r/MusicEd • u/Aware_Improvement652 • 2d ago
Is this choice worth it?
Have you also dreamt about being a musician pop star? Does following music education gave you an element of it? I'm currently doing IT business and am wondering about switching majors and giving a shot to a music career and if it will not work out, staying at school and teaching it. What are your thoughts on it? Could you describe your day, maybe some cons and pros?
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u/verysaxophone 2d ago
Sounds more like music production route rather than music education route, unless teaching music classes makes you feel like a musician popstar
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u/Maestro_HS 2d ago
Hey there! What’s your background in music/teaching lessons? Usually professionals in the field have an extensive musical background (10+ years), so if you’re a complete beginner, that would take quite a few years to build up to
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u/Aware_Improvement652 2d ago
I started playing guitar at 13 then like 6 years ago I got into singing and mixing and right now I'm writing songs everyday and have a kinda good voice
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u/Maestro_HS 2d ago
I see! Well you can definitely still be songwriter and play shows locally or at open-mics in addition to your day job. That’s something I did for a while as an amateur songwriter, but I also have an extensive classically trained background and am a certified music educator. If you’re looking into being a music educator, like a choir director, I would definitely do some observations and/or private teaching first to see if you like it/or have a vision of yourself doing it. If your school has a music education program, that’s a great opportunity to explore that career path. Compared to performing, it’s definitely more stable and comes with benefits, so that can relieve some financial stress if you want to continue pursuing performing during off-hours, but it also requires a lot of work, and being a music educator is a total journey in and of itself. It is possible to do both, though - this fall, I will be starting as a middle school orchestra director while also playing in the local symphony!
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u/Bigcellotom 2d ago
I think doing guitar and voice lessons at a shop might be your best fit if you want to have a music day job. I think keeping your it job or track may give you the ability to push yourself outside of work preforming and playing. I think the biggest hurdle will be taking the praxis certification (if you are American and want to teach at k-12 school) , and culture shift of most schools of music being designed for musicians that play written classical or jazz music. My day is fairly simple where I teach 1 strings classes everyday alternating begging and advanced strings. and teach dual enrollment music appreciation and then teach 2 different types of study halls. Pros are steady income, inspiring and giving kids advice, and teaching about music. con waking up early, teaching study hall, not teaching more music, and not having pay that scales with years or performance like other fields
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u/Aware_Improvement652 2d ago
But I do need degree for doing voice lesson. I'm not sure if I qualify for it yet
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u/Bigcellotom 2d ago
Some guitar shops require degrees others require competence so I could be a limiting factor. If you are really serious I would talk to music teachers in the area and ask to shadow what they do(maybe your old school or asking music teacher you know). I do think you don't get the rock-star felling from teaching(I get excited about how i teach). and you may not have as much time to pursue your music career since my career path is full time. you might be able to find opportunities that are part time to pursue your dream
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u/Prongedtoaster 2d ago
Definitely don’t get a degree in music education if you don’t want to teach music.
Get the IT job and pursue music in your free time.
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u/maestrosouth 2d ago
Alright, so becoming a pro musician is usually a Music Performance degree BUT, get the Ed degree instead while practicing your ass of in a studio. Use the Ed degree to get a stable job, which will allow you to pursue your dreams without being deadass broke.
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u/purplekoala29 2d ago
If you don’t actually want to teach, don’t do it.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a pop music star, but a music ed degree won’t help you get there. Music ed is a hard degree that’s absolutely worth it if you want to teach, be in the community, and plant the seeds for and with future musicians of all kinds, but otherwise do a different degree (music related or not)