How To Become A Band Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a band director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A band director is responsible for coordinating the beautiful performance of musical bands in schools, churches, or other communities. They coach the band members, supervise practice, and create fresh routines for the band to perform. A critical part of a band director's job is to motivate and inspire the members to push the limits and perform better.

A day in a band director's life may include scheduling practices, designing routines, and teaching band members. As a band director, you may also perform some administrative duties like creating reports, procuring instruments, and managing the budget.

A bachelor's degree and a teacher's license is required to become a band director in many states. You'll also need adequate knowledge and proficiency on most or all the instruments the band will play, as well as a great knowledge of music in general.

ScoreBand DirectorUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,443

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.5

Growth Rate 5%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 5.27%

Black or African American 5.62%

Hispanic or Latino 9.49%

Unknown 4.75%

White 74.69%

Gender

female 28.58%

male 71.42%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

5.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a band director

Explore band director education requirements

Most common band director degrees

Bachelor's

74.9 %

Master's

16.9 %

Associate

3.4 %

Start to develop specific band director skills

Skills	Percentages
Classroom Management	14.95%
Band Program	10.18%
Concert Band	6.53%
Music Theory	6.49%
PEP Band	6.41%

Complete relevant band director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New band directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a band director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real band director resumes.

Research band director duties and responsibilities

Resolve misconducts and social issues which lead to greater leadership skills and perfect orchestrate performances.
Work with others to manage DJs and volunteers, as well as plan on campus events.
Lead and direct the Orff instrument ensemble
Help students audition for college and all-state.

Get band director experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a band director. The most common roles before becoming a band director include music teacher, instructor team lead and student teacher.

Prepare your band director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your band director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a band director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Band Director Resume templates

Build a professional Band Director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Band Director resume.

Apply for band director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a band director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

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