The thesis consists of two parts. One is directed towards municipal music schools, and one deals with music teacher education at university level. The purpose was to investigate the recruitment to these two educations, and to describe and explain how different student groups perceived and used their education. Five empirical studies have been accomplished, and central questions were: which deliberate and non-deliberate choices of musical activities are made by children and music students, and how are these choices affected by socio-economical, geographical and gender prerequisites.Theoretically, the first part of the thesis was based on the educational sociology of Pierre Bourdieu and on previous empirical studies in music pedagogy. The first empirical study was directed towards the recruitment of pupils to the municipal music school in Piteå (n=1085). The study showed that two out of three pupils are girls. Furthermore, it was twice as common among children of higher employees and university graduates to study at the music school than among children with working class backgrounds. The second empirical study was an interview with children, 12-13 years of age (n=369). The results indicated that boys and girls understand and use music and music education in significantly different ways. Furthermore, differences related to socioeconomic background, musical background and residential area were also shown.The second part of the thesis begins with a summary of the origin and scientific basis of Swedish music pedagogy, followed by an investigation regarding recruitment to the music teacher education at the School of Music in Piteå (n=177). The investigation indicated that recruitment is socially biased, similar to that of the municipal music school. One third of the music teacher students were recruited from families where one of the parents worked as a teacher. One out of three students came from homes where religion was an important part of family life. In an interview-study with 60 music teacher students, differences related to gender and educational orientation arose in how students looked upon and used their education. The study showed two attitudes to music and music education, which were linked to the following concepts: musician code and teacher code. In connection with these concepts, three action strategies could be identified: navigation, revolt, and adjustment. These strategies were interpreted as an expression of the tension between the demands of the education and the individuals' wish to have his or her interests and needs met. The dissertation concludes with a project called "Self-formulated goals and self-evaluation in music education" and a short forward-looking discussion pertaining to questions that have been generated throughout the entire research process. / digitalisering@umu