Music Teacher

What music teachers make

The federal wage survey does not publish a music teacher figure on its own. It counts private music teachers inside a broader group called Self-Enrichment Teachers, whose national median is $46,800 a year, with the bottom tenth near $30,050 and the top tenth at $92,840. Public school band and choir directors are counted with other school teachers instead, and are paid on their district's teacher salary schedule.

Private lesson rates

The rate looks high until you count the gaps. Lessons happen after school and on weekends, so a full teaching week is often 20 to 25 paid hours, not 40. Rates in big cities sit at the top of that range.

Teaching in a public school instead

Band, orchestra and choir directors are regular public school teachers. That route needs a bachelor's degree and a state teaching license, but it comes with a steady salary, health insurance and a pension, which private studio teaching does not.

What it costs to get there

Teaching privately with no degree

Nothing but your instrument and a place to teach

Music education degree, in-state public university

4 years, roughly $10,000 to $12,000 a year in tuition and fees

State licensure exams

Praxis subject tests generally run about $130 to $180 each

Your instrument

A serious student instrument is $1,000 to $5,000, and a professional one much more

Roughly, all in

$500 to $51,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

Teaching privately needs no degree and no licence, so the low end is an instrument you probably already own and a room to teach in. The high end is a four year music education degree at a public university at in-state rates of about $10,000 to $12,000 a year, the state licensure exams at roughly $130 to $180 each, and a serious student instrument at $1,000 to $5,000. Only the degree and licence route gets you into a public school classroom with a salary, benefits and a pension, and public school teaching counts toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The private teaching door is cheap but harder to walk through, because you build a client list one student at a time.

If you take the degree route, file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Pell Grants do not have to be repaid, and public school teaching qualifies for PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) after 10 years of payments.

How the money actually arrives

• Your own studio

  Highest rate per hour, no benefits, and you chase every payment yourself.

• A music school or academy

  They find the students and handle billing, and take a cut of the lesson fee.

• Public school salary

  Steady pay, health insurance and a state pension, in exchange for a license and a full timetable.

• Online lessons

  Video lessons widen your reach beyond your town, but the rate is usually lower.

The path

Two different routes. Private teaching needs no paperwork at all. School teaching needs a degree and a state license.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 9 to 12

   Play seriously. Band, orchestra, choir, jazz group, lessons, competitions. Music theory if your school offers it.

2. 2

   Start teaching beginners

   Any time

   Many teenagers teach a few younger students for pocket money. It is legal, it pays, and it is how you find out whether you like the work.

3. 3

   Bachelor's degree in music or music education

   4 years

   An audition is part of admission. Music education degrees include child development, conducting and classroom methods.

4. 4

   Student teaching and state license

   1 semester

   A semester in a real school classroom, plus your state's exams, which are usually Praxis subject and pedagogy tests.

5. 5

   Teach, then specialize

   Ongoing

   School music position, a private studio, or both. Optional professional certification through a teachers' association.

High school courses that help

• Music theory

  The single most useful class, and colleges place you by a theory test.

• Ensemble

  Band, orchestra, choir or jazz. Playing with other people is the skill.

• Psychology

  Teaching a seven year old and teaching a seventeen year old are different jobs.

• Business or accounting

  A private studio is a small business with invoices, taxes and a cancellation policy.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school

0 for private teaching, 4 to 5 for a school position

Tuition, in-state public

None, or about $40,000 to $50,000 for the degree route

Paid while training?

You can teach beginners the whole time

License required

No for private lessons, yes for a public school job

Who can call themselves a music teacher

Anyone. There is no state license and no national exam for teaching private lessons, so the title is not protected. Two things substitute for it. The first is a teaching license, which every state requires for a public school position and which normally means a bachelor's degree, supervised student teaching and passing your state's exams. The second, for independent teachers, is voluntary professional certification through the MTNA (Music Teachers National Association), which exists precisely because parents have no other way to tell one studio teacher from another. Expect a background check either way once you are working with children.

Where people study

Music education degrees are widely offered. A strong in-state public school is often the sensible financial choice.

• Your state's flagship public university

  Most have a school of music with a music education degree and in-state tuition.

• Berklee College of Music

  Boston, New York City and Valencia in Spain, with degrees in music education, performance and music therapy.

• Conservatories

  Juilliard, Curtis, Eastman and others. Audition driven, performance focused, extremely competitive.

• Community college first

  Two years of general education credits at a much lower price, then transfer into a music degree.

Things that bring you more students

• Professional certification

  The MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) runs a certification program for independent teachers, and it gives parents a reason to pick you.

• Exam board preparation

  Teachers who prepare students for graded music exams and auditions can charge more.

• A second instrument

  A piano teacher who also teaches guitar or voice fills the timetable faster.

• Early childhood music methods

  Kodaly, Orff and Suzuki training. Parents of young children specifically look for these.

Nice-to-haves

• Recording and video skills

  Online lessons, student recitals and your own promotion.

• Accompanying

  Playing for singers, choirs and auditions pays separately and keeps you connected.

• A recital venue

  A church hall or school room twice a year. Recitals are what keep families enrolled.

• Patience

  Most students will not practice. Teaching them anyway is the actual job.

Summer, camps and the gig side

Very few music teachers do only one thing. Summer camps, church music jobs, community choirs, wedding and function gigs, accompanying and arranging all fill the gaps, and the school year leaves the summer open. Building that mix takes a few years, and it is worth thinking of the income as several small streams rather than one salary. The NAfME (National Association for Music Education), with over 57,000 members, and state music education associations are where most of the connections come from.

A typical afternoon

Lessons start when school lets out. Half hour blocks back to back from 3 until 8, a nine year old who did not practice, a fifteen year old preparing an audition piece, an adult beginner who is nervous and apologetic. Between lessons you write practice notes, answer a parent asking about recital dates and reschedule someone who has a soccer game. Saturday mornings are the busiest teaching hours of the week. Mornings, when nobody is free for a lesson, are yours.

The honest trade-offs

Work life

Typical hours

Afternoons, evenings and Saturdays

Remote work

Yes, video lessons are normal now

Physical demand

Low

Unionized

Only in public schools

Similar paths

• TeacherRun a classroom of your own. A state license, a school calendar, and the most openings of almost any job on this site.
• MusicianPlay or sing for a living. The hourly rate looks good, the number of paid hours is the problem.
• Sports CoachYou run practices, pick the lineup and teach the fundamentals. Most coaching jobs are part time and most coaches have another job.

The wage survey hides this job

Federal statisticians file private music teachers under Self-Enrichment Teachers, the same category as martial arts instructors and driving instructors. It is why no official number for music teacher pay exists on its own, and why any figure you see should be read carefully.

Teaching is how most musicians eat

A large share of working performers teach. Lessons pay reliably during the week while performing pays unevenly, and the two fit together because gigs are mostly at night and on weekends anyway.

Nobody can stop you teaching

Private music teaching is unregulated in every state. No license, no exam, no minimum qualification. That is why voluntary certification exists and why word of mouth from other parents decides who fills their studio and who does not.