The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools is now commonplace and, for many teachers, an unquestionable part of everyday teaching and learning. Within music education, detailed studies of the use of ICT in the classroom are rare. This article presents the findings of a research and development project supported by the Training and Development Agency that carried out a review of classroom practice in eighteen schools across the UK. It discusses how many of the potentially liberating effects of ICT in musical practices outside the classroom have failed to make an impact within the classroom and considers how ICT as a tool could transform music teaching and learning. (Comparison of the GCSE performance criteria (for examination in 2006) is appended.)