The subjective experience of ‘musical loss’ is analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Music research has severely neglected to review the experience of musicians who lose the ability to play their instruments, leading to a significant gap in music psychology literature. The experiences of six injured musicians’ were explored using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The results recovered three superordinate themes highlighting the musicians lived experiences. In addition to gaining insight into music and meaning, the results showed that the experience and depth of loss manifests in many different ways and for various primary reasons. The results offer musicians, therapists and healthcare specialists’ information regarding the importance of music in people’s lives, thus equipping them with valuable knowledge when dealing with music loss, in order to enhance rehabilitation and sensitive recovery.