hey dave

[BassIsFun17]

hey dave,

its rory, i just got home from National Guitar Workshop about 3 hours ago.

you told us to ask you a question.

so ill ask what inspired you to play bass?

[x18karatharmony]

Hey Dave its Eric, like Rory I just got home from NGW, thanks for a great 2 weeks; I really learned a lot. Now It's time for my question.... how hard do you need to work to get into Berklee- What would be a good amount of time to practice each day as I go into high school?

[Dave Overthrow]

Rory, Sorry it took so long to respong to your question but I just got out of a 5 week stint teaching bass classes, clinics and seminars at the National Guitar Workshop.

It was great to have you in one of my classes at the Connecticut campus. You have some things together in terms of bass playing and your on your way to becoming a real good player.

To answer you question, what first got me interested in playing the bass when I was 12 years old was when I heard the Aerosmith tune "Walk This Way and I thought the bass line was the coolest thing. I then picked up the bass, learned the entire Aerosmith Toys In The attic album started listening to a wide variety of rock music and focusing on the sound of the bass and figuring out the bass parts. It wasn't long before I came acxross the Group "Yes". The sound of Chris Squire's bass floored me. His tone was so "BAD" and his bass parts were so musical weave ino ,ut and around the keyboard, guitar and drum parts. I was then hooked. That is whay I pursued the bass. A year or two later I got hip to Stamley Clarke which changed my perspective and added to my enthusiasm for the instrument. Not to long after that I heard Jaco and that cemented my lifelong pursuit of the bass. I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston after high school and have been on a marvelous musical journey ever since.

Peace,
Dave

[Dave Overthrow]

Hey Eric, Berklee College of Music in Boston is in a great environment largely because there are over many, many musicians whom bring many different musical backgrounds, levels and energies, which make for a great learning experience. The school, coupled with the fact that there are many other music schools in the vicinity and many other musicians to hang with makes it a very musically rich environment.

With regards to getting into Berklee, like many other schools there are probably four times the applicants then there are acceptances do to the number of potential students applying to colleges these days. Because of this, it is the admissions office is more particular about whom they admit and can be more selective.

If I were you I would practice the things that would better my chances in getting accepted to music schools like Berklee. Get hip to your chord types such as triads and 7th chords, you major scales, major scale modes, minor scales, even diminished and whole tone scales. Work on your reading. It IS necessary to read music in a music school. Work on getting tunes together for your auditions. Many times the school will post suggested tunes on their website. When learning a tune be able to walk a line, play the melody and improvise.

This should get you started. Let me know if this helps.

Peace,
Dave