Musician at a loss - do I give teaching another try? Pivot to SLP? Or patch things together?

Findapath-Job Choice/Clarity

I’m having a really hard time figuring out which direction to go in and would love some advice!

I’m 34, I have a bachelors in voice and a masters in choral conducting.

I moved to a medium sized city with my partner who has a great job about a year ago. I decided after doing a lot of subbing to give teaching a try and picked up what was essentially a long term sub job teaching middle school chorus and general music. I did not have a great time, to say the least, but that school is a mess so it’s hard for me to say whether I don’t like teaching or I just didn’t like that particular teaching job. I felt like my classes were behavior dumping grounds, my “room” was the auditorium stage, and I got no support from admin. It was rough. I am in a state with good teacher unions though so pay is decent.

I have also been on and off considering going into speech therapy for several years. I think I’d enjoy 1-1 or small groups much more than large groups, I am very interested in the subject matter, I don’t need to make a ton of money but I think I‘d be comfortable on an slp salary almost anywhere. I’ve taken a few pre-req classes and did well but I’d have to take more and then do a master’s degree that would probably be expensive.

I could also try to build a voice studio, keep my job as a church music director and get more work like that, etc. Idk maybe I could go into forestry. I like my job at the church but I’m concerned about being super broke. I don’t plan on having kids and have low living expenses but it’s obviously nice having a little extra.

Posted Aug 13, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

34
Loading comments…