Despite the vast amount of research examining the impact of music education on several domains of children’s development, comparatively little is known about its impact on the development of melodic ability (i.e., perception and production skills), in children from disadvantaged communities. In the present study, we examined melodic ability in a group of children from underprivileged backgrounds who took part in a music education program. Participants were 154 second graders (M = 6.84 years; SD = 0.43; 77 girls) from public primary schools that did not offer music education for their students, in economically and socially deprived areas in Porto, in the North of Portugal. Classes were randomly assigned to one of the experimental groups (i.e., music, drama) or a control group. The programs were implemented during one school year. Children’s melodic ability was assessed pre- and post-intervention, through the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Musical Abilities for melodic perception and a researcher-designed, melodic production task. Developmental effects were found in that the three experimental groups improved their melodic ability throughout the school year. Results further suggested that there were positive associations between melodic perception and melodic production skills in school-aged children.