The key aim of the research summarised in this article was to examine pupils' perception of music and to determine whether or not these perceptions were the same for both female and male pupils. The empirical enquiry consisted of the administration of a questionnaire to six secondary schools in the north-east of England followed by semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that pupil perception is related to gender role perceptions, with female adolescents exhibiting a more positive attitude to music than their male counterparts. It is therefore argued that more emphasis must be placed on changing male adolescents perception of music if their present position as passive consumers of school music is to change. (Contains 7 tables.)