New York is a centre for blues, jazz, folk, rock, hip-hop, punk, classical and other musical styles played in its world-class concert halls, dive bars, parks and museums.

The city that never sleeps moves to the beat of many different drummers, from the timpani player at the New York Philharmonic to the street performer skillfully pounding the bottom of an overturned plastic bucket.

Many of New York City’s 8.4 million residents were born in another country, which means the typical subway rider has likely commuted to the sounds of an Andean harp, a West African kora, a Chinese erhu or a Caribbean steel drum being played at rush hour as part of the Music Under New York programme.

Even the subway trains make music to some ears.

Fans of the late American composer Leonard Bernstein swear certain subway trains sound the first few notes of his West Side Story hit Somewhere when they pull out of the station.

A typical subway rider has likely commuted to the sounds of an Andean harp, a West African kora, a Chinese erhu or a Caribbean steel drum

New York City’s best known musical landmarks are Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall and Broadway theatres.

Each not only offers master performances on stage but also backstage tours, with a favorite being Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera tour, which takes in the scenic and carpentry shops, rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms and stage area during the Met performance season. http://www.metguild. org/guild/BackstageTours/BackstageToursDisplay.aspx

Those hungry for a different musical experience – and, also, just plain hungry – can try a dinner show like one at the famed Birdland Jazz Club on Midtown Manhattan's West Side.

On Fridays, from 5 to 7pm, musicians who typically play in the pits of nearby Broadway shows gather to perform as the Birdland Big Band before scattering for the 8pm curtain call of musicals like The Lion King and Chicago. www.birdlandjazz.com

A man plays an erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument, in the New York City subway.

At Ellen’s Stardust Diner, a retro 1950s-themed restaurant on Broadway at 50th Street, singing waiters leap on to the divider between the comfy booths and break into pop songs in between serving burgers and shakes. www.ellensstardustdiner.com

Gospel fans head to Harlem for Sunday gospel brunch at Ginny's Supper Club, which is styled to look like the speakeasies that were popular during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and serves up spiritual music, fried chicken and collard greens. www.ginnyssupperclub.com/event/633711-gospel-brunch-new-york

A completely different perspective lies across the East River where a converted barge moored near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge serves as the headquarters for Bargemusic.

The wood-panelled boat is a floating concert hall for classical music and offers a spectacular view of the historic bridge and Manhattan beyond. www.bargemusic.org

Basement bars like Smalls and The Village Vanguard, one of the world's longest-running jazz clubs, draw jazz lovers to Greenwich Village, where bands play until the wee hours of the morning. http://villagevanguard.com and http://smallsjazzclub.com

There is also The Stone in the East Village at the corner of Avenue C and Second Street, the city's premier venue for experimental jazz and new music.

Located in an unlabelled room with no bar, it hosts the most progressive artists in improvised music and usually attracts a line of fans that stretches down the block. www.thestonenyc.com

Perhaps the quietest musical experience in New York can be found inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which houses a collection of 5,000 musical instruments dating from 300BC to the present and includes such treasures as a Stradivarius violin known as ‘The Francesca’ and a Cristofori grand piano.

No touching at the Met, but for a little hands-on fun head to Piano Row on 58th Street, where you can stroll through the doors of stunning showrooms such as Beethoven pianos, Allegro pianos and Faust Harrison Pianos and tickle the ivories on dozens of Steinways, Grotrians and Bluthners for the small price of listening to a sales pitch. www.beethovenpianos.com, www.allegropianos. com and www.faustharrisonpianos.com

A block away and a few steps from Carnegie Hall is Steinway Hall, grand showroom for the famed Steinway pianos www.steinwayshowrooms.com/steinway-hall.

And for a souvenir small enough to fit into your suitcase, vinyl record stores in New York include Rough Trade NYC in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section, which has a wide indie-rock music selection, and Generation Records in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, which stocks punk and metal music.