Science Museum, London: Turn It Up review

It’s no secret that music has the power to move us, but as I discovered for my Turn It Up review, of the London Science Museum’s latest exhibition on the power of music, that’s only the beginning.

review visit*

From nostalgic throw-backs to the latest technology, experimental instruments, the way music can affect everything from our hormones to our driving ability, plus plenty of chances to get hands on, the exhibition looks at all aspects of music.

And while older kids will get more out of the exhibition, including the science involved and sharing their own memories, even younger kids can enjoy listening to the various audio displays and the interactive exhibits at Turn It Up.

EDIT: Turn It Up closed in September 2024

It’s also a great option to visit as a family – walking in, the first thing you see is a display of various different ways to listen to music over the ages, from a gramophone to a ghettoblaster, not to mention a walkman, portable CD player, and some of the earliest MP3 players, alongside a Fisher Price cassette player.

As an adult, it never stops feeling odd to see slices of your own childhood on display in a museum, but there’s a happy nostalgia to pointing out various ones you remember, going ‘I had one of those… and those… and those…’

My 11-year-old, who’s grown up in era of streaming music, and currently flits happily between a string of devices to play whatever her latest favourite tune is (or more likely a playlist of the top 200 of them) is always fascinated by tales of how revolutionary a walkman seemed.

And even she could relate to one of the devices apart from a smartphone: remembering that she had a fairly basic boombox when she was younger to play various CDs (on the basis it was reasonably small child-proof).

After adding some of our own musical memories to the wall – mine involved sitting next to my parents’ stereo listening to the Top 40 and trying to record my favourites of the radio (and hoping the DJ wouldn’t talk over the beginning and end too much!) – the exhibition leads you into some of the more unusual instruments people have created, such as an organ powered by burning gas.

At each point, there’s some element that’s interactive; here a chance to turn blocks to create and name your own experimental instrument.

With music created out of ice instruments and even an egg slicer, it’s a reminder there’s no limit except your imagination.

A later display included a theremin and more high-tech gloves which let you create music without touching anything, as well as a chopstick used by composer and electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, who arranged the theme tune to Doctor Who.

Along the way, there are quotes and videos from various musicians, both famous and less well-known, talking about their own musical memories and what music means to them, plus audio accompaniments to most of the displays.

For example, one looking at the science of how music is created – such as why a trumpet sounds so different from pan pipes or a violin – allowed you to hear each one, while another showed you sound waves as you listened to the audio.

One highlight for kids was a room sized display where pressing different coloured sections would alter the rhythm, melody or harmony – I suspect most were approaching it in the same way, trying to press as many as possible, but with bright colours and illuminated sections, it was very fun.

A similar smaller-scale interactive, using Duplo-style blocks to compose your own track was even better for older kids to get creative

You could listen through headphones to hear your composition taking shape, with different block sizes, placements and even colours affecting the finished result.

The exhibition also touches on some bigger questions – such as whether AI can compose as well as a human? Thankfully for now, we could still tell which of the three compositions had been created by a computer.

After the who, how and wow of music, the final rooms all look at how music affects us – even without us realising.

There’s everything from snippets from film scores (including the ominous, ever faster beat of Jaws) to music designed to affect our emotions and tunes eliciting physical changes – while I knew different areas of the brain respond differently to music, I hadn’t realised certain types can even affect the hormones in your body.

A clever quiz showed that despite the variations in music from around the world, we could still usually identify what tunes were designed to soothe a baby, and which were meant to get you up and dancing.

It turns out that the choice of music even influences what we buy – French or German folk songs can persuade us to pick up a different bottle of wine, while others can affect how long we shop for, how much we spend, even how fast we get through a supermarket.

Music can help treat patients with dementia, can help tackle insomnia (and not always the tracks you might expect), can boost our workout and even help us be a safer driver.

It might seem a lot to take in, but it’s all done in a very engaging – and very family-friendly way.

If you’re looking for something which goes into great depth, this acts as more of an introduction but that works especially well for kids, with lots of bitesize information and plenty of short themed displays, so between those and the interactives, you never get chance to get bored.

Recommended for age 5+, we did see several toddlers and pre-schoolers having fun during our visit. There’s no question that older kids will get more from it but if your kids have younger siblings, there’s lots to keep them entertained as you go.

Whether you’re intrigued by the science, fancy unleashing your creative side or simply love music, this new exhibition is a very fun way to spend an hour at London’s Science Museum.

Turn It Up review: Need to know

EDIT: THE TURN IT UP EXHIBITION IS NOW CLOSED

Tickets for the Turn It Up exhibition at the Science museum in London cost from £9 for adults, £7.20 for children aged 5+ excluding a 10% donation. Kids aged 4 and under go free. There’s also a 50% discount for Art Pass holders.

The exhibition is recommended for ages 5+ – if you’re looking for more tips on visiting the Science Museum with toddlers, check out my post.

You can buy timed tickets in advance or on the door, subject to availability, with entry slots every 15 minutes from 10am until 4.15pm.

Wondering how long to spend at Turn It Up? We spent around on hour at Turn It Up, without either rushing or dawdling – you might want longer at busy times, but that gave plenty of chance to stop and listen, as well as trying out the interactives.

Anyone visiting Turn It Up also needs a free general admission ticket to the main Science Museum – these currently allow all-day access and allow you to skip the entry queue for non-ticket holders at busy times.

If you want to visit any of the other temporary exhibitions or paid attractions, such as Wonderlab (from £15), or Power Up (from £12), you need a separate paid tickets for those as well.

The exhibition has been extended to September 1, 2024 and Turn It Up is set on the first floor of the Science Museum, opposite the lifts by the entrance.

For ideas of more things to do in South Kensington, check out my top picks

Disclosure: My entry to the exhibition was free for the purposes of this Turn It Up review, all opinions are my own (and my daughter’s)

Images copyright MummyTravels

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