Department of Music

Private Instrumental and Vocal Study

A vocal instructor works with a student

Lessons are taught either by members of the Brandeis faculty or by members of Boston's large and talented community of professional musicians.

Placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (MUS 80a,b ' 87a,b) alone or Private Instructions and Ensemble together. Successful completion of two semesters of MUS 112a,b may be applied only once toward the requirements for the major or minor in music. The course may be taken as a noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

Course fee: $900 for non-Music program students; $250 for Music graduate and non-performance track Music undergraduates; no fee for Bernstein Scholars and Music undergraduate performance track students.

Fees

For information about lesson fees, please see the Private Lesson Cost webpage.

How to Register

Note: Vocalists need to sign up for and successfully complete an audition before beginning the registration process.

  1. Submit a pre-requisite override request for the section you plan to register for.
    • Vocalists: Register for MUS 112b 1 or 2XC like you would normally register for a class. You’ll be put on a waitlist, and Prof. Duff will admit you into the class from there. Refer to the registration guides for help.
    • Instrumentalists: Register for your appropriate section like you would normally register for a class. You’ll be put on a waitlist, and the professor will admit you into the class from there.
    • If you’re a violinist studying with anyone other than Julia Glenn, register for section 11 or 12XC.
    • If you’re a violinist studying with Julia Glenn, register for section 9 or 10XC.
    • If you’re a violist, register for section 5 or 6XC.
    • If you’re a cellist, register for section 7 or 8XC.
    • All other instrumentalists, register for section 1 or 2XC.
  2. Verify that you are registered. View your course schedule  in Workday. If you have difficulty registering for an ensemble, consult the director of instrumental studies, Professor Bob Nieske, or the director of vocal studies, Professor Robert Duff.

Credit

Students must register for lessons in Workday (MUS 111a/b for instrumental lessons; MUS 112a/b for voice lessons). Students are encouraged to register for credit whenever possible. The courses are half-credit courses (one year of study is worth one semester course credit), and they have as a corequisite participation in a university-sponsored ensemble. The ensembles are also half-credit courses.

One semester of private lessons plus the co-requisite ensemble satisfy the Creative Arts requirement for your degree. Since two half-credit courses are required in this instance, you should contact the Registrar directly in order to count lessons/ensemble for Creative Arts credit.