What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called activity therapist, board certified music therapist, certified music therapist and community music therapist.
$77,930
Median pay a year
22,640
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Music Therapist resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Developing non-medical treatment plans
Maintaining medical knowledge
Recording medical histories
Treating patients with therapy
Gathering medical histories
Collecting medical information
Conducting research
Monitoring patient progress
Evaluating health
Evaluating treatment options
Analyzing patient data
Analyzing quantitative data
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Music Therapist
1 certification
Summary
Music therapist planning and directing clinical music therapy interventions to address clients' physical, psychological, cognitive, and behavioral needs in various settings
Experience
Music Therapist
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Designed and provided music therapy experiences to address client needs in various settings
Customized treatment programs for specific areas of music therapy, including mental health and geriatrics
Communicated with clients to build rapport and reflect upon their reactions to musical experiences
Documented evaluations, treatment plans, and progress reports related to individual clients
Assessed client functioning levels and areas of need in terms of various abilities
Engaged clients in music experiences to identify responses to different styles and elements of music
Collaborated with professionals to develop and coordinate integrated treatment plans
Gathering medical histories, Collecting medical information, Conducting research, Monitoring patient progress, Recording medical histories, Treating patients with therapy
Education
Bachelor's Degree Your college, Year
Certifications & Licenses
State license for this work Your state board, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
Nothing to write from scratch
What to put on a Music Therapist resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Designed music therapy experiences for client needsSang or played instruments during therapy sessionsCommunicated with clients to build rapportCustomized treatment programs for specific client areasDocumented evaluations and treatment plans for clientsAssessed client functioning levels and areas of need
becomes
On your resume
Designed music therapy experiences to address individual client needs and goals
Communicated with clients to establish rapport and trust
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
The line that could show more, and the fact that lands it.
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Add how many clients you designed experiences for each week
The line
Designed music therapy experiences for several clients each week to meet their individual needs and goals
Add how many clients you designed experiences for each week
Pick one that fits
Several clients each weekA few clients every sessionMost of my clients regularly
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what improved in client relationships because of your communication
The line
Communicated with clients to establish rapport and trust
Show what improved in client relationships because of your communication
Pick one that fits
Clients felt more comfortable sharingTrust led to better engagementImproved client feedback on sessions
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Music Therapist does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Plan, organize, direct, or assess clinical and evidenced-based music therapy interventions to positively influence individuals' physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioral status.
What it pays
How much does a Music Therapist make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$58,850
Median
$77,930
75th percentile
$105,760
About 22,640 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AL
$55,840
$68,270
$78,900
AR
$53,300
$61,920
$88,070
AZ
$49,300
$63,750
$80,850
CA
$70,730
$81,760
$105,140
CO
$56,160
$65,080
$93,300
CT
$40,080
$47,300
$77,480
DC
$81,020
$127,010
$130,000
DE
$68,410
$90,120
$104,000
FL
$55,710
$64,600
$84,360
GA
$50,220
$59,380
$84,630
HI
$65,650
$99,560
$99,560
IL
$65,750
$116,200
$193,760
IN
$50,510
$61,720
$74,120
KS
$59,900
$76,740
$103,270
KY
$64,080
$75,060
$112,070
LA
$56,690
$64,530
$96,170
MA
$57,540
$69,050
$83,210
MD
$46,540
$49,400
$80,380
MI
$50,860
$57,970
$67,680
MN
$62,440
$75,360
$82,010
MO
$48,990
$60,990
$67,980
MS
$41,570
$44,280
$46,520
NC
$52,040
$60,400
$67,870
NE
$65,570
$86,900
$128,310
NH
$43,630
$69,040
$82,850
NJ
$78,080
$100,250
$131,690
NV
$36,830
$38,260
$41,400
NY
$65,190
$77,980
$95,790
OH
$51,580
$70,700
$117,370
OK
$51,850
$60,090
$103,260
OR
$72,940
$81,860
$101,150
PA
$51,420
$62,310
$73,220
RI
$78,210
$86,400
$91,000
SC
$59,990
$90,980
$129,040
TN
$47,050
$56,690
$73,370
TX
$47,620
$74,750
$100,360
UT
$52,110
$61,770
$76,290
VA
$51,740
$70,890
$103,320
WA
$89,690
$98,550
$98,550
WI
$47,900
$59,420
$66,010
WV
$44,040
$67,580
$90,250
Other names
Other names for this job
activity therapist, board certified music therapist, certified music therapist, community music therapist, creative arts music therapist, creative music therapist, expressive music therapist, home care music therapist, hospice music therapist, licensed creative arts therapist, LCAT, music art therapist.
More names for this work
music dance therapist, music rehabilitation therapist, neurologic music therapist, public school system music therapist, therapist, mt bc, music therapy specialist.
What you can already claim
What you can already claim as a Music Therapist
Below are the tasks a Music Therapist job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
You can already claim 4 of the 9 tasks this job is made of.
What you have not done yet. Collecting medical information, Monitoring patient progress, Analyzing quantitative data
Your resume, already started
Music Therapist
Developing non-medical treatment plans
Analyzing patient data
Evaluating patient outcomes
Gathering medical histories
Nothing here was invented. Every line is something you chose above, and it comes with you when you start.
Free resume help
Start with this job
Choose what matches your experience. Rung shapes your confirmed choices into a resume you control, saved on your own device.
A resume that is yours to keep
You leave with a PDF and a Word file, and a cover letter if you want one.
Nothing to pay when you download, no account, and the resume saves to your own device.
Every line offered comes from public job data, not a template.
Nothing to write from scratch: the lines are ready, and you choose the ones that were yours.
This page is about the occupation Music Therapists. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.