One thing I kind of miss from previous editions of D&D for bards are the bard songs.

5e has sort of packed bard song features into its Bardic Inspiration feature, but it doesn't feel really musical...it's more like cheerleading.

But I don't really want to take a wrecking ball to the whole class; I'd rather just make a College that brings the flavour.

The homebrew section has a bunch of College of Songs, but I thought I'd take a crack at one. This isn't game tested, so it's pretty rough. But let me know what you think, or what other bard fixes you'd recommend.

The idea is to make your spellcasting and bardic inspiration feel more like music, and to emphasize your roll as a buffer and healer.

College of the Chord

Musical talent
When you join the College of Song at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in performance. If you already have proficiency in performance, you may choose an additional two musical instruments. You may also choose two of the musical instruments you are proficient in and double your proficiency bonus.

Lingering Song
Starting at 3rd level, you gain the ability to weave music with magic that can sustain itself even when you are not focusing on it.

When your concentration on a spell is broken because of a failed saving throw or because you have been incapacitated, you can use your reaction to expend one use of your bardic inspiration. When you do, your spell can continue for d6 rounds, or whenever the duration ends, whichever comes first. The spell effect also ends if you cast another spell, or perform another action, that requires concentration, or if you end it as an action.

The duration increases to d8 at 5th level, d10 at 10th level and d12 at 15th level, but regardless, the lingering song cannot continue past the normal duration of the spell.

Silent song
Starting at 6th level, you learn to weave magical music to aid your allies even when they cannot hear you or you have been silenced.

When you cast a spell on one or more of your allies or use your countercharm, you can choose to do so by casting the spell at one level higher than the spell. So, for example, you could cast Calm Emotions, a second-level spell, on your allies using a third-level spell slot. Your allies hear the song in their minds.

The silent song does not work for any spell that requires an opponent to make a saving throw, nor does it work on spells that target only the caster.

Memorable song
When you reach 14th level, you can inspire your allies to remember the power of your song. As a bonus action, you can use one of your bardic inspiration dice to recall a spell of 5th level or lower that provides aid to your allies. Using this ability does not cost a spell slot, but if the spell requires concentration, then the memorable song feature does as well. The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to your bardic inspiration die roll, or the duration of the spell, whichever is shorter.
After you have used this ability, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.