The Bard's College in Solitude, which you're likely to hear about frequently, doesn't seem to have a whole lot of purpose considering the fact that you can't play instruments in the game, and becoming a member of the college doesn't even give you a bed to sleep in there (although you can take a large number of books if you are a book collector like me). None of the members of the Bards College are Marriage Candidates either. However, there are three quests given by the professors which are well worth the time. The nice thing is that you don't have to receive the quests first for the quest items to appear, so you can skip becoming a member of the college entirely. You may want to pick up all three items and then return them all at once.
There are three special instruments you may randomly come across in the game, and though they are quest items, picking one up may not trigger the quest objective telling you who to return it to unless you've actually started the quest officially, so you're stuck with the thing till you just happen to talk to the right person....which you probably won't since they all hang out in the Bard's College. The reward for returning them is pretty good though. Each of the three professors will train you not just one level in one skill, as is usually the case with these types of quests, but instead you will get a boost in all the skills of a particular type - combat, stealth, or magic.
Finn's Lute is probably the easiest of the three to obtain. It's found in Stony Creek Cave over between the Rift and Eastmarch. The cave consists of a long narrow pasage populated by 4 or 5 bandits and is filled with a flammable gass which can be ignited to help take out the two bandits who are patrolling the main pasage. There is one little side room where you'll find the Lute guarded by a magic user who is the 'boss' of the cave. Return it to the old lady Inge Six Fingers for a one level boost in all Stealth skills: Sneak, Lockpicking, Pick-Pocket, Light Armor, Speech, and Alchemy.
Pantea's Flute is a little more difficult to obtain. Finding Hob's Fall Cave may prove fustrating, particularly without having it marked on your map, as the northern coastline where it is located has many cliffs and gorges to navegate and blizzards often make visibility almost nill. If you want to kill two birds with one stone, talk to the Jarl of Winterhold before coming here as this is one of the likely places he'll send you to retrieve the Helm of Winterhold, which you need to return in order to become a Thane of Winterhold (not that there is much point in doing that, since there is no house to buy and no Housecarl available in that unfortunate little city). Be prepared to fight magic-users in this cave, as well as a few skeletons, though usually you will meet only one at a time so it's not too bad, epecially if you take them out quietly. Returning the flute to Pantea Ateia (whom you may meet outside the Blue Palace wearing green Fine Clothes) will give you a one level boost in all Magic skills: Illusion, Conjuration, Destruction, Restoration, Alteration, and Enchanting.
Rjorn's Drum is the most difficult to obtain as it is found in Halldir's Cairn in the Falkreath area which has a pretty difficult undead boss to battle at the end. Return it to Giraud Gemane who will be one of the two people to greet you the first time you enter the Bard's College. He's wearing a Fine Hat and will tell you that he is the history teacher, though he is actually a trainer in Speech. When you return the drum to him he will give you a one level boost in all Combat skills: Smithing, One-Handed, Two-Handed, Archery, Heavy Armor, and Block.
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