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Alexi Halket is enrolled in the independent songwriting and performance program at Seneca College in Toronto.JENNIFER ROBERTS/The Globe and Mail

"My music is like a female Ed Sheeran meets Gwen Stefani," says 20-year-old music student Alexi Halket.

She completed an independent music production program at Seneca College in Toronto and is enrolled in the college's independent songwriting and performance program.

She credits her program, offered by Seneca's faculty of communication, art and design, for helping her learn to master the art of mashing up musical icons such as Mr. Sheeran and Ms. Stefani to create her own unique sound.

"When I graduated high school, I took a year off to try and do music on my own, but ended up not having very much self-motivation. After doing research into different music programs around the city, the program at Seneca seemed to cater directly to the independent artist making music of popular genres," Ms. Halket says.

"I also liked that these programs were only one year long, so you could learn what you needed to, then go out into the world and do it."

The program is flexible enough to meet the needs of all kinds of aspiring writers, says Blair Packham, a fixture of Toronto's music scene and a professor of both songwriting and independent music production at Seneca.

"We take in students three times a year, in September, January and May. Each time we take in 15 to 20 students, so at any given time I'll be teaching 30 to 40 people."

Mr. Packham fronted a band called The Jitters in the 1980s and early 1990s, and he still writes and performs (his latest solo album, Unpopular Pop, was released last May). He notes that songwriting can be much more than putting down one's thoughts and spilling them out from a coffeehouse stage.

In his own career, for example, he has earned money by writing incidental music for TV shows, which brings in residual cheques for years when the shows go into reruns.

"I did a lot of music for Dawson's Creek in the nineties," he says. "For example, they might have a scene where a bunch of bikers come into a bar and put a blues tune on the jukebox, and I'd have to write 35 seconds of blues. I don't normally write blues, so it would stretch my skills," he says.

Expanding students' horizons at the same time as offering hands-on critique and skill-building are the building blocks of both the songwriting and production programs at community colleges, says John Switzer, co-ordinator of the independent music program at Seneca.

"When we started in 2004, we saw a need for a different kind of program," Mr. Switzer says.

"There were places you could go to learn music, places to learn the business side and places to learn about the technology. But the industry was changing, and there was the rise of an independent movement where the artists had to do everything themselves."

For example, the tens of thousands of dollars worth of technology once found in a major recording studio can be more or less replicated on a high-end smartphone – but you have to know how to use it.

"The program is designed to give students a well-rounded overview. It's pretty intensive," Mr. Switzer says.

"I think people working in any genre of music can benefit," says Keysha Fanfair, a Seneca graduate and hip-hop artist who performs under the name Keysha Freshh and now comes in at least twice a year as a guest lecturer.

"The program helps you learn how to communicate with musicians and also learn the technical side," she says.

Mr. Packham notes while his students used to write their music mostly using guitars and pianos, it's more and more common for them to compose on electronic beatboxes.

It's the practical side that students such as Ms. Halket like most.

"I'm now the go-to person to fix sound problems at live shows. I also met a lot of amazing people and joined a community of fellow artists who I can work with potentially. And I have learned how to make plans to stay on track," she says.

Seneca is not the only school among Ontario's 24 colleges that offers hands-on music programs. Both Humber College and Sheridan College, also in Toronto, have been known to turn out highly accomplished music and performance grads.

"In everything from the Tony Award-winning musical Come From Away (which was workshopped at Sheridan College), to some of Hollywood's biggest animated and live-action films, our graduates are enjoying phenomenal international success," says Linda Franklin, the president and chief executive officer of Colleges Ontario.

"College education opens the door to great opportunities in all areas of arts and entertainment, whether you are a performer, a set designer, an animator or a songwriter, colleges have a program for you that will lead you to a great job."

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