Classical guitar ensembles are increasing in the United States as popular alternatives to band, choir, and orchestra. Classical guitar ensembles are offered at many middle and high schools as fine arts electives as one of the only options for classical guitarists to participate in ensembles. The purpose of this study was to explore the development of self-perceptions and skill acquisition of students in classical guitar ensembles. Participants included 14 classical guitar students ages 7-15 years in a university music outreach program. All students took weekly private classical guitar lessons and guitar ensemble classes from graduate music students. Systematic observation of 220 minutes of video data collected over a 12-week period was used to determine whether students demonstrated music skills associated with good tone and playing in time in an ensemble. All students took either the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) for ages 7-13 years or the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988) for ages 14-18 years. These surveys were administered at the end of the 12-week period. Participants answered approximately 40 questions using a forced-choice four-point Likert-like scale. All students answered questions related to student perceptions of their scholastic competence, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, and global self-worth. Results were compared to similar questions students answered about the importance of each subscale to determine discrepancies between their competence, importance and global self-worth scores. Ensemble instructors answered similar questions on their perceptions of their students for reliability purposes. Students also took a short multiple-choice questionnaire designed by the researcher on their musical experience, practicing behaviors and musical preferences. [Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Texas Music Educators Association (San Antonio, TX, Feb 2012).]