How to Decide Whether to Major in Music

How do you know whether to major in music?  Many high school students considering a music career ask this question. College students who have already started a music major may wonder whether to stick with it. After all, it’s hard to make a living in music, right? Your parents said it would be better to major in something sensible like business.

My father received similar advice from his parents. When he was a young man, he wanted to major in English or history but, at his father’s urging, he majored in business. He regretted it for the rest of his life. My grandfather was a consummate businessman. My father, on the other hand, did not enjoy business and preferred to immerse himself in reading.

When I was a senior in high school, I was undecided between majoring in music or computer science. I almost decided to go with computer science. I obtained admittance at three universities in computer science and one in music. Then, I broke a finger and couldn’t play guitar for six weeks. I missed the guitar so much that I never wanted to go another six weeks without playing guitar. So I majored in music. In retrospect, I believe that the broken finger was used by God to show me that music was the right path for me.

But how do you decide the right career path for you? This is a complicated question. A good place to start is by identifying work that fits all three of the following criteria:

  1. Passion – What are you passionate about? During your spare time, what occupies your mind?  If you had ten million dollars and didn’t have to work, what would you do every day? Think about the kind of contribution you would like to make to the world. Look for ways to make a career out of the things you are passionate about.
  2. Skill – In what field are you the most skilled? One way to answer this is to identify experienced people in careers that interest you; ask them to evaluate your potential. Another way is to take note of areas where you improve rapidly with practice.
  3. Income – In what field can you make a living? This is where some people falter when considering a music career. But it is possible to make a living as a musician. Here are a few examples of how musicians make money:
  • Teaching Music in Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, or High Schools
  • Worship Leading
  • Performing Concerts
  • Making Recordings
  • Composing
  • Arranging
  • Playing Gigs at Weddings, Parties, Restaurants, and Hotels
  • Teaching Music at Colleges or Universities
  • Teaching Music in a Private Studio
  • Film Scoring
  • Songwriting

A free-lance musician will usually combine multiple income streams to make a living. A musician seeking a more traditional full-time job may find it at a school or church.

I would encourage anyone considering a career in music to spend an hour a day working on career development. Most musicians spend multiple hours a day working on their music. It is worth spending additional time researching options and seeking opportunities to perform, teach, and develop your career. It is helpful to start by talking to people who are doing well in the niche you want to pursue. Ask them how they got there. Ask their opinion on the next step you should take.

Identify how much money you want to earn.  Estimate your needs and then add an additional 20% to allow margin.  While most people find it hard to put a ceiling on how much money they need, you can identify the tradeoffs you are willing to make between lifestyle at work and lifestyle outside work:

  1. Delightful Work Lifestyle / Simple Non-Work Lifestyle: You may find a job that you love where you earn $35,000 per year. You adjust your lifestyle outside work to make ends meet, and those adjustments are worth it so that you can have the lifestyle you desire in your career.
  2. Stressful Work Lifestyle / Abundant Non-Work Lifestyle: You may know that you want to move toward making $100,000 per year or more, so you will need to prioritize opportunities that maximize your earning potential. You may be willing to accept a stressful job to earn a higher income level.
  3. Delightful Work Lifestyle / Abundant Non-Work Lifestyle: What if you enjoy your job, are highly skilled at it, and have the income to support an abundant lifestyle outside work? This is the situation most of us would choose if we could find it. This is truly a dream job.  Get crystal clear on what this would look like for you.

Once you are clear on your dream job, you can take the next step toward finding it.

[reminder]What is your next step toward choosing your college major and career path? [/reminder]

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