<p>I agree very much with violindad and musicprnt, they both offered some very accurate information.</p>
<p>I do want to add that curriculums and degree options vary between colleges - so when you start shopping for colleges, you need to pay close attention to that. </p>
<p>One of the colleges that my son applied at doesn’t actuallly have a degree in music ed, although they have a very large music ed program. If you are a music ed student at that college, you will be granted two different degrees, a BM in music, and a BS in Education. Although you are getting two different degrees, their curriculum for music ed is consolidated and course requrirements overlap for both degrees - so it’s not like it is going to take you 8 years to graduate. At that school most students take 5 years to get both degrees, but a student at that college who is a music performance student can’t neccesarally at the last minute change his major and get the BS in education in an additional year as he/she would have missed out on many of the overlapping classes (mostely classes in non-primary instruments).</p>
<p>Another of the schools that he applied at didn’t offer a BM at all, but they had a BA Music and MAT (masters of art in teaching with a specialty in music ed), a 5 and a half year combo program. It differs from the example above in that it is less concentrated in music but it provides for a broader education, and instead of two bachelors in 4 or 5 years, you spend an extra few months in school and get a Bachelors plus a masters (which in many school districts would result in a higher teacher salary).</p>
<p>At the school that he ended up enrolling in, he will be getting a BM in Music Education, generally achievable in four very loaded years (or maybe with a couple of summer schools to reduce the work load). His school also has some “add on” options, like they are really pushing a minor in music entrapanureship for all music majors (takes an extra semester or so), and/or a music performance certificate for non-performance students (may also extend the degree program an extra semester if the student doesn’t take an overload of classes or summer school).</p>
<p>One of the other posters pointed out that getting a MAT after a BM/BA/BS in music may not be the best option for someone who wants to be a music teacher. Thats also very accurate, unless the college offers some sort of combo degree program in which the curriculum for the bachelors takes into account that the student expects to become a music teacher (so that he/she can be taking classes in multiple instruments). Unless the MAT is specialized in music ed, a general MAT may teach one to be a teacher, but may not be specific enough to teach one to be a good music teacher.</p>
<p>Also, most choral music degrees do require that the student become fairly proficient piano player, so essentially, piano becomes a choral music students second instrument (second to voice). If you don’t already play piano, it may be a good idea to start taking lessons asap.</p>