Music plays a crucial role in early childhood education and Malaysia has emphasized its importance by including music in Malaysia’s 2017 National Preschool Standard Curriculum. This study investigates the beliefs and practices of Malaysian kindergarten teachers in music teaching, focusing on four key dimensions: (1) curriculum content, (2) teaching methods, (3) children’s musical abilities, and (4) professional knowledge. The study aims to: (1) explore the current state of teachers’ beliefs regarding music teaching, (2) explore their actual teaching practices, and (3) analyze the correlation between these beliefs and practices. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 132 kindergarten teachers through a self-developed questionnaire titled “Survey on Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Music Teaching.” The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample T-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation.Findings revealed that teachers generally hold moderate to high levels of agreement in beliefs about music teaching, emphasizing that it should foster holistic development through listening, singing, movement, instrument playing, and musical improvisation. They also support the use of sensory-based, demonstration and cultural elements to enhance children's musical experiences. Moreover, teachers recognize the importance of cultivating children's abilities to distinguish rhythm, pitch, and dynamics, and emphasize the necessity for educators to apply professional musical knowledge in their teaching. However, in practice, music teaching is limited, with most teachers only occasionally incorporating singing and movement into classroom activities. Methods such as Dalcroze, Orff, Kodály and Gordon are rarely used, difficulty in guiding musical concepts like rhythm, pitch, and dynamic. Additionally, professional music knowledge is seldom applied in music teaching. So, a statistically significant but low correlation was found between teachers’ beliefs and their practices, indicating a noticeable gap between what teacher belief and what they are able to implement. Additionally, while teaching beliefs did not significantly differ across teacher backgrounds, a post hoc analysis of teaching practices revealed that teachers with master’s degrees implemented music teaching more actively than those with bachelor’s degrees. Interestingly, teachers outside the roles of music teachers, full-time kindergarten teachers, or those with administrative duties, showed more positive attitudes toward music education.These findings highlight a need for improved teacher training, increased access to music teaching resources and strengthen the music teaching capabilities of preschool educators, and further research on how to bridge the gap between belief and practice in early childhood music teaching.