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Careers with a Master of Arts in Music and Music Education
The transformative power of music education, especially on developing minds, has been a key area of research for decades. And, despite the long history of music education research, new discoveries continue to be made about how learning music affects our minds. One longitudinal study, published in March 2018, linked several cognitive benefits with structured music lessons, including improved language-based reasoning, enhanced short-term memory and better overall academic performance.
Pursuing a Master of Arts in Music and Music Education is also largely about transformation. By expanding your technical mastery and connecting with other educators, you can fine-tune your passion and talent, transforming them into engaging lessons and unforgettable experiences for students. In many cases, music educators also have the opportunity to enhance the communities in which they live and work.
Read more: Connecting Music to Kids’ Lives: Ayanda Dalamba, TC’s inaugural Milman Music Education Fellow
Careers in Music Education
There is no one-size-fits-all music education career, and the best educators are frequently those who can integrate their own passion and personal style with academic rigor to meet their students’ needs. The overall job market for music education is healthy, with the music teacher employment rate expected to grow 3 percent between 2022 and 2032. Music teachers and administrators can also step forward and create opportunities that would have been impossible without their drive and the care they give their students.
In addition to working with groups of different ages, from elementary to postsecondary students, music teachers are often the driving force for building programs from the ground up. In her recent article, elementary music teacher Chesley Talissé explores how she built a program from scratch for a small Title I charter school in Mansfield, Ohio. Her challenge was two-fold. First, her school had no previous general music, no band and no musical performance programs. Second, her community’s poverty rate was close to 90 percent, making it difficult to acquire sheet music and equipment.
Through her work, which included getting grants for funding and gaining the trust of her students, she was able to create a program that engaged students and allowed them to put on performances they could be proud of.
“I went from begging parents to come see performances five years ago to having 500 audience members cheering their children on this past year,” Talissé wrote. “Alumni returned to enjoy the show, and some performed with the students.”
Whether you are interested in teaching, founding your own school, an administrative role or some combination of various roles, building a successful career in music education is about leveraging your creativity and passion to take ownership over what you want to build with your students and your communities.
Related Content: TC Student Story: Tanatchaya Chanphanitpornkit
Music Education Careers: Salary and In-Demand Skills
On average, music teachers earn a salary of $47,260 with some earning up to $75,000 per year. Compensation for music educators can be dependent on a number of factors like the district or region that you work in, your specific skill set, and amount of experience
In-Demand Skills for Music Education Careers
The skills in demand for music teachers and directors are significantly varied. PayScale shows several key skills linked to higher earnings. For music directors, these include conducting, team leadership, singing, people management and administration. Music teachers who focus on a specific type of music, instrument or genre are more desireable. For example, Lightcast data shows that music teachers with the skill of ‘piano pedagogy’ or ‘guitar’ were more likely to earn a higher salary than their peers.
To go beyond higher earnings and hit the transformative notes of music education, though, it takes more than a quantitative set of skills. By tapping into creativity, entrepreneurship, your own personal style and softer skills, you can help to push your students to new heights and realize the full potential of their talent. For Jeanne Goffi-Fynn, this means making it a focus of all her work to help singers take ownership of their voices. Achieving this requires her to step into the dual role of teacher and life coach, to understand the unique needs of her students and help lead them to role models who can show them different paths toward finding fulfillment in music.
Salaries With a Master of Music Education
A crucial factor in determining music education salary is the type of environment you want to teach in. For example, self-employed private music teachers have more control over setting their rates as well as where they work than those who work for a school or other organization. As a result, they can have higher salary potential, but they also take on more of the risk, since they are responsible for marketing and promoting themselves as well as the administrative duties associated with running their own business.
As previously mentioned, geographic region and level of education can play a dramatic role in earning potential within the music education field. Additionally, the top five cities with demand for music educators holding music education master’s degrees are New York City, Phoenix, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston.
Music Education Salaries: Location Matters
| City | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| New York City | $56,298 |
| Phoenix | $38,024 |
| Chicago | $46,006 |
| Pittsburgh | $34,543 |
| Boston | $50,321 |
Source: Lighcast, 2024
How does a Masters in Music Education impact salary?
According to Lightcast, job listings for music teachers requiring a master’s degree offer an average salary of $60,300– 5% more than job listings not requiring a master’s degree.
For many, becoming a music teacher is about more than just earning a salary—it is a chance to enrich the lives of many young people, and to help them find new ways of expressing their creative selves. Innovative and driven music educators will be able to find these opportunities to make a difference regardless of the career path they choose. It may not be easy, but through dedication and an eye toward bringing out the absolute best in their students, music educators can go beyond the typical career path and truly transform the lives around them.
About Teachers College MA in Music and Music Education
The Hybrid Summer Master of Arts in Music and Music Education (M.A. M&ME) at Teachers College, Columbia University is designed for professionals who seek to transform themselves, their students and their communities. With an academically rigorous curriculum and on-campus experiences, our program equips graduates with a diverse and rich skillset they can use to tap into their passions and become a driving force in the transformation of music education.