3. Four Specific Music Majors Have Very High Employment Outcomes
Every music major allows students opportunity for making an extraordinary living, no question. I have seen music students make amazing careers in every possible music major.
However, I can think of four that stand out as having extremely good employment outcomes: Music Technology, Music Education, Collaborative Piano, and Music Therapy.
In our rapidly expanding world of technology, it comes as no surprise that music technology experts, be it in recording, mixing, mastering, programming, producing, etc. have significant employment outcomes.
Music Education, the study of teaching K-12 students music, holds a near-100% employment success rate at many schools.
No wonder it is the most popular music major in the country!
Music Therapy is the study of using music as a modality for healing. They are now frequently employed in thousands of health and recovery institutions worldwide.
And finally, Collaborative Piano, which is the art of accompanying other musicians (voice, chamber music, etc.) has an amazing outlook in either employment or a constant stream of freelance work.
If I were to add a fifth one, Music Business can also hold an amazing employment outcome for many students.
2. Mentorship
I cannot think of any other field in which a student spends four years developing powerful 1-on-1 connections and mentorship at the undergraduate level with some of the most powerful people in their field.
In my own practice, I have had students end up studying 1-on-1 with opera superstar Deborah Voigt at San Francisco Conservatory, classical composition with Pulitzer winner John Corigliano at Juilliard, Jazz saxophone with legendary musician Bob Mintzer at USC…
Can you imagine letting your kid study with a mentor of this level of success for four years?
Their work ethic, passion, and “success formula” is passed down to their students, who could be end up being your kid.
1. Letting Them Follow Their Dreams
How do you think your child’s life would be if you, as their parent, told them you felt they couldn’t make a living doing what they love?
At a certain point, letting them go into the unknown is an inevitable…
Would you rather them be guaranteed a “safe” job with a good income they have never been passionate about.
Or would you rather let them follow their dreams in music, allowing opportunities to come their way
The opportunities for becoming not just a world-class musician, but also a whole, well-rounded, loving person, are far greater when you follow what you love.
Letting your kid major in music is not just the right thing to do if it is their dream…
It is a vote of confidence that you, as the parent, have passed down to your kid.
And when you instill that level of confidence at such a young age…
You have already helped your child far more than any college degree in any field ever could.
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FOOTNOTE:
This article was inspired by an article in Forbes published in 2017 with a similar title.
I decided that I liked the article so much, I would write a similar article with my own personal experience having personally guided almost 200 students find and get accepted into the music schools best for them in my 1-on-1 program.
Featured image by JayMeydad via Wikimedia Commons
