The purpose of this study was to understand the decision-making practices related to student musical engagement of elementary general music teachers who use a Music Learning Theory-based (MLT) approach. Two questions guided this research:(1) What roles do context, curriculum, and communication play in MLT-based elementary general music teachers' decision-making practices?(2) What meaning do MLT-based elementary general music teachers construct from their decision-making practices? I approached this qualitative study from a social constructivist framework. Sampling for this study was purposeful and heterogeneous to explore a variety of viewpoints from people with different experiences (Patton, 2015). Eligible participants were current elementary general music teachers who use an MLT-based approach to musical engagement. I interviewed five teachers using a three-interview design to gain insight into their decision-making practices (Seidman, 1998). In the first interview, participants described their life experiences related to teaching music to establish context for their teaching approach and decisions. In the second interview, participants reconstructed their experiences related to making decisions about lesson planning, active engagement in the classroom, and communication with students and guardians. In the third interview, participants reflected on the meaning of their experiences, including how their context, curriculum, and communication inform their decision-making practices in the classroom (Seidman, 1998). I analyzed the interviews using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, which emphasized both the meaning that participants made from their experience, as well as my interpretation of their responses as the researcher (Smith et al., 2008). Following IPA analysis, I analyzed interview transcripts case by case through a systematic approach that organized the data by descriptive coding; syntax coding, in which I interpreted how the information is conveyed; and interpretive coding, in which I made sense of the meanings that the participants expressed, as well as my own interpretation of the information through the lens of related research (Smith et al., 2008).I illustrated my findings through an individual narrative for each participant, then expanded on some common themes: language as connection, curricular roadmap, and knowledge transfer for student independence. Implications for the music teaching profession and pre-service programs include the importance of finding a professional community that “speaks the same language,” the benefits of having a guiding structure for organizing the music curriculum, and the need for music teachers to pursue a music pedagogy approach that aligns with their music teaching philosophy.