Abstract: This thesis includes a review of issues related to the lives and experiences of urban children in an effort to identify the most helpful and appropriate methods for teaching them, specifically in the context of general music education. It proposes that general music teachers in urban schools should explore a wide range of nontraditional experiences with their students in order to provide a more vital, enriching, and meaningful appreciation of music as an integral part of a fulfilling life. A community plays a vitally important role in determining the experiences children have and the lessons they take from them; thus, their approach to education. In the area of music education, teachers may be uniquely equipped to address some of the needs of students that are particularly apparent in urban children. One significant example is that music can help to build understanding among groups of people who are fundamentally different. Schools must continue to search for new and more effective ways to engage low-income students in the learning process and thereby provide them with hope for greater success and stability in life. Examining the gifts and challenges that urban students bring to the classroom can provide valuable insight to creating a more productive future for urban education. General music teachers in urban schools should be encouraged to look for any means of providing a more enriching, and meaningful appreciation of music as an integral part of a fulfilling life. The traditional approaches that have linked us together as music educators have always been largely focused on how we are teaching about music. Alternatively, perhaps we should focus on what it is about music that we are teaching. Foremost in our curricular goals and expectations should be the unceasing mission to provide each one of our students with that one magical moment that will result in a true understanding of the value of music and its place in our lives.