The aim of the present study is to give an overview of active learning methods which could be implemented in the process of teaching music in order to make it more active and promote students' interest towards music as a subject at secondary school level. The study concentrates on how Estonian secondary school music teachers use active learning methods in their lesson activities when teaching ca 13-16 year old students. The following research questions were posed: what kind of active learning methods teachers mainly use in different learning activities when giving music lessons in secondary schools and which active learning methods students consider most interesting and like the most? In order to gather data, interviews with seven secondary school teachers from one Estonian city were conducted. In addition to that, 163 students were also asked to fill out a questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that among active learning strategies teamwork is mostly used in music lessons; on the contrary, interviews, role plays, discussion and outdoor learning activities are used the least. Overall, singing is the most frequent learning activity and musical movement and field trips are used the least often. Based on the results of the study it can be claimed that although teachers believe that they use active learning methods often the students think that it is done rather infrequently. It can also be claimed that teachers do not support their students to apply active learning methods in several areas of curriculum, and seem to need further instruction in how to facilitate students' active learning. Teachers could be more knowledgeable on how to use active learning methods during various activities to wholly support the development of students.