman is sponsoring Pulsations, Make Music Day’s initiative with the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad and the Arab World Institute. Harman’s AKG microphones will be provided to artists around the world to use in the livestream, giving them the best possible sound for this worldwide broadcast.

Many thanks to Harman!

For the first time this year, Make Music Day will be celebrated across North Carolina!

With support from the North Carolina Arts Council, thirteen cities and counties are joining forces to present a dizzying number of Make Music North Carolina events. Travel throughout the state on June 21 to find four all-day Kazoo-Fests at libraries in Brunswick County, ukulele jams in Raleigh, “The Hot Flashes” in Wilmington, the FCS String Band’s open mic in McDowell County, instrument petting zoos in Stanly County, and hundreds of other music-making opportunities, large and small.

More information on Make Music North Carolina