Erin E. Stewart is a graduate student at the same institution; e-mail: estewart@sunflower.com. Copyright © 2005 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex and race identification on the assignment of instruments to beginning band students. Participants (N = 201) were music educators solicited by university professors across the United States. Participants completed an online survey about instrument assignments. Half the participants were sent to a site that had full-head pictures of 14 students and assigned them to one of six beginning band instruments. The other half of the participants were sent to a site that had pictures of the same students, but only the lips and dental aspects of the students' faces were visible. Results indicated that the ability to identify the sex and race of students had an effect only on the assignment of an instrument for 2 of the 14 students. No clear reason for the few differences could be linked to any sex or race factors; therefore, the assessment decisions are thought to be artifacts of individual pictures/students. The authors conclude that, generally, differences in instrument assignment could not be linked to the participants' ability to identify the sex or race of the student.Every year, many music educators must guide prospective students through instrument selection. Aspects that influence this decision are ubiquitous: a student's attitude toward musical instruments, parental influence, peer influence, cost, availability, societal influences, perceived degree of playing difficulty, and teacher influence, to name but a few. It is the responsibility of music educators to understand these factors and the research regarding instrument selection, and to then facilitate an informed decision.