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Applied Music Lessons

Overview

Colby College offers private music instruction for over 20 instruments, including guitar, piano, voice, and violin, and is open to students at all performing levels. Our applied music faculty, all professional performers and committed teachers, work together with students to perfect technique, enhance understanding towards the music, and refine aesthetic subtleties, a collaboration that brings to life the history and theory of the classroom.

Lessons are scheduled weekly for either a full hour or half hour, and can be taken either with or without academic credit. Students electing applied music for credit must play a jury or recital and have completed (or be enrolled in) one of the following: MU111 (Intro to Music), MU153 (Intro to Music Theory through DAW), MU181 (Music Theory I), MU252 (Intro to World Music) or MU225 (Intro to Afro-Latin Drumming, formerly MU298). Students who submit either a 4 or 5 on the AP Music Theory Exam may also take lessons for credit. 

For students who are new to music lessons at Colby and are interested in piano please contact Professor Keer Wang, for guitar please contact Mark Leighton, and voice please contact Sydney Mukasa. All voice students please complete this interest form.

Information about Applied Music Lesson registration for Fall Semester will be posted here when it is available.

Applied Music registration will take place directly through Workday Student.

  1. Find the instructor’s contact information below.
  2. Contact your instructor to confirm availability.
  3. Request a Course Prerequisite Override for instructor permission (This can be found on the bottom right of the Academics page in WorkDay)
    a)     MU 091 (no credit) or MU 191 (for credit)
    b)     Duration (full hour or half hour)
    c) Instructor name/instrument
    * Be sure to complete the questionnaire – the system requires that something is entered 
  4. You will receive a response through Workday about your instructor’s decision.
  5. If approved, you then need to start the actual registration process, which will occur the same way you signed up for normal courses:
    a) “Find Course Sections for Registration”
    b) MU 091 (no credit) or MU 191 (for credit)
    c) Duration (full hour or half hour)
    d) Instructor name/instrument
  6. If you selected an incorrect section (credit vs. noncredit, wrong duration, etc) the instructor will Deny the request and you’ll need to begin the process again. 

IMPORTANT: Applied music instructors are not authorized to waive credit requirements for lessons. If you register for credit lessons but do not meet the prerequisites, you will be automatically moved to the non-credit version of your selected instrument and lesson length.

 

Brass

 

Percussion

 

Piano and Organ

 

Strings

 

Voice

All voice students please complete this interest form

Wind Instruments

For credit lessons for music majors in good standing are subsidized by the College. Non-credit lessons will not be subsidized; for 2025-26, the fee for non-majors is $650 per semester for hour lessons and $325 for half-hour lessons. 

2025-2026 Policies

The last day to ADD a course is February 10. 

The last day to DROP a course is February 20.

Refund Policy: If you choose to discontinue lessons, you must drop the course. You must also notify your instructor and the music department administrative assistant. After the fourth week of lessons, no fees can be refunded. Any refunds prior to that will be based on the actual number of lessons not taken during the 12-week schedule. Students who either add or drop the major after the start of the semester will have their lesson fees prorated based on the date that the add/drop request was processed.

There are a limited number of scholarships available to help with music lessons. Students taking lessons for credit may apply for a scholarship using our online Scholarship for Applied Music Lesson Form (not available for JanPlan). Eligibility is based primarily upon demonstrated financial need, as verified by the Financial Aid Office.

A new application must be completed each semester.

The deadline for submitting this application for spring semester is Friday, February 6th at noon.

Non-credit lessons are available during the January short term (Jan Plan). This includes two 45-minute lessons per week for four weeks. The cost for Jan Plan lessons in 2026 will be $325.
Scholarships and tuition subsidies are not available during Jan Plan.

More information regarding Jan Plan registration will be available by early December.

Lessons available for Jan Plan 2026:

 

Additional Information

LOCKERS

Lockers are available for students who are enrolled in applied music lessons and/or department ensembles or programs and MUST be signed out through the Music Department. Please complete the Locker Request Form to request a locker and contact [email protected] to arrange to pick up a lock. Only department issued locks may be used. Unregistered locks will be removed.

Large lockers are reserved for large instruments. When large lockers are limited, sharing may be required. At the conclusion of the academic year students should remove all contents from their lockers. Students needing to utilize lockers over the summer should seek prior approval from the Music Operations Manager or Administrative Assistant.

INSTRUMENTS

The Department of Music has a limited number of  instruments that are available to loan to students who are enrolled in department lessons or ensembles, on a first come first served basis. If we do not have the instrument you require in our inventory we may be able to help recommend a store that you can rent from.