Bates Collection of Musical Instruments

One of the most magnificent collections of musical instruments in the world with over 2,000 instruments from the Western orchestral music traditions from the renaissance, through the baroque, classical, romantic and up to modern times.

More than a thousand instruments are on display, by all the most important makers and from pre-eminent collectors.

The Bate library includes over 3,000 books, periodicals and other publications on the subject of musical instrument development and music technology. It includes the Philip Bate, Anthony Baines and Reginald Morley-Pegge archives plus a developing sound archive of instruments from the collection.

Educational Visits

The Bate is currently running education visits for small school groups, family education sessions and tours for life-long-learner.

Hands-On Music in Museums delivers hands-on music education sessions for school children aged 9-18 at the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments.

Workshops are offered to local primary schools, special schools, and secondary schools around Oxfordshire and surrounding counties. The programme includes:

• A transition project for primary and secondary pupils in Headington, Oxford
• Workshops for GCSE and A-level music students on African Music, Javanese Gamelan and Music through the Ages (a historical overview of instruments, and the social and musical development of the orchestra from the Renaissance to the present day)

PGCE teacher training

These sessions are delivered both in the heart of the museums and in outreach to the schools, and provide a link between the museum collections and the school music curriculum. The project gives children an opportunity to play musical instruments from a range of historical periods and cultural traditions, and develop their musical skills and awareness of musical culture.