Berklee summer program, good or goblin?

Fractal · #1 11-30-2004, 09:50 PM

Hey everybody (just my first post...). Anyway I have been trying to decide if I want to do Berklee's 5 week summer program. It looks like I might be able to scrape the money together. My main question is if you think it is worth it? It is a lot of money and it seems like I might be able to get the same thing just by taking a lot of lessons locally, but I don't know. I have never been able to find a good bass teacher. Lots of people that could teach theory, but not anyone that could teach much technique (slap etc.). I have heard there are a lot of annoying preppy kids there but I don't know how true this is and I know a few other kids who are going which I like. I have a pretty strong interest in music, It is deffinately my favorite hobby to just jam with other people, but I can't see my self seeking a career in music. I am pretty motivated and really want to learn more theory. Do you think I could get enough out of it that it would be worth the money, and at the same be getting more out of it than I could be by just taking lessons locally? Thanks.

Humblerumble · #2 12-01-2004, 09:00 AM

Check out www.musicdojo.com it might fit the bill. You can search for the music dojo thread here as well.

bentem · #3 12-02-2004, 06:24 PM

I went to berklee this past summer, had an amazing time. I had a lot of really good teachers(one or two bad). I also got a lot of information in books, ,etc that im still using today. Also saw a lot of good live music and ensemble playing expeirence. I saw and heard lots of new music, and met a ton of cool people.

A couple weks ago, i wentup to NYC to visit some friends that i met there.

You can get a lot out of it, you get tons ofinformation all at once, so if you keep up with practicing, and try to get the most out of all your classes, youll get a ton out of it.

matt_chew · #4 12-04-2004, 09:54 PM

my best friend, who is a drummer, went to a camp at berklee last summer. While it was only a week long, he said he had a great time. He heard many differnet styles of music he had never heard before, met some great teachers and musicians, and learned a whole lot.

He also said there were many preppy type kids there, but as long as you have an open mind and arent afraid to be friendly and ask questions, you learn some good stuff. Just dont view it as a competition with other people while you are there.

Aaron Saunders · #5 12-05-2004, 01:59 AM

Unless you've got money to spare, I'm not sure I'd reccomend spending that much to go for a hobby. Never done it myself, but hey -- if you want to do it, then do it. Sure, you could get away from eating the bare neccessities for a couple months, but food can't feed your passion!

...unless your passion is food. Then spend it on food.

Fractal · #6 12-05-2004, 07:43 PM

Does anyone think I could get the same thing by taking a lot of lessons locally?

Aaron Saunders · #7 12-05-2004, 11:01 PM

I've changed my mind. Go for it.

As for the lessons, probably not. You said you couldn't find a good bass teacher anyway. Take that, and then also factor in that at Berklee, you're with a whack of other musicians for 5 weeks. Speaking as someone who's actually in a roughly similar situation, that's probably worth it alone. I'm in a semester-long (september - january) program at my school where musicians from several counties around come to learn recording, live performance, and musical theory. The atmosphere of being with 26 other musicians five days of the week is like nothing I've ever experienced before. Everyone in the program has become a better musician for it. There are not going to be many times in your life when you're going to have the opportunity to spend that amount of time with that many musicians. That alone would be worth the price to me.