Learn a Musical Instrument, Prepare for a Career

For a skilled musician, there is an additional career path that is invisible to the non-musician. This is an additional benefit beyond the pleasure of playing music, the attention it brings, and the better academic performance than students who do not learn to play a musical instrument. It is a broad range of extra career opportunities that non-musicians never even consider.

But if you're a musician, you can apply. Let's take a look at these careers that are available only to musicians

Education: Are you a musician who has also studied education? If so, there are numerous music education opportunities that may interest you:

§Music educator at a college, conservatory, university; thousands of positions to apply for in both public and private colleges.

§Music teacher at secondary or elementary school; thousands more all over the US and the world.

§Private music instructor; there are hundreds of thousands of private piano teachers, guitar teachers, drum teachers, etc. working for themselves in private studios and/or teaching in a music store.

§Music supervisor; many opportunities to oversee musical programs in both public and private venues.

§Choir director; thousands of schools from elementary to college; thousands of churches who use choir directors.

Therapy: Are you a musician who has also studied psychiatry? You can practice the trade of music therapy in a wide array of settings. Some of the sources of employment for music therapists are the following:

§Schools

§Universities

§Nursing Homes

§Mental health clinics; the author worked as an assistant music therapist one summer when he was in college; it was a great experience.

§Correctional Facilities

§Private practice

Business: Ever wonder what it takes to work in business management? Besides business smarts, an ability to talk the language of music will take you places the non-musican cannot go:

§Artist Manager or Agent

§Talent Agent

§Concert Promoter

§Independent Radio Promoter

§Music Business Entrepreneur

§Music Business Consultant

§Record Company Executive

§Music Publisher

§Tour Coordinator

Performance: Actors are more highly valued if they have a musical education. Today, with so few actors multi-skilled as they were in the era of the large studios, this can be a real advantage. Below are some of the jobs for which an actor who is also a musician may "incidentally" be qualified.

§Performing artist

§Soloist, instrumental or vocal

§Studio musician

§Background vocalist

§Theatre musician

§Accompanist

§Church musician

§Product demonstrator for instrument manufacturer

Movies / Video Games: If you study movies or video game production, a background as a musician will help you prepare for music-related jobs such as the following:

§Conductor

§Music Composer

§Music Editor

§Music Supervisor (to scout for music)

§Arranger (to determine the mix of song elements per the conductor or producer's specifications)

§Sound designer (of effects to accompany music score)

§Jingle writer / composer

From education to video games, there are careers available for those who happen to have a background in music which the rest of us never see. Each of these fields requires time and study for proficiency, but they represent a career path that is nonexistent for non-musicians.

Sure, you already knew that playing music could improve your quality of life. Now you know it can improve the quality of your career.