This article examines inclusive music education through the lens of long-term qualitative research conducted in socially and educationally marginalised settings. The analysis draws on two interconnected domains: the El Sistema music and social programme and empirical work in residential childcare. Rather than approaching inclusion as a policy construct, the study attends to everyday practices and meanings emerging where music intersects with vulnerability and disrupted development. The research is grounded primarily in qualitative inquiry and informed by Participatory action research, drawing on interviews, participant observation, field documentation, and case-based analysis. Findings suggest that music can support participation, emotional regulation, and the formation of a coherent sense of self, while also revealing persistent structural and institutional constraints. Attention is paid to researcher personality and ethical complexity in these environments. The article argues that inclusion in music education is relational and context-dependent, and that qualitative approaches, including Participatory action research, are particularly suited to capturing this complexity, despite their limited generalisability.