Field experiences are important components of undergraduate music teacher education programs. This applied qualitative study investigated 12 preservice music teachers' reactions to K-12 field experiences for an undergraduate instrumental music methods course. Six weeks of course discussion board posts were analyzed via an iterative, constant comparative coding process. This process yielded five overarching themes, based upon the literature and informing our initial research questions: Reflective Practice, Disequilibrium, On-the-Job-Training, Teaching Experience Valued over Observation, and Buddy System. Based upon our findings, we suggest that engaging preservice music teachers in an apprenticeship of observation prior to their field experiences, developing stronger prompts to facilitate deeper reflection, promoting more team teaching and communities of reflective peers, and developing stronger collaborations with cooperating school music teachers may be appropriate ways to maximize the effectiveness of field experiences for preservice teachers' professional development.