<p>Il be honest im in high school im a sophomore, yes i want to go to college and yes i am going but for what!!!? iv recently started thing about music education? and id love to teach music and make a difference but im worried about the pay in that area? because i plan on having a family and i want to give my family a good life, i also love computers would a computer engineer be a better choice? or are there any good jobs in the music industry i current play piano and guitar (my school has guitar classes) please give me good responses i know i might be young but i do my best in school to have the most desirable future possible!</p>
<p>One of the fundamental dilemmas of going into music is that for all the effort it takes, it seems like financially it isn’t the easier or most lucrative thing to go into, and that is true. Performers tend to cobble together a living and it can be difficult to get to the point where music supports you. A lot of people with music in them do other things as their ‘day job’ (IT is loaded with musicians and ex musicians IME, for example) and perform on the side, whether it is with rock/pop bands or in amateur or semi amateur orchestras and chamber groups and such. </p>
<p>Going into music as a performer is probably the most uncertain field financially, there is no doubt.</p>
<p>Recording engineering/producing can be lucrative, you can make a good living at it, but it also isn’t easy. The programs that teach this are pretty selective, and more importantly, it can be difficult to break into the industry…and given what is going on with the recording labels (can’t really say record companies any more:), not likely to be any easier. The good news is with recording engineering you gain a lot of tech skills, work heavily with computers, so if you decided to switch to a tech job it may not be that great a transition.</p>
<p>Music Ed, which generally would lead to teaching music in the public schools (some private schools require Ed degrees these days as well),requires both academic and music training and background. Others can give you a breakdown of getting into music ed programs, from what I know it is fairly challenging to get into these. In terms of pay, you are basically talking about public school teacher salaries, which vary widely depending on the state you live in and the area you are in. It pays pretty well and things like having the summer months off can be attractive, but it also isn’t going to lead to lifestyle of the rich and famous either. You can get to 6 figures as a teacher, but that is generally after many years of service in the more well off school districts. The downside of music ed is a lot of schools have cut arts programs and it can be difficult to get a position, and given that the tight school budget situation is not likely to change soon, it will mean that is likely to be difficult as well.</p>
<p>Computer engineering/software engineering is probably more lucrative as a field and depending on who you work for, can be quite a career. It isn’t perfect, there are issues there, among other things, companies have outsourced jobs and or/brought in foreign workers via H1B visas that has made it a little less shining then it once was, especially for entry level workers, but the good news is there are still a lot of jobs in the field, and it can pay pretty well. (If I had to recommend a field, I would go into software engineering and see if you can specialize in financial programming, specifically financial analysis/quant programming). </p>
<p>Okay, so how do you choose? What is really comes down to is how much do you love music? If you want to spend your life doing it, can’t think of other things, then heading into music as a major in some way may be for you. On the other hand, if you really are concerned about the financial aspects, want/need/desire something that pays well and is more guaranteed in some ways, then music may not be a good thing to go into. I don’t recommend going into music ed because you like music and see that as way to do music and is a relatively steady paycheck, only do that if you love music and really want to teach kids music, there are far too many people IMO working as ‘music educators’ who are musicians who ‘settled’ for teaching, and aren’t good teachers particularly and often are bitter people IME…do it because you want to teach, not because it looks ‘steady’. </p>
<p>For either music ed or software engineering/computer engineering, focus on your academic work at school, both of them, to get into a decent program, are going to require strong academic skills, especially in math and science for the engineering tracks, and music ed programs of note usually are pretty competitive.</p>
<p>Hi PianoKidAarron.</p>
<p>It’s good that you’re already thinking about what you might want to study and do for a living. In a year from now, you’ll be narrowing your focus, deciding on where you’re going to apply to college. So good for you for thinking ahead!</p>
<p>The good news is you don’t HAVE to know right now or even before you apply! If you’re still torn when the time comes, you can apply only to schools that offer good programs in both fields - computer engineering and music education. So you can still be looking ahead for those colleges that offer both.</p>
<p>I will tell you that most students that we know who apply to music schools are very good and very dedicated to their craft. They aren’t just dabbling in their instruments; they’re super-focused. A music education degree is an honorable choice and it requires lots of groundwork in music theory, music history, and aural skills. Some kids find that not only are those subjects not their strong suit, but they also have zero interest in them. The result is that they don’t do well and/or they choose to switch majors because they dislike the subject matter so much. It seems to me that years of dedication to an instrument leading up to college really help students with the content AND the drive to complete all that groundwork. There is no music degree – education or otherwise, without that groundwork. The majority of your freshman and sophomore college education will be comprised of those sorts of academic classes in theory, aural skills, and history. And your junior and senior years will require a few of those classes as well.</p>
<p>I led with that paragraph because I got the impression from your post that you might be sort of dabbling and vaguely interested in the music itself, versus the teaching. My impression could be way off base. It may have simply been your lack of proper punctuation and some of your word choices that gave this old person that impression! ;)</p>
<p>Music teachers in schools make the same kinds of salaries that other school teachers make. There are plenty of teachers who support their families – but you’re right that they aren’t paid like a computer engineer is paid. If you don’t have a teaching job in school, the amount you’ll make, and the continuity of your work, will vary.</p>
<p>The decision about whether to go with the pay or the passion for teaching will have to rest with you. It’s a tough decision for a lot of people. It IS true, in my opinion, that music majors face greater uncertainty in the job market than computer engineering majors! That’s a big factor. It was a big factor for my own children when they began their respective college searches. Choosing to major in music was … a little like stepping off a precipice. A leap of faith followed by a lot of hard work. We don’t yet know how it’s going to end!</p>
<p>Best of luck in your decision, PianoKidAaron!</p>
<p>Computer engineering and computer science are very lucrative fields in today’s economy. If you enjoy computers, think about a computer science major and a music minor. Friend’s son just graduated last Spring with a Computer Engineering degree and a music minor. He had offers from Google, Amazon and ultimately ended up at Disney where he can put both fields to good use. During interviews they would bring up his music interests and at Disney he can even sing in the Disney chorus for the holiday season. Pursuing a different major doesn’t mean you would be giving up music just using it on the side as an avocation.</p>
<p>Momofbassist- I wonder if I saw/heard the young man you spoke of? Disney uses a large chorus of their own employees for their Candlelight Processional prior to Christmas, and I caught it on several occasions.</p>
<p>You might have. They rotate the employees through the chorus on different days. So he might have been there on one of the days.</p>