The article deals with the system of Singing lessons in the educational institutions of the Russian Empire. Attention is paid to the historical and educational significance of musical and choral training in schools, the difficulties and methodological approaches in teaching. Pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern scientific literature was used as materials. The methods of research were the principles of objectivity, historicism, systemic, complex consideration of social subjectivity in the subject of study, the maximum possible neutrality of the researcher towards the interpretation and evaluation of the actual material was assumed. The use of these methods allowed the authors to consider the system of singing lessons in educational institutions in retrospect and in historical sequence. In conclusion, the authors note that singing had a great importance in the Russian Empire. Traditions and teaching of singing ascended to the ancient history of Russia and played an important part in the spiritual life of society. In the middle of the XIX century, singing was taught in primary schools in Russia, but due to the complex system of teaching, the progress of students was slow. In the 1870s, the teaching methodology based on the analytical-synthetic method was changed, which made it possible to dramatically improve the quality of teaching.