How To Become A Music Professor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a music professor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Experts

Gerald Fercho,

Mike Testa

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a music professor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.19 an hour? That's $52,399 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 159,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Music Professor?

Gerald Fercho

Assistant Professor of Music, Music Department Chair, Arizona Christian University

Start networking with peer groups to find job opportunities and maintain cutting edge practices within your discipline. Stay curious and keep growing.

ScoreMusic ProfessorUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,399

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.8

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.35%

Black or African American 6.98%

Hispanic or Latino 9.96%

Unknown 4.91%

White 66.53%

Gender

female 37.61%

male 62.39%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress Level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.9

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a music professor

Explore music professor education requirements

Most common music professor degrees

Bachelor's

54.5 %

Master's

32.0 %

Doctorate

5.6 %

Start to develop specific music professor skills

Skills	Percentages
Music Theory	41.77%
Curriculum Development	14.46%
Music History	12.42%
Jazz Ensemble	8.72%
Chorus	6.24%

Research music professor duties and responsibilities

Used blackboard online to manage students tests, grade papers and assign materials.
Experiment with different surface chemistry to improve quality of yields -participate in poster session and presentation to faculty and graduate students.
Experiment with different surface chemistry to improve quality of yields -participate in poster session and presentation to faculty and graduate students.

Prepare your music professor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your music professor 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 music professor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Music Professor Resume templates

Build a professional Music Professor 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 Music Professor resume.

Apply for music professor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a music professor 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 music professors rate their job?