Alum

Colin Sapp

Associate Professor

Affiliated Departments

617-747-8419

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Colin Sapp is a guitarist, composer, and producer with over 150 recording credits. He has most notably performed with Backstreet Boys, Kristin Chenoweth, Kurt Elling, Rakesh Chaurasia, Ally Brooke, Billy Gilman, James Wolpert, and Troy Ramey from NBC’s The Voice. He's the leader of Infinite Out and a member of the jazz fusion group Choose to Find as well as a published author with articles on performance, pedagogy, and peer mentoring.

Sapp has given master classes and clinics internationally on improvisation, jazz, rock, and fusion guitar; guitar effects pedals and vintage guitar amplifiers; music education and pedagogy; and professional performance techniques. His YouTube channel, Inside Out Guitar with Colin Sapp, contains concepts, drills, and advice that he has developed for guitarists at all levels. He's a GHS Strings artist.

Courses Taught (5)

Guitar Ensemble

ENGT-200

Guitar Styles Skills Labs

ILGT-119

Electronic Effects for Guitar

ILGT-333

Private Instruction - Guitar: All Levels

PIGT-XXX

Recital Preparation: Guitar - All Levels

RPGT-XXX

Career Highlights

Publications in Journal of Popular Music Education and Massachusetts Music Educators Journal
Notable recordings include Songs Without Words by Choose to Find, "Gave You All I Had" by Troy Ramey, and "The Entire City" by James Wolpert

Awards

The Berklee College of Music Distinguished Faculty Award (2020)

Education

School Name

Boston University

State or Province

Massachusetts

Degree

Master of Music (MM)

Field of Study

Music Education

Date Degree Received

2012
School Name

Berklee College of Music

State or Province

Massachusetts

Degree

Bachelor of Music (BM)

Field of Study

Performance

Date Degree Received

2008

In Their Own Words

Students sometimes forget to nurture their artistry while they’re in school. It’s easy to get caught up in becoming proficient at specific skills like ear training, playing at quick tempi, improvising over difficult changes, etc. I think it’s critical to use learned music concepts to inform one’s musical individuality. The learning process is a creative process, so students should compose and/or improvise new ideas as soon as they are struck with creative inspiration.

I’m fascinated by the creative process, so I love working on improvisation and composition concepts with students. I also enjoy all different genres of music, and I’m always learning more by listening to things that might seem out of character for me. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that flexibility is a great asset in the business. Therefore, the style of guitar playing a student is really into isn’t a major factor to me; it’s whether or not the music they make is truly communicating something meaningful to the listener in the best possible way.