Elevate Your Business and Community With Make Music Day on June 21

By Zach Phillips | June 4, 2024

Make Music Day, the worldwide festival of music making, will return on Friday, June 21. This is a perfect opportunity to join a global event or create one of your own to amplify your business and celebrate the joy of music making in your community.

Presented in the United States by The NAMM Foundation, Make Music Day has become an international phenomenon, celebrated by millions of people in more than 2,000 cities around the world — including over 100 cities in the U.S., where it has spread widely after debuting in New York in 2007. Last year, 42 music products brands and 82 music retailers joined in the event.

Consider a creative idea at your business, such as an open mic or a drum or ukulele circle, or promote Make Music Day to your customers so they can participate at home or out in the community. For a more robust approach, consider exciting ideas, such as Roomful of Pianos, Earthgroove, String Together or Bucket Drumming. For more information on these and other ideas, please visit makemusicday.org, or reach out directly to Make Music Day's Aaron Friedman.

Held on the longest day of the year, the world’s largest annual music event celebrates and promotes the natural music maker in everyone, regardless of age or skill level. Last year, U.S. cities organized almost 5,000 free Make Music events, with more than 100 concerts each in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, Madison, Wisconsin and Salem, Oregon. In 2024, another 50 U.S. communities will join Make Music Day for the first time.

Here are some of the ways NAMM members are participating in Make Music Day:

kids play band instruments

Band & Orchestra / School Music

  • Leading a Sousapalooza in a park or in their store’s parking lot.
  • Getting involved with Earthgroove, the National Federation of State High School Associations’ marching band project, and inviting band directors to participate in a supergroup performance with members from multiple bands.
vocal artists perform on the street

Electronic / Recording Products and Pro Audio

  • Hosting a Street Studio in front of retail stores.
  • Inviting customers to join MySongIsYourSong and recording a high-quality performance of their partner’s song from another part of the world.
people play guitars

Fretted Instruments

  • Joining String Together, a free string-changing session for acoustic guitars.
  • Leading a free beginning ukulele lesson to teach “You Are My Sunshine,” then having all participants go around the neighborhood to play the song in a uke parade. (Part of Mass Appeal.)
people play drums

Percussion

  • Hosting a bucket drumming event, sponsored by Vic Firth and PMC.
  • Joining Flowerpot Music in a local park or garden.
  • Holding a Stridulations event, with music based on the sounds of crickets (especially relevant in a part of the country with cicadas this year).
  • Hosting a steelpan event, sponsored by Panyard.
a boy plays the piano

Pianos & Organs

  • Hosting a Roomful of Pianos where stores turn their showrooms into a performance space so customers can play tunes together.

Post Your Make Music Day Event on Social Media

NAMM members hosting events are encouraged to post photos and video to social media using hashtags #makemusicday #nammfoundation. You can learn more about The NAMM Foundation and its goal to promote the intrinsic value of music education for people of all ages.