Music Teachers

To learn more about music and the career of music teacher, sing in your school or church choir or join a band or orchestra. Get as much experience as you can playing, singing, and performing. Read all you can about music theory, music history, famous musicians, and performance. Talk to your music teachers about what they like and don't like about teaching music. If you are a college student, you can become a student member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) or the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). As an MTNA collegiate member, you will receive American Music Teacher (https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/Stay_Informed/American_Music_Teacher/American_Music_Teacher.aspx), a publication that provides useful information for music teachers, and opportunities to participate in performance competitions. Student members of NAfME receive Music Educators Journal and Teaching Music (both available at https://nafme.org/publications-resources), publications that offer articles on trends in music education, teaching approaches and philosophies, lesson plans, and technology as it relates to music education. NAfME also offers many free and useful resources on its Web site, https://nafme.org. Visitors can read free publications, such as Careers in Music, and check out its blog.

To gain general teaching experience, look for leadership opportunities that involve working with children. You might find summer work as a counselor in a summer music camp, as a leader of a scout troop, or as an assistant in a public park or community center. To get firsthand teaching experience, volunteer for a peer tutoring program. Many other teaching opportunities may exist in your community.

If you are interested in becoming a college professor, spend some time on a college campus to get a sense of the environment. Write to colleges for their admissions brochures and course catalogs (or check them out online). Read about the music faculty and the courses they teach. Before visiting college campuses, make arrangements to speak to professors who teach music courses that interest you. These professors may allow you to sit in on their classes and observe.

Participate in information interviews and job-shadowing experiences with music teachers to learn more about the field. Ask your school counselor and music teacher for help setting up these experiences. Perhaps your own music teacher would be willing to discuss their career with you.