The purposes of this study were to determine the status of music education in the public elementary schools in R.O.C.(academic year 1987) ,to find out the problems of these programs, and to make recommendation for program improvement. The date were collected by means of questionnaires designed by the researcher. The samples included 260 teachers and 320 pubils in-the elementary schools of Taipei area. Of the 260 teachersch39r questionnaires mailed,225 usuable responses (86.5X) were returned. Of the 320 students' questionnaires, all of them were returned. The date were analyzed by calculating frequencies, percentages and Chi Square statistic. The major findings of this study were as follows :(l)the content of curriculum emphasized singing and notation reading, and there was little teaching; in the areas of instrument playing, listening, appreciation, and creating;(2)singing outweighted instrumental practice;(3)1ndequate objective testing procedure;(4)a few of schools did not have music clubs ;(5)the majority of students did not have the right to participate in music clubs;(6)the music teachers'guide should be revised to assist music teachers in planning a well-rounded approach to music education; and (7) lack of materials and equipment for teaching. Suggestions were also provided to solve the problems.