Series 1, MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS, 1824-ongoing, includes material on the College's clubs and organizations over the years, format depending upon the organization. Folders for groups current at this printing usually begin with a paragraph or two, written by a director or member, dealing with the group's activities and history, as known. Material for these and older groups may include programs from performances, pictures or reviews from the Amherst Student, publicity documents, and cross-referencing to scrapbooks and photographs.

Among the items of interest in this series are the Amherst College Musical Association's original record books, including its charter and constitution. Also notable is the material on the original College Band (formerly the Paean Band), which includes a handwritten account book, their constitution, and a roster of the original members.

This series also documents events and organizations that involved members of the greater community, such as Professor Bigelow's Oratorio Chorus (1900-c.1935). The Five-College Performances subseries treats valley/intercollegiate efforts. Smith College and Amherst collaborations, such as a gala 1961 tour of Europe for the Smith-Amherst Singers, led to the 1972 formation of the Four-College (later Five-College) Orchestra under the leadership of Professor L. Spratlan.

Organization within this series is alphabetical by name of each organization. Note that the material for the Amherst College Glee Club, due to its bulk, is a separate series; certain organizations that perform in concert with the Glee Club (notably the Mandolin Club and the DQ), can be traced also through the Glee Club Series.

Series 2, THE GLEE CLUB, 1870-1990, consists primarily of concert programs and news clippings from 1870-1976 and is the largest single segment of the collection. It includes publicity pamphlets and memorabilia such as concert tickets, dance cards, tour information packets (including itineraries and menus), an attendance book, and some correspondence.

The material in this series documents the history of the Glee Club, changing styles of music, performance practice, tour organization, and other activities. Highlighted concerts and events are: the 1894 Summer Tour of England, with exhaustive coverage of the twelve concerts performed, the travel itinerary, events on the ship, financial status, etc.; the series of Spring Western tours in the early 1900's; the White House concert for President and Mrs. Coolidge in 1920; the Bermuda Tour in 1928; the first World Tour in 1967 with Bruce McInnis; the 1969 and 1975 World Tours; the 1972 African Tour; the 100th Anniversary Concert 1965; the 1st Senior Concert 1968; and the concerts for the dedication of Buckley Hall in 1968.

This series is organized chronologically by season (i.e., Fall 1968, Spring 1969, Fall 1969, etc.).

Series 3, NON-AMHERST PERFORMANCES, 1860-1985, includes schedules for, programs from, and printed material about the concert series and lecture courses at Amherst. Significant performances by Elly Ameling (1973), Ralph Kirkpatrick (1965), Bela Bartok (1941), Mme. Schumann-Heink (1907), Milton Babbitt 1964, Roger Sessions (several dates), and the Boston Philharmonic (several dates when the fledgling group appeared in the 1880's and 1890's). Organization is chronological by five-year increments.

Series 4, THE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, 1828-1989, is divided into three sub-series:

A: Department Publications, 1968-1983

B: Department Histories, 1828-1989

C: Miscellaneous, 1878-1945

Department Publications contains the biannual pamphlet "Music at Amherst," and other printed material relating to the Music Building, the growth of the department, and special concerts.

Department Histories includes a set of printed or typed histories of music at Amherst, both music instruction and musical performance. Especially valuable are the histories put together by Howard D. French (AC 1895, in Amherst Graduates Quarterly, November 1935), Professor Henry G. Mishkin (his address for Massachusetts Phi Beta Kappa, July 1957), and Paul Linn (AC 1887, his BA thesis in Music/American Studies).

Miscellaneous contains music course work and exams and cross-referencing to the scrapbooks and memorabilia.

Organization of the material is by type, in a subjective order of importance.

Series 5, SONG COLLECTIONS, 1848-1961, contains printed collections of songs, including songs about Amherst, songs about Amherst men and women, and songs sung at Amherst. This includes collections for alumni song fests and class reunions and sets of "class songs" for particular graduating classes. Most of the collections include only lyrics and tune suggestions. Two notable exceptions are the song books (hardcover, with full score) published in 1910 and 1926.

Organization of these collections is alphabetical by title or type, then chronological (e.g., class songs for the class of 1854, then 1855, and so on).

Series 6, NON-AMHERST SONG COLLECTIONS, 1860-1952, consists of a small selection of general College songbooks containing representative songs from Amherst, along with other schools. These are arranged alphabetically by title.

Series 7, AMHERST COLLEGE SONGS, 1847-1988, includes songs written about Amherst College and written by Amherst College men and women, from the Latin odes of the mid 1800's to the 1988 College Song Competition. The folders in this series contain documentation, printed music, some manuscript copies, and some lyrics.

The series covers one box in the regular collection, and the first flat file which contains oversize piano music and manuscripts. Organization is alphabetical by song title.

Series 8: SOUND RECORDINGS, bulk dates 1942-1987, includes material produced for phonograph media. Recordings in the record box include College song productions sung by the Glee Club, several major orchestral/choral productions, a World Tour Glee Club album, and a set of records put out by the Zumbyes and Double Quartet. This series is grouped into three chronologically ordered sub-series, plus a fourth sub-series consisting of duplicate copies of many of the items in sub-series A-D:

A: Amherst College Glee Club Recordings

B: Amherst College A Cappella Groups

C: Amherst College Musical Ensembles

D: Duplicate Sound Recordings (all groups)

E: Non-Amherst Recordings

For other more recent sound recordings, see also the Audio-Visual Collection.