berklee music school

[uethanian]

i want to have a serious talk about berklee...

so it seems to me that there's a lot of players on TB who attended berklee or one of its programs. let me first say that i dont mean to insult anybody here, i have a lot of respect for you bass players who are serious enough about the instrument to major in performance.

i've heard good things about it on TB, especially about all the well-known pros that teach you personally. well i was talking to my keyboard teacher (piano, harpsichord, and organ) about music schools, and mentioned berklee, and he instantly said "oh you dont want to go there. its a joke. same goes for CalArts." this kinda stumped me, because 1)it seems like so many good players come out of berklee and 2)my former upright-bass teacher works at CalArts and only had good things to say about it.

now i have to take into consideration that there's not exactly a wide choice of schooling when it comes to studying bass guitar. is it a situation where berklee is a great place for bass guitar (because its more novel and because of the pros there), but not such a great place for other instruments? a few people have tried to tell me that its a school not taken seriously in most circles. and i get the feeling like bass players like it because of the professional instruction, but they could care less about the actual school.

so your responses would be appreciated. please try to be as unbiased as possible, i myself lack an opinion about it (never been there, cant believe everything i hear). and be nice

[Nappa]

Originally Posted by uethanian

i want to have a serious talk about berklee...

so it seems to me that there's a lot of players on TB who attended berklee or one of its programs. let me first say that i dont mean to insult anybody here, i have a lot of respect for you bass players who are serious enough about the instrument to major in performance.

i've heard good things about it on TB, especially about all the well-known pros that teach you personally. well i was talking to my keyboard teacher (piano, harpsichord, and organ) teacher about music schools, and mentioned berklee, and he instantly said "oh you dont want to go there. its a joke. same goes for CalArts." this kinda stumped me, because 1)it seems like so many good players come out of berklee and 2)my former upright-bass teacher works at CalArts and only had good things to say about it.

now i have to take into consideration that there's not exactly a wide choice of schooling when it comes to studying bass guitar. is it a situation where berklee is a great place for bass guitar (because its more novel and because of the pros there), but not such a great place for other instruments? a few people have tried to tell me that its a school not taken seriously in most circles. and i get the feeling like bass players like it because of the professional instruction, but they could care less about the actual school.

so your responses would be appreciated. please try to be as unbiased as possible, i myself lack an opinion about it (never been there, cant believe everything i hear). and be nice

Well Check out Led Zeppelin Covers on youtube they went to berklee and made soem awesome covers just for school.

[Bard2dbone]

Admittedly this is just IMO. But If you want a really good music program, look into the University of North Texas.

Berklee gets a lot of very capable students from all over the country. But so does UNT. And both schools will give you much the same information. The only advantage Berklee really had is that it is a lot easier to find good gigs around Boston than it is to find them around Denton (about 45 min to an hour drive outside of Dallas)

[Pacman]

You need a new teacher. He's giving you bad info.

[John123z]

We visited and checked it out for my daughter. Graduation rate is extremely low, because they let anybody with $38K/yr. into the program. And yes many famous people have attended Berklee, but I don't know of but a few who graduated. Did I say very money hungry. Say for instance your a voice major, if you also want bass and piano lessions you'll have to choke up another $1000 per semester each. If your already really really good, this is a great school to spend a year networking. If your going to learn to play bass, there are a lot more cost effective places.

Suggestion;
If you are really good, you can audition for their world tour thing. Basically they send an audition team all over the country and you can audition for a scholarship. They awarded my daughter $10K/yr. Which I'm told is very good because Berklee does not provide financial aid like other major schools.

Something to remember, all schools shower their top 5% of the students with all the opportunities. These are the students getting all the principle chairs, recitals, and playing in the elite ensambles. That's where you really learn your instrumant and hone your skills. Going to a great school and sitting in last chair teaches you nothing. In the end, my daughter went to a school for the half the price, where she is in the top 5% and thing are working out great.

John

[uethanian]

Originally Posted by Pacman

You need a new teacher. He's giving you bad info.

thanks for your opinion, but whats your reason?

i dont want to argue about my keyboard teacher (who knows nothing about the bass world), but he's been around. like really been around. he's done enough in the music world performance/education/business - wise to know (most of the time) what he's talking about. but hey, people like you and my teacher are both pretty opinionated about it, so i cant take it seriously.

[Mark Wilson]

My opinion is going to be biased, just so you know.
But, I'm at Humber college. It's the most applied to arts school in Canada, and they accept a small number of people into their classes. So, smaller classes = more individual attention.

but, I have two friends at Berklee, one is there for keyboard on a 15k/year scholarship, and the other is the Ambassador for the vocal program. I believe she's in her last year now...

Anyway, no matter what school you goto, it's just a name.
Berklee, Humber or any arts school, all they are are names. What it boils down to is how hard YOU work at making what you love your life.
if you want to play upwards of 30k/year for the networking, then go for it!
I was going to apply to Berklee, but I could hardly afford gas to drive down to Cleveland to audition. So now, I'm playing 5k/year to goto school in Toronto with some of North America's finest musicians, and Aaron Saunders will back me on that one!

[Scottgun]

$38K/yr

That's quite a chunk a change for a sheep-skin for music and a concentration in bass guitar.

You didn't indicate what you want to do with the degree. It seems that anyone with a pro-gig looking for a bass guitar doesn't care where you came from--they just want to be able to plunk down a chart in front of you and you being able to pull it off. You could get that ability at Berklee, but it seems you could get that at lots of places.

[John123z]

Very good point Mark. It's just a name. It's not like other majors. For instance if you graduate from Harvard in business you start at $250K per year on Wall Street. Graduate from a local law school and you'll be transferring deeds for $50K/yr. Unfortunately, graduate from Berklee or even the Boston Conservatory and you'll be making about the same as someone who graduated from a community college, and hopfully that will be more than an unemployment check. Education is an investment, you really need to consider if you want to graduate >$100K in debt and then try to pay it back with a musicians salary. There are lots of excellent teachers and many of them are at reasonnably priced schools.

John

[Bard2dbone]

Originally Posted by John123z

Very good point Mark. It's just a name. It's not like other majors. For instance if you graduate from Harvard in business you start at $250K per year on Wall Street. Graduate from a local law school and you'll be transferring deeds for $50K/yr. Unfortunately, graduate from Berklee or even the Boston Conservatory and you'll be making about the same as someone who graduated from a community college, and hopfully that will be more than an unemployment check. Education is an investment, you really need to consider if you want to graduate >$100K in debt and then try to pay it back with a musicians salary. There are lots of excellent teachers and many of them are at reasonnably priced schools.

John

+ Infinity! This is the best post so far.

I originally wanted to major in music, but I realised shortly after starting college that if you get a degree in music it doesn't guarantee employment.

If you get a secondary degree in education (either dual major or major-minor combination), you could be a school music teacher, except that many school districts are getting rid of music education.

Basically all a music degree will get you is some self actualization and a lot of debt. If you get a dual major with music and something profitable, that is a much more secure future. But it can be really difficult and potentially soul-destroying to try to combine certain things.

UNT is a great school that costs around half or less what Berklee costs, and they have other programs besides music. I think that's a lot of why I appreciate them. They have a world class music program but it's also combined with real world programs.

So think about what else you could learn to pay your bills while you do gigs to pamper your soul. I make a marginal living keeping people alive, AND I have a bit more musical eduacation than most. You could do a similar mix. Music and Business? Music and Journalism? Music and _________?

[Pacman]

Originally Posted by uethanian

thanks for your opinion, but whats your reason?

Because anyone who would tell a student they don't want to go to one of the best music schools in the country is giving out bad info. Yes, there are other great schools (UNT, Eastman, etc), but Berklee is a fantastic school, with a sterling reputation. As is Cal Arts. Look at the faculty at either school, and then tell me either one is a joke.

[tycobb73]

My former teacher went to Berklee. He plays in a local originals band to a couple hundred people at a time and does teaching on the side. He graduated from there. I think you can do better with your money, especially if you're not going to stay in the area.