This degree project originated from a curiosity about what the authors perceived as ambiguities in the pedagogical practices of music education, particularly concerning the use and understanding of musical terminology. The study focuses on how instrumentalist teachers and students at the upper secondary school level, in the genres of pop, rock, and jazz, describe their understanding of musical terms, and how these descriptions differ across participants as well as what characterizes such differences, or similarities. Data were collected from two teachers and six of their students through semi-structured interviews. The interview protocol focused on six musical terms, which were identified as potentially ambiguous through correspondence between the authors and consultation with professional musicians and experienced music educators. The interviews aimed to capture participants’ subjective interpretations and understanding of these terms. The collected data were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach, which allowed the authors to identify patterns of variation in participants’ conceptions and to categorize different ways of describing the terms. The results revealed both similarities and considerable variation in how participants described their understanding of the selected musical terms. For example, some participants tended to attribute identical meanings to certain terms, such as phrasing and articulation, suggesting a convergence in interpretation. In contrast, other participants demonstrated a preference for deliberately maintained distinctions between the meanings of the same terms. The study concludes by discussing the findings in relation to existing literature on education and terminology, alongside the authors’ reflections on the results and their implications for future pedagogical practice.