The knowledge and professional learning needs of music teachers continue to evolve over time, while the gap between theory and practice in music teacher education remains persistent. As a vital bridge between the two, pre-service music teachers’ Practical Knowledge (PK) encompasses all forms of knowledge and insight that support their teaching practices. The River of Music Experience (RME), as a visual and narrative self-reflective tool, provides a means of tracing pre-service teachers’ musical learning, experiences, and educational growth across time and context. In this study, ten pre-service music teachers were invited to draw their personal RME, marking key moments, significant events, and influential figures along their musical journeys. These visual narratives were then used to facilitate in-depth reflective interviews and discussions.The findings are expected to connect participants’ early musical experiences with their current understandings of teacher identity and music teaching, uncovering the implicit elements of PK that have gradually taken shape throughout their musical journeys. The results suggest that pre-service music teachers’ past musical experiences serve as key sources and foundations of their PK, primarily manifested across individual and contextual dimensions, providing the “raw materials” for understanding the ongoing development. This study highlights the potential of the RME as a reflective visualisation tool, offering new insights into identity formation and reflective learning in music teacher education.