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In addition to school, many children and teenagers would like to learn an instrument or make music in an ensemble. There is a wide range of opportunities for this.

A total of 30 % of the pupils in the two highest grades take music as a subject. The majority of them study in courses with a basic level.

Music is anchored in the curricula of Germany's states in almost all grades 5 to 10. However, there are differences in the quantity of music lessons to be taught.

Germany's states differ in the number of weekly hours they allot to music lessons. Music can be a mandatory or compulsory elective subject under its own name, or a component of larger learning areas.

Public music schools offer a variety of instrumental and vocal subjects. Piano, guitar, violin, recorder, percussion and flute have the highest numbers of pupils.

Public music schools had approximately 1.4 million pupils in the calendar year 2021. Particularly in the younger age groups, pupil numbers declined in the pandemic years.

With almost 6,200 schools and 5,100 kindergartens, most of the cooperation partners of public music schools are educational institutions. Many music clubs are also partners.

Musikunterricht fördert kreative Gestaltungsprozesse und öffnet musikalisch-ästhetische Erfahrungsräume. Doch seit Jahren mangelt es in Deutschland an ausgebildeten Fachlehrkräften.

Die Musikschullandschaft zeigt im Bundesländervergleich teils große Unterschiede. Michael Dartsch benennt Gründe und geht auf Kooperationen, Unterrichtsangebote und Finanzierungsmodelle ein.