Performance-based assessments allow teachers to systematically observe skills used or demonstrated by students when they create a product, construct a response, or make a presentation (McMillan 2001). These assessments are grounded in performance-based tasks that elicit students' responses in relation to the outcomes of instruction. The criteria discussed in this article--generalizability, authenticity, multiple loci, teachability, feasibility, and scorability can help music teachers select or develop performance-based assessments to use with their curricula (Popham 2002). Tasks should be structured to meet the needs of individual students, with the teacher providing feedback as needed. Also, scoring guides should focus on several aspects of performance across varying levels of proficiency. These criteria must be balanced with considerations for cost, time, equipment, and space. Student assessment in music should be based on valid information about a student's status in terms of the goals and outcomes of instruction. Application of the criteria described in this article will improve the quality of assessment tasks on which inferences about this status are based.