As a music teacher, you are always looking for new lessons for your students. A constant challenge is finding new ways to add value to the class through music. One way that music teachers can demonstrate the value of music education is to expose your students to some common music careers. These students are usually quite a ways away from making their career choice, but it is never too early to show students what the fun career paths in music are. Here are a few great music career choices and ideas for lessons for your students:
Music Therapist
Music therapy is a profession in which music is used therapeutically in order to address the psychological, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Music therapy combines creating music, singing, dancing, and listening to music. This is a growing career path and introducing it to music students can be extremely beneficial. Using music therapy as a lesson can show your students the value of therapeutic exercises for people with special needs, and also help your students express themselves more easily. Some examples of common music therapy exercises include musical bingo, group instrument circles, and playing musical hangman.
Conductor
Conductors play an integral role in instrumental and choral ensembles. The role of the conductor is to make sure the performers are on the same page, to set the tempo and pace of the music, and to interpret the music for performances. Many students will go on to play instruments or participate in choir in higher levels of school, so giving them some lessons on being a conductor can provide valuable insight on what it is like to be a part of an ensemble. A conductor is also the leader of the ensemble, so these exercises can be a good lesson in leadership. A good place to start would be tasking students with leading the class ensemble and setting the tempo and pace of the song.
Recording Engineer
Recording engineers record, edit, and mix music, sound effects, and voices. They work on the production of music recordings, live shows, movies, and video games. This is a great career, and one that you can easily introduce to your music students. One way to give your students some exposure to this career choice is by using the program GarageBand from Apple. GarageBand allows the user to record and play back multiple audio tracks. You can then enhance the track with various effects. GarageBand is very easy to use, and also very fun!
Music Teacher
Lastly, why not expose your students to the music education profession? Giving your students some insight on what it is like to be a music teacher can introduce music education as a potential career path and also show your students what goes into creating lessons for the class. One simple exercise that could demonstrate the value of music education is to challenge your students to create a lesson for the class. This could be a fun project for the end of the school year. One the best ways for your students to show what they have learned is to teach it. Challenging your students to take a different perspective of their music class can be a phenomenal learning exercise.
Tim Ufer works with university graduate programs as a community outreach manager, with a concentration for career development in higher education. In addition to music education, Tim’s expertise includes business management, engineering leadership and entrepreneurship.
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