The Major
The music major provides grounding in the theory and practice of music, and instruction in performance, composition and musical scholarship.
Learn More
Menu
Tools
We support a wide range of musical styles and encourage all students interested in making music to join us in a class or an ensemble appropriate to their level.
Department Highlights
The Curriculum
Anyone can take a course in music. Topics include composition, electronic music, ethnomusicology, history, improvisation, jazz, opera, performance, popular music and theory.
Learn More
Performance Opportunities
We support performance opportunities in early music, experimental music, jazz, new music, popular music, western classical music and world music.
Learn More
Amherst Ensembles
Student musicians make up our three large ensembles—Choral Society, Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble—and an array of smaller ensembles.
Learn More
Private Lessons
We offer private music lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced performers taught by professional adjunct instructors.
Learn More
Music at Amherst Series
Our concert series brings internationally renowned musicians to campus for performances, master classes and lectures.
Learn More
Arms Music Center
The music building houses Buckley Recital Hall, as well as two large rehearsal rooms and practice facilities for student and faculty use.
Learn More
Arts at Amherst
Amherst’s arts programs foster a lively environment for the multidisciplinary study, creation and presentation of the arts.
Learn MoreMusic Courses
Current Courses
MUSI 113
Jazz Theory and Improvisation I
Description
Explore jazz harmonic and improvisational practice from both the theoretical and the applied standpoint, building toward a performance at the end of the semester.
MUSI 254
Sound Design
Description
Develop skills that lead to a greater understanding of sound in theatre, media, and everyday life and explore the fundamentals of audio production and acoustics.
MUSI 439
Improvised Music: Spectrum, Theory, and Practice
Description
Develop new performance practices drawn from American and European experimental musics, approaches to post-1965 jazz improvisation, and several musical traditions that use improvisation.
In Rehearsal: The Amherst College Concert Choir with the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble
September 27, 2019
On the eve of the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble’s Sept. 19, 2019, debut performance at Amherst College, the octet rehearses the final movement of Musikalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) with the Amherst College Concert Choir. Directed by Arianne Abela.