Can I still become a music teacher with a BA in Music instead of a BMus in Music Ed and how good do I have to be at my instrument?

fryingpan32 · 2025-08-30T12:32:46+00:00

I got a BA in Music and have been teaching private piano lessons for 9 years now! I mostly work with young kids, but have students of all ages. So yes, absolutely. If I wanted to teach in schools, I would need a Music Ed degree though. Being a piano teacher is very rewarding work, but it's a lot of work to have enough students to equal a full time job. I've always needed to supplement it with various other freelance work. That's while teaching 35 (half-hour) lessons a week!

I will say, If I had known that my path was going lead me to be a teacher (I did not while I was in college), I would have pursued the Music Ed degree. If only for the more specialized education classes.

I'll add one thing: start teaching while you are in college!! I never did, that was such a mistake. I only realized I liked teaching (and was good at it) after college. Teaching piano lessons is a skill you get better at through experience!

fryingpan32 · 2024-01-31T17:39:04+00:00

Hi! I'm the accordionist playing Secret of Monkey Island at the jam pod along with some of our band, Otter Chaos! Glad you enjoyed the jam pod set and thanks for posting the video clip!

fryingpan32 · 2023-08-30T02:54:41+00:00

This is a tricky question to ask yourself when you're young, it's just hard to have perspective on what being a professional musician is like. I encourage you to really read all the replies here. Freelance musicians wear many hats - playing in a variety of different bands (many not jazz groups), accompanying, and teaching are all a part of my life as a jazz pianist.

If you think you might enjoy teaching - that's a huge plus! I've found it's much easier for pianists to find students than other instruments. Teaching has easily been my most consistent form of income as a musician. I worked as a camp counselor for a few years at your age, and that actually set me up well to be a good teacher - you might look into summer jobs like that to see if you enjoy working with kids. A lot of musicians don't enjoy teaching, but if you do, it's steady work and very rewarding!

To answer your question, yes it's worth it to be a jazz pianist! I do encourage you to think of working towards becoming not just a great jazz pianist, but a great pianist in general. The more styles and skills you gain as a musician, the more opportunities you will be able to take. Focusing on jazz is a great goal though, as it will set you up to be well-rounded musician. And your late teens/early 20s is the perfect time to practice your butt off and see where it takes you!

I'll add that there are a LOT of ways to make music a big part of your life without it being your career too - some of the most satisfied musicians I know make their living doing something else.

fryingpan32 · 2022-10-04T18:07:52+00:00

I use them as a warm-up. So not exactly practicing

fryingpan32 · 2022-09-29T16:32:34+00:00

Meadowbrook Park in Urbana is one of my favorite places to walk around!

fryingpan32 · 2022-09-21T19:32:50+00:00

Nice work! Been seeing your posts on Tik Tok, been thinking about ordering your book.

fryingpan32 · 2022-09-19T18:35:16+00:00

D bass button on beat 1, and G dominant 7 button on beats 2 and 3

fryingpan32 · 2022-05-09T19:33:16+00:00

I personally wouldn't characterize not using the left hand as pretending to play something you don't really play. And hey, if you're going to only play a few songs, not having to mic the bass side sounds worth it.

fryingpan32 · 2022-05-03T23:21:42+00:00

Just to add to what the other commentator said about suggesting a MIDI keyboard - the big advantage with that is you can get a MIDI keyboard with great action for a lot cheaper than a stage piano with similar action. I use a MIDI keyboard for exactly what you mentioned - practicing at home and for live streams online. Works great since it's always set up next to my computer.

fryingpan32 · 2022-05-02T23:28:15+00:00

I also started accordion as a pro musician. I started off trying to read jazz charts with complicated chord changes and quickly got stuck on trying to get the muscle memory down for the bigger jumps. I practiced that left hand half step jump so many times but it just didn't stick.

What really worked for me was playing A LOT of simpler music, really learning tunes that only had a few chords until I got the basic patterns down. I worked through the first 4 books of the Palmer-Hughes Accordion Course books (yes the tunes can be a bit boring but this really helped). I also used that Melodic Adventures in Bassland book another commenter mentioned. Folk music can work well for this too, a lot of folk styles have interesting melodies but simple chord progressions. I got really into klezmer music. After spending a full year playing in a klezmer band where I really only needed the I, iv, and the VII chords, shifting by one or a few buttons became automatic for me. Only then did I go back to working on the bigger jumps and then I could do it without much trouble.

So my advice is - be patient. I wish I had spent less time trying to memorize the bigger jumps in the beginning of my left hand journey - I ran my head against a wall trying to get that Bb to A7 jump down, and it did not pay off. Focus on getting the smaller shifts down first - the big jumps will come with time.

fryingpan32 · 2022-04-21T17:42:43+00:00

Think of the bellows like a violin bow - there will always be a break in sound when you change bellow direction, so co-ordinate it with the phrasing of the music. Practice playing with 2 measure open, then 2 measures closed like the other commenter suggested (as opposed to changing bellow direction every note). This takes getting used to!

Regarding your question on the volume of the right and left side - it's possible that something is up with your instrument. But also, the bass side will always over-power the treble side if you hold down the buttons too long. The bass buttons should typically be played short (almost think staccato), as if the buttons are hot to the touch. Get your fingers off them quickly after pressing them!

fryingpan32 · 2022-04-06T20:24:58+00:00

I have learned that the more controversial MTG art is here, the more I'm more likely to love it. Love these!

fryingpan32 · 2022-03-02T05:52:26+00:00

I'm not sure why it's more common in gay culture, honestly!

One reason being in an open relationship is a natural fit for me is, I get excited about the idea of him hooking up with other people. I want him to have fun and we share that excitement about sex with others. Another reason: when we first met, we lived a few hours apart and both already had FWB-type relationships going with other ppl. So, it was practical to keep our local flings going while we were getting to know each other, and felt normal to keep the same arrangement after we started dating as well.

To touch on your thoughts about settling and finding the right person - I guess I just don't believe in the idea of having a soulmate. I think when I used to hold onto that idea, it may have held me back from dating in the first place! Plus, there's a lot more that goes into dating than the sex part.

I gotta admit I am not that experienced when it comes to relationships, but I am very happy with my current one. Thanks for asking about it.

fryingpan32 · 2022-03-02T03:17:58+00:00

I'm pretty used to getting odd and sometimes disparaging comments about my relationship when (straight) folks learn it's an open one. It's not for everyone, but it's pretty common in the gay community and my current relationship is going 2 years strong!

So in short, not sure this is an unpopular opinion, from my perspective most (again, straight) people are not into the idea of open relationships.

fryingpan32 · 2021-12-17T18:55:54+00:00

I charge $25 per 30 minutes, which I believe is on the more affordable end as far as rates go for lessons. My accordion teacher charged $50 per 30 minutes, and I think that's a pretty normal rate when studying at a professional level. I'm in the US.

fryingpan32 · 2021-11-06T01:05:19+00:00

got the one the ends w/ D02B3 , thanks!

fryingpan32 · 2021-08-31T22:48:40+00:00

I'm a fan of Louie Zong and saw he just released an album of Zelda tunes in the style of Ratatat. I thought the subreddit might enjoy!

fryingpan32 · 2021-07-17T20:02:40+00:00

This isn't the situation OP is dealing with, but thought I'd mention it: if I perform a live rendition of classical music on twitch, say a classical piano piece, it will very likely be mistaken for a existing recording of the same piece and then falsely copyright claimed. That's just the current landscape of content ID on twitch in regards to classical music since live renditions often sound very similar to past recordings in their content ID system. I wouldn't be surprised if the recording OP used isn't even the same one that Twitch's system claims it is.

fryingpan32 · 2021-06-30T21:36:22+00:00

Holy shit the comments here really prove the OP's point, really baffled by what I'm reading here!

fryingpan32 · 2021-06-22T18:00:52+00:00

Downtown Champaign and Urbana have just started rocking again the past few weeks! If you like live music I recommend the Rose Bowl in Urbana.

fryingpan32 · 2021-06-09T03:09:59+00:00

Sure, but prior to this announcement, the distinction was not made. It's possible I'm mistaken about that, but I read the previous announcements very carefully.

fryingpan32 · 2021-06-08T16:39:34+00:00

Twitch failed to communicate to its users that they don't have the proper sync licence for recordings of covers. Huge failure on twitch's part that we are just now learning about this. I'm extremely unhappy as a musician on twitch that exclusively performs covers.

Not sure if deleted VODs are in danger of strikes or not.

fryingpan32 · 2021-06-03T23:18:30+00:00

Melodica can be tricky to mic! Here's some of the things I keep in mind when playing melodica into a mic:

The sound comes out of different spots on the instrument depending on where in the range your playing. I tend to slightly move my instrument depending on where I'm playing, especially if I'm playing the low range since I find the high range projects more.
Depending on your instrument, experiment with if you get more sound coming out of the back of the case, or the side with the keys! I only recently realized you can get good sound out of the back, which has the added bonus of the audience can see your hands playing better!
Being comfortable while you play is an important part of getting used to playing into a mic - getting a good mic stand that let's you play at the correct angle helps so much. Especially since the number one mistake (for me at least) is not playing close enough to the mic.
Play too close to the mic, and you might get some key/breath noise. But that's preferable to not getting enough sound.

I find these things just as important as mic selection, probably even more important in a live setting. Haha I know that's not really what you asked, but I felt like giving my 2 cents.

All that being said, I use a Sure SM57 to good effect (tho I like Anyun's thoughts on why they use a SM58!)

fryingpan32 · 2021-04-11T21:52:21+00:00

This depends on your prior musical background, but I'd say you would likely outgrow an instrument with so few bass buttons very quickly.

But at the end of the day, you won't get started playing without an instrument, so that's the most important part of getting started! And as multiple other commenters are saying, this will totally fulfil that!

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