What makes some music therapists successful while others are struggling to get enough income to live on?  That’s really not an easy question to answer because there are so many facets to being a music therapist.

Annie touches the guitar with one finger
Annie touches the guitar with one finger

It starts with passion. Children are naturally musical and exploration of sounds and patterns starts in very young children. Parents who recognize the importance of and are able to provide music based activities and later music lessons for their child can support and nourish this musical passion.  In order to be a music therapist, you must first be a musician. And you must be passionate enough about music to devote time and energy into practicing and learning and exploring the many forms and styles of music. This can be in one major instrumental area or in multiple areas, and it can be in ensembles or solo.

Once basic musicianship has been developed and nurtured throughout elementary, middle and high school it is time to look at college education. I am often asked if someone who plays “some guitar” or is a “good singer” but hasn’t had any formal training can pursue a career in music therapy. Based on the paragraph above, my answer may surprise you. But, I am one of those people who sang in choir throughout my early education years but never had more formal training until college. So my answer is a resounding YES! In such cases, I recommend attending community college to get 2 years of basic music education. This requires a choice of a major instrument and private instruction as well as ensemble performances, classes in music history, music theory and one of the most important areas to pursue a music therapy degree is class piano which is a direct application of music theory and history.

The next step is to apply to an accredited music therapy program at a University. Where, in addition to the musical training mentioned above, there are classes in sociology, psychology, human

Some children have an innate rhythmic sense
Some children have an innate rhythmic sense

anatomy, and human behavior. Depending on your areas of interest you may also need classes in special education and child development. That’s just the basics. There are also classes in MT repertoire, group dynamics and pre-clinical experiences which consist of working with clients as a student music therapist under direct supervision of a Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC). In order to complete the education, the course-work is then followed by an internship which consists of more than 1,000 hours of direct experience with special populations, with supervision. Once that is complete there is a certification exam to receive the MT-BC credential.

This is only a partial answer to the question I asked at the beginning of this post. Come back next week when I will explain how the passion for music needs to become a passion for music therapy in order to be successful as a practicing music therapist.