The purpose of this study was to clarify the aims of music making as defined in elementary school textbooks published in Japan in 1992, 2002, and 2011 and to trace the historical changes in the textbooks’ contents. From this analysis, two facets emerged. First, two goals appeared in the textbooks with regard to music making: that of establishing music-making objectives, such as developing musical skills and musical appreciation; and that of experiencing the actual activity of making music. Second, the emphasis today is on the latter―experience-oriented music making as a goal.