Day in the Life of a Music Education Major

You’re looking for your future major—but let’s be honest, you don’t know what half of them actually entail. This series fills you in on what these majors mean at a liberal arts college, so you can decide for yourself what’s most interesting to you. Here’s what a management major looks like from the perspective of an actual student.

A music education major will prepare you for teaching an ensemble or elementary school music class. There are two paths: instrumental and vocal. This is Peter’s experience as an instrumental music education major. POV: You’re a music education major.

8 a.m. Toast and Instrumental Methods

Students look happy and engaged in a tiered classroom.

Students take music history in Luther’s Jenson-Noble Hall of Music.

Before going to class, I make toast in the residence hall kitchen toaster as a quick breakfast. Then, I go to my first class of the day: Percussion Methods. As an instrumentalist, we have to take methods classes in each instrument: woodwind, brass, double reed, percussion, and strings, while vocalists take vocal pedagogy and a class on harmonizing instruments.

These classes are meant to give you a broad understanding of each instrument in traditional ensembles, so you could teach beginner to intermediate lessons. They usually involve a mix of playing tests, where you play with different beginner and intermediate techniques, and teaching tests, where you teach one of your peers how to start playing the instrument.

9:15 a.m. Music Coursework

My second class of the day is Music History III. As a music education major, we are required to take classes focusing on general music knowledge. This includes three semesters of music theory, ear training, and music history. In Music History III, we learn about different cultures of music and 20th-century music. This is much different than the other courses in this sequence, where we learned about more traditional Western European music. These classes require a lot of studying and reading because we have listening tests where we identify pieces and write about their forms and musical qualities.

10:15 a.m. Lunch

The music education curriculum keeps students very busy with packed course schedules. I don’t have much time for lunch, so I get Grab ’N Go from one of our on-campus dining services options, Oneota. They have breakfast sandwiches that you can take to go, so you don’t have to wait for them to make an order. Other people like to go to the Cafeteria. It’s buffet style, so you also can avoid waiting.

11 a.m. Teaching in Theory and Practice

A young man teaches a class full of children, who are raising their hands.

A music education student teaches elementary schoolers at St. Teresa Catholic School.

We have many classes that involve real classroom experience, like Elementary Methods. In this class, we learn how to be an elementary music teacher. We spend most of our days in class, learning different pedagogical techniques and activities for young children.

Then, for half of the semester, we get to go to a real classroom and work with elementary students. We make lesson plans and try them for the students. This experience helps us figure out what does and doesn’t work for elementary music education and gives us valuable time in front of students.

This experience also counts toward our required in-classroom hours for the Teacher Education Program (TEP). The TEP is required for licensure as a music educator and requires a portfolio of different teaching experiences and qualifications.

12:15 p.m. Playing Music

String players including cells and violins play their instruments in a rehearsal room.

Luther students rehearse in the orchestra room in Jenson-Noble Hall of Music.

I play the bassoon in the Luther College Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra. It gives me good experience performing as well as a good community to fall back on. There are people involved in the ensembles from all different backgrounds and majors.

There are also many study abroad opportunities through music ensemble tours. Next year, the orchestra is going to Vienna for J-Term, which is our shorter January semester. This trip happens every four years, so all students have the opportunity to go once. There are also choir, jazz, and band trips that happen regularly.

After band rehearsal, I have my private lesson. All music education majors are required to take private lessons for their primary instrument or voice. You have the option between 30-minute weekly lessons or hour-long weekly lessons. I take hour-long lessons.

Because it’s my junior year, I am required to perform a half recital. This means I will perform 25 minutes of repertoire in the recital hall. It feels very daunting, but with years of practice, I feel very prepared. During your senior year, you can decide if you want to perform an hour-long recital.

2:45 p.m. Studying

I like to get my homework done during the day, if possible. Most of my homework is made up of lesson plans or textbook readings. It can be time consuming—but as long as you stay on top of it, it’s not too bad.

6 p.m. Going to Events and Recitals

A 3-piece rock band performing on stage.

Modern Band students showing off their skills at the end-of-semester celebration.

There are a lot of required and beneficial events on campus for music education majors. One of the music requirements is to go to 12 recitals per semester. There are recitals almost every weekend and a lot of evenings, so I try to get them done throughout the semester.

There are also events from our Future Music Educators Association on campus. At the end of the semester, seniors show off their senior projects, while other classes show off what they have been working on this year. This can include performances from the Modern Band class, storytelling from Elementary Methods classes, and more.

8 p.m. More Homework and Relaxing

If I still have homework for the next day, I make sure to do it in the evening. Once I’m done with everything, I like to play video games and watch YouTube to relax.