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

What is a private music instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Donald Fisher,

Mike Testa

The average private music instructor salary is $55,947. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an music major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a private music instructor. Private music instructors with a Music Therapist - Board Certified (MT-BC) certification earn more money. 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 private music instructor?

Donald Fisher

Director of Instrumental Studies, Iowa Western Community College

First and foremost, take care of those who truly run the building. Secretaries, custodians, and other hourly workers truly make the educational institution run. Treat them well, and your life as an educator will be so much easier! Second is to lean on your friends. No one should be expected to know everything, and it's perfectly acceptable to say "I don't know." Finally, it's easy to focus on the more difficult students. Force yourself to recognize those students who are doing well and you'll find that you enjoy teaching that much more!

ScorePrivate Music InstructorUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $55,947

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.53%

Asian 6.86%

Black or African American 10.55%

Hispanic or Latino 15.61%

Unknown 5.67%

White 60.77%

Gender

female 45.63%

male 54.37%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a private music instructor

Explore private music instructor education requirements

Most common private music instructor degrees

Bachelor's

69.6 %

Master's

15.7 %

Associate

8.1 %

Start to develop specific private music instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
Clarinet	15.99%
Saxophone	11.92%
Music Theory	8.53%
Music Education	8.31%
Mathematics	6.77%

Complete relevant private music instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New private music instructors 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 private music instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real private music instructor resumes.

Research private music instructor duties and responsibilities

Own and manage a small business as a CPR and first aid instructor and consultant for diverse clients.
band coaching, theory & songwriting classes
Provide individual traditional and Suzuki piano instruction.
Cover the fundamental concepts of chemistry and biology including cell biology, metabolism, microbiology, genetics, evolution and histology.

Prepare your private music instructor resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable private music instructor resume templates

Build a professional private music instructor 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 private music instructor resume.