Lessons

World Music Lessons

The Music Performance Program (MPP) in the Department of Music offers world music lessons in bluegrass guitar only, taught by distinguished MPP Associate Faculty members, to a limited number of students each semester.

All lessons are offered as 1 credit course per semester and there is a $300 fee per semester that is charged to your student account (note that Columbia College, General Studies & SEAS students who receive institutional need based grants from Columbia will receive a credit for the music lesson fees as part of their financial aid package). Additional information regarding classical music lessons is listed below:

  • Live auditions are required and are only held during the first week of Fall classes. 
  • Only undergraduate students in Columbia College, General Studies, SEAS & Barnard College, in addition to graduate students in the Music Department, are eligible to audition for instrumental lessons.
  • Registration for the appropriate music lesson course is available only to those students who have auditioned and been admitted to the Music Performance Program. 
  • Students admitted into the MPP during the Fall audition are admitted for both Fall & Spring of that academic year.
  • Lessons are 6 hours per semester.
  • Starting Spring 2025 this course will be graded via standard letter grades. (the course is graded as pass/fail for the Fall 2024 semester)
  • If an accepted student decides not to take lessons for any reason, they must formally drop the course before the end of the Change-of-Program period, as specified in Columbia's Academic Calendar, in order to receive a full refund of the lesson fee. After the deadline, the fee will not be refunded. The amount will not be pro-rated.
  • Paid trial lessons are available upon request, based on the instructor's availability. You can arrange these directly with the instructor via email (address available on the instructor's profile page). The fee is at the individual instructor's discretion.