Given the new groups playing around Harvard this Fall--The New Freshmen, The ROTC Rooters, Stephen Hall and the Soybean Specials--music listings for Boston seem almost superfluous. But the year is new and so is the philosophy behind these notices: Besides ccapsules of the major rock concerts, these listings will also alert you to lesser known, more talented rock and sometimes jazz performers who rarely get the attention they deserve. Honest-to-goodness folkies and bluegrass players have more musical talent than all of Alice Cooper's cobras laid end to end. 'Tis better to overlook a multimillion-making electronic group than an exciting unknown playing a small club.

JETHRO TULL. Every unfounded rumor that Ian Anderson's group has disbanded, ceased recording, stopped performing, and so on blames the group's alleged demise on Anderson's frustration with critics who don't take his music seriously. The problem is that he takes himself so seriously that he hardly leaves room for anyone else. Tull's work is sometimes imaginitive. It is almost always pretentious. But Boston Garden--where you sit two miles from the performers--seems like the worst place to enjoy Anderson's flute-playing acrobatics.

PATRICK SKY. When Cambridge's favorite folkie is good, he is very, very good. When he's tired, he's still pretty funny. Sky mixes traditional songs, barroom ballads, and some original romantic lyrics with hilarious political songs directed against everyone from Nixon to the Pope. His banjo and guitar playing is usually worth the price of admission. When he gets a friendly audience, his concerts are often minor classics.

ALSO: Folk singer Mike Seeger plays Kirkland House Sunday, sponsored by the Folk Song Society of Greater Boston...Every Monday saxophonist and all-around reed-player John Payne stirs up some fine jazz at the Oxford Ale House. Payne almost stole the show two Springs ago from Bonnie Raitt and Peter Johnson in a Sanders Theater free concert. He's one of the great sidemen on Raitt's Give It Up album.

JETHRO TULL. Fri. Sept. 28 and Sat, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m., Boston Garden $4.50-$6.50.

PATRICK SKY and FINKEL & WEEDEN. Thurs. Sept. 27 thru Sun. Sept. 30, at Passim Coffeehouse. 492-7679 for information.

MIKE SEEGER. Sun., Sept. 30 at 8 p.m., Kirkland House, $2.50

HARKNESS COMMONS Mixer with two rock bands, Sept. 28, 8 p.m., $1.50 or free with HLSA card.