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

What is a band leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a band leader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.68 an hour? That's $55,494 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 2,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBand LeaderUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,494

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 25.25%

male 74.75%

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 leader

Explore band leader education requirements

Most common band leader degrees

Bachelor's

70.4 %

Associate

10.3 %

High School Diploma

8.5 %

Start to develop specific band leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Live Performances	26.82%
Event Planning	18.79%
Travel Arrangements	11.14%
Corporate Events	6.23%
Private Events	5.83%

Complete relevant band leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New band leaders 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 leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real band leader resumes.

Research band leader duties and responsibilities

Perform diagnostics, lead audits, kaizen events, value stream mapping, PDCA teams and employee involvement.
Serve in consecutive positions of increase responsibility requiring strong interpersonal skills, extensive administrative, maintenance, and logistics backgrounds.
Serve in consecutive positions of increase responsibility requiring strong interpersonal skills, extensive administrative, maintenance, and logistics backgrounds.

Get band leader experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a band leader. The most common roles before becoming a band leader include musician, internship team lead and volunteer.

Prepare your band leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your band leader 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 leader 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 Leader Resume templates

Build a professional Band Leader 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 Leader resume.

Apply for band leader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a band leader 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

How do band leaders rate their job?