It is a museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that showcases the development of Puerto Rican music, with displays of Taíno, Spanish, and African musical instruments that were played in the romantic danza genre, the favorite music of 19th-century Puerto Rican society, as well as the more African-inspired bomba and plena styles. Also on view are memorabilia of composers and performers. The Museum traces the rich musical history of the Puerto Rico through memorabilia of famous musicians and displays of the musical instruments associated with the three genres of music that originated in this Caribbean island. Each room is dedicated to a different musical style and the vintage instruments used to create it. In the danza room are cellos, violins, and French horns; in the salsa room are bongos, bells, maracas, trumpets, trombones, timbales, and güiros in the bomba y plena room are tambourines, güiros, and accordions. The building that houses the museum is known as Casa Serrallés, and it was the former downtown residence of Juan Eugenio Serralles and his family, owners of Destilería Serrallés and makers of the Don Q rum. Some of the instruments displayed are the güicharo or güiro, which is a gourd that has been hollowed out, and variants of the original six-string Spanish guitar-like instruments the requinto and bordonua.
