ABSTRACTThis article explores the relationships between teachers’ competence and the content of their music lessons. Previous research suggests that the content of music in primary and lower secondary schools is influenced not only by curricular issues, but also by the teachers’ competence. Survey data from 135 Norwegian teachers, ranging from generalist teachers to specialist music teachers and musicians, is used to examine the details of this relationship. First, the correlation between higher education music studies and selected music teaching competences are investigated. Second, the correlation between competence and the different types of content are examined. Lastly the correlation between competence and content that concerns music making is investigated, and compared with the variables school grade and teachers’ gender. The results first identify six competences that correlate significantly with higher education music studies (the Competence Scale). Further, the study finds that several content areas correlate with competence: performance, composing, music history, improvising, music theory and music listening prepared by the teacher. The results also indicate that competence is the single most important factor stimulating music making in schools. There is, however, reason to believe that different teachers carry out different types of music making, since statistical analysis of the scale identified two broad forms of music making. Whether these two forms are the preferred music making content of trained and untrained teachers, of different school grades, of instrumentalist and vocalist teachers, or the preferred forms of practice of men and women is however uncertain.