Abstract: The research subject of the article is the theoretical and methodological basis of music education represented in a traditional four-level structure (developed by A. Yudin within the system approach), consisting of: 1) a philosophical, 2) a general scientific, 3) a specific scientific, 4) a methodological level. Based on the thesis about the connection between theory and practice in music education, the second part of the article briefly describes the contents of the first three levels of the structure of the theoretical and methodological basis which are believed to be the most academical. The author focuses on two aspects: 1. The goals and potentials of the level under consideration; 2. The problems arising at each level.
The author arrives at the following conclusions: 1) the philosophical level of the theoretical and methodological basis of music education, being the most general and therefore the leading one, is necessary for training prospective musicians for the formation of the value, moral and spiritual, and esthetic components of education; 2) the general scientific level helps systematize the philosophic provisions and concepts into certain approaches and principles which can be introduced into the pedagogical practice as models of integral formation of education processes; 3) the level of socio-scientific disciplines, which is the most thoroughly developed due to the close connection with practical aspects and problems, consists in the aspects of the contents of education (musicology), the methodology of teaching (pedagogics), and the study subject/instrument (performance art).