For simplicity’s sake, here’s a rundown of various music degrees and what they qualify someone to do. As with any field, some individuals may have degrees and be absolute stumps on a log, and some individuals may have a different degree, but worked really hard and are wonderful at everything.

· BME Vocal/Instrumental: Usually Voice, and band or orchestral instruments. Pianists rarely obtain this degree. This qualifies the holder to teach music in K-12 schools as a choir/orchestra/band director if they pass state tests, and privately on their primary instrument. It takes 4-5 years, and usually 1 recital is required, and many play more. Students are usually required to pass a sophomore barrier, wherein if they don’t play a jury (end of year performance) or pass their interviews, they are asked to change their major, sometimes to church music, a BA, BM pedagogy, or something else.

· BM Performance: Instruments Various, Vocal Various, Piano, Organ. Usually 4 years. 2 recitals (many do more). Also a sophomore barrier as above. Students in this discipline are training to be better on their instruments. Don’t let the designation “performance” fool you. Many students, particularly undergraduates, think that they will end up performing. Many do so, but most end up teaching, mostly privately. The difference between BME and BM is really the following: the qualification to teach in K-12 schools as an ensemble director. BME requires more class time coursework, and emphasizes conducting, leading a group, and classroom management, and basics on all instruments if instrumental, so that a band director can fix basic problems, even if it’s not their primary instrument. BM majors spend more time playing in ensembles and practicing, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. Both can be very good teachers and musicians, and should be treated based on demonstrated ability.

· BM Pedagogy, Piano/String/Vocal. This is a relatively new field. It is more akin to performance, but required 6 more credit hours, so two more courses, but lacked one recital and had no concerto requirements. (If we're going for what's easier, it's two courses. Recitals are tough). The point of this degree is teaching, usually in private studio, and so the extra course work is for studying the teaching repertoire, or special teaching situations, like pre-k, special needs, adults, recreational, group or etc. Students in this career path typically like teaching and their instrument, but may not like performing and the high pressure associated with a performance degree. Students in this career field may like "research", which isn't usually research in the scientific sense but is in fact, compiling, and may enjoy presenting at conferences. It had a stigma attached to it until recently, and the level requirement is lowered (depending on the school) to accommodate less technically gifted students—however, many students rise to the occasion and are as gifted as performance majors, but perhaps more realistic about the job market for professional musicians. Or performance majors don’t feel like sitting through a class on child development or group piano when reading a book would suffice.

· BA—All instruments/voice, designed for students who aren’t sure if they want to be a professional musician, but want to study in depth, or students who want to do academic music, such as musicology, music history, music theory, and etc. Requires 1 recital or paper. More liberal arts coursework.

Masters Degree—MM Performance—2 years, same as above. Usually 2 recitals.

Masters Degree—MM Performance and Pedagogy, 2 years, usually 1 recital, 1 thesis.

Masters Degree—MME, Education, 2 years, thesis based. Sometimes a half-recital is required.

Masters Degree—MM, Collaborative Piano, 2 recitals, 1 with voice recitals, 1 with instrumental pieces. 2 years—for pianists who want to work as accompanists or work as chamber musicians (musical performing groups or ensemble work).

Performance Diploma—1 or 2 years of additional lessons and performance seminars on main instrument.

DMA—Doctorate of Musical Arts—3-6 years. Enables students to become collegiate teachers, usually on their discipline of focus. Instrumental/Vocal require 3 recitals depending on school, Piano is 4-8, depending on school. Usually, recitals are more specific, and may require a lecture recital, which may or may not be related to the thesis.

PhD—Academic—may be in Education, Musicology, Music Theory, Etc. 3-6 years, means a student teaches these classes in these courses at the university level. Thesis based.

Artist Diploma—For students after a masters who want to study more on their instrument, but are considering a performance career and want to take lessons, and not mess with the coursework involved in a doctoral program. 2 years.

Music lessons are an investment in a child’s future, and, they are expensive, with good reason. Qualified musicians spend a lot of time (as much as 20,000 hours to master an instrument, as opposed to the pre-conceived 10,000 hours) and money obtaining professional qualifications. Unfortunately, unqualified persons take advantage of this expense, and non-musical parents’ in-expertise. There is, unfortunately, a plethora of unqualified teachers. The good news is, is that there is a good number of qualified teachers to match.

Signs a teacher is qualified:

1) Likes teaching and gets along well with your child.

2) Has professional standing—a degree (in the instrument they are teaching)* (more on this later), professional membership with MTNA (Music Teacher National Association and local chapters) or Guild (Piano Guild), perhaps a certification (these are NCTM, ABRSM testing certified), etc.

3) Has plans for an active studio, or has an active studio. Good teachers provide a plethora of events for their students including some or all of these:

A) theory tests, usually given by the state or area, which test students written understanding of music, which is integral,

B) sight-reading contests, where students are given new music and asked to perform,

C) concerts for students to play in, including playing at retirement homes or community centers, studio recitals, themed recitals, etc.

D) Royal Conservatory Tests—Known by acronyms such as ABRSM, RCM—highly difficult tests that require students perform and are tested on designated pieces in all styles, technique (scales, chords, etc), aural skills (hearing musical patterns), theory. It’s a comprehensive, albeit, elite program, for those who are serious about music study and is very competitive. It is one of the few comprehensive curricula in the United States, currently, and a teacher who can successfully teach a student this curriculum, and provide support pieces with #3, is a successful teacher indeed. It is important to note that some excellent teachers refuse to teach this curriculum because of its inflexibility.

E) Ensemble Recitals

F) Festivals based on various repertoire or periods of repertoire; ie Pop/Rock/Jazz, Classical, Sonatina, Romantic, Contemporary, Improvisation, Baroque, Fugue, etc. Usually these are non-competitive, and students play for someone other than the primary teacher, who gives comments on the students’ performance.

4) Is a stickler for good technique and posture.

5) At one time, some performing on their instrument. Many teachers do not play anymore, with the demands of a full studio, family, or other practical matters. However, the capacity to play at an advanced level, and therefore, to be able to guide students to that level, is paramount. “Advanced level” means collegiate level repertoire—concertos, sonatas. If you aren’t sure, ask. “Fur Elise” and Bach “Prelude in C major” or Debussy “Clair de Lune” are lovely pieces, but reachable for most people by early high school, which means teachers who are teaching and have only played at or below this level are not qualified. It is roughly the equivalent of a public school teacher without a high school diploma.

6) A curriculum that can be tailored to each student. Students with the same “method book” and curriculum plan regardless of ability, age, likes and dislikes, is a recipe for disaster. (Books like Piano Adventures, Suzuki, Bastien, Music Tree, Premier Piano Course, are a sample of educational materials called “method books”. They are tools, and are best used with beginning students along with other materials. Good teachers utilize a variety of these.)

a. With this, “page by page” teaching. If a student is simply moving in a book, page by page, without any recital pieces, theory books, flashcards, scales, chords, aural skills exercises, that is a warning sign. Those books are designed for the average piano student, but no student is THE average student. Here’s a good example of what I mean by this: every student in this teacher’s care has the same method book series, and is assigned two pieces per week, and takes a 30 minute private lesson. Also, if students are ONLY polishing recital pieces, that is a warning sign as well.

Signs a teacher may not be a qualified:

1) For piano students in particular--Students read music by note-name on the staff in intermediate and advanced repertoire (middle school/ high school). “Every Good Boy Does Fine” and similar sayings are something that parents are accustomed to hearing, but it isn’t the best way to find notes, especially on the piano. It is akin to sounding out words with letters in middle school. At this point, (assuming a 7-9 age start time) students should have an intuitive grasp of up and down, interval spacing, chords, and phrase structure, just as students in late elementary and middle school have developed words and grammar.

2) Bad posture in a majority of students. For piano, this is most easily seen with bench height and position from keyboard. Too close means students cannot use their arm to play keys in front of the body, and too low tightly gripping the piano like a t-rex. Incorrect posture can lead to carpal tunnel, sprains, strains in extreme cases. Try typing for an hour with the seat on the chair as low as possible, and you will see what I mean.

3) Lacking a degree on the instrument they are teaching. This stems from a belief amongst non-musicians that good musicians play multiple instruments. This is not necessarily true. Once one instrument is learned, it is easier to learn another, much like a language. However, advanced level training is different, and few people reach advanced training on more than one instrument. Trained classical musicians specialize on one instrument, and it’s associated group—for instance, pianists study piano, but might do organ or harpsichord. Wind players may play all woodwind or all brass instruments, particularly in Broadway pits where this is actually a neat way that composers are helping compensate musicians in light of a rising trend of shrinking pit sizes. However, most trained musicians don’t specialize or claim to have a specialty on instruments on multiple types of instruments, because musicians know that this means they aren’t very good at any one instrument.

Vocalists are a possible exception to this, as many of the more successful ones study piano almost as seriously as they study voice, simply because one cannot physically practice voice as much as is needed to be at an advanced level in music. Vocalists of this caliber typically will have tested out of class piano in college, but took private lessons on the side throughout college and before their collegiate career.

Piano contains a specific problem with qualifications in particular. Piano students are one of the few stable jobs in music, and therefore, many musicians find themselves teaching piano, perhaps at the expense of well-meaning families who don’t know much better than to look for a music degree. In college, most musicians are required to take piano in college, for a variety of reasons. However, this is typically only 2 years of group piano, and maybe some private lessons. The reason for this is because keyboards are the only real practical way that musicians can learn and understand theory, and, particularly music education majors, might need to play things for their students in their particular program. It does not qualify someone to teach classical piano privately, as students will at best, be at an early intermediate (middle school) piano level after those two years. Participation does NOT qualify anyone to teach piano privately. I can’t state this enough, as many teachers take advantage of “I studied piano in college and I have a music degree.” Do some digging. Class piano does not address important things like posture, arm weight, technique, (see above) because they are given in a group to students on keyboards. The repertoire is designed to be easily played, further lending to students thinking they are more qualified on the keyboard than they actually are. The bottom line: piano majors spend 3-4 hours a day practicing, plus many hours in various ensembles or accompanying. Kids in group piano probably only play the piano 1 hour a week, which is in that class/lesson.

Furthermore, vocal and instrumental (non-piano) students are often allowed to play their recitals (45-60 minutes worth of music) with the music. Pianists and most vocalists are required to memorize all of their repertoire; the caveat being that the pianist is the only instrument of any that is solely responsible for what is happening on the stage during their recital (vocalists usually have a pianist on stage with them) which makes that a very different experience, and way more pressure on a recital.