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Berklee online? IIB? Cliff Engel Correspondance?

mightypog

mightypog

Apr 21, 2009
142
153
54
Seattle, WA
www.pollyokeary.com
#1
Within days of spending $1,200 to start my first quarter of Berklee's online bass performance certificate program. I have thoroughly checked it out, and I'm quite impressed with the level of interactivity, the curriculum, etc., although some of it will be pretty basic stuff. You can take the whole five-quarter course for only $900 a quarter if you don't want the certificate, but I bet it will help me sell myself as an instructor, either at a music school/store or privately.

$1,200 is a lot of dough, though, especially since that's per quarter and it's five quarters. Each quarter is 12 weeks so it's $100 a week and each week has way more in it than I'd get from a $60 lesson of the kind available around here (great teachers here in Seattle, btw, but no one has the experience that Berklee teachers do). So in all fairness, it seems like a fair deal. Just expensive.

There are other options. International Institute of Bass has online stuff, though not interactive. Staggeringly cheap ($25 a quarter) and then there is Cliff Engel's online interactive one-on-one lessons.

If you have tried any of these options, would you give me feedback?
 
#2
I'm doing the theory program with Berklee online and am really happy with it. They do move fast, though, so it is a challenge to keep up.

I initially was going to do the bass program, but they advisor helped me realize that the theory program was more of what I was looking for.

It is expensive, but if you take it seriously it is worth it.
 
#5
I checked out the site; lots of broken links so I couldn't tour it very well but I did sign up for a free week to start next week. Anyone who's taken it-how much feedback can you get? Do you send in mP3s like you do at Berklee? Is it awesome? It is way, way less expensive and I think if I told prospective students/employers that I had a year or so studying at Music Dojo it would carry some weight.
 
#6
I have done both Berklee on line and Cliff Engel's lessons so I feel qualified to comment. They are really different animals. One of the big benefits of Berklee is being required to post your weekly assignments and being able to listen to your fellow classmates recordings every week. Although you don't see your fellow classmate's grades, you do see their feedback from the instructor. Thus you not only learn from your instructor feedback, but from your classmates also. What you see in the syllabus is really a scratch of the surface, but every weekly lesson is paced perfectly to be able to be completed by weeks end. The Berklee instructors are top dogs and very helpful to answer questions and provide feedback even beyond the scope of the lesson. The lessons all contain demonstration videos of all lesson material by the Berklee instructors. Also, what may seem like an "easy" lesson on the surface takes on a whole new meaning once you record it and listen back. Since you have to post it, it kinda forces you to really master it - recordings don't lie ya know!

As for Cliff, I guarantee you will get WAY more than your $25.00 worth. Cliff is a top notch instructor, very organized, and his course content is excellent. He provides great mp3 play-a-longs and is happy to listen to anything you want to record and submit for feedback. He also has a weekly chat where you can interact with other students. The difference with Berklee is it's up to you to take the initiative to learn the material as submissions are not mandatory and you can't listen to other students submissions (if they choose to do so). You will get a ton or material though all of excellent content.

I hope this helps, gotta run to catch a flight, reply back if I can help further.

All the best
 
#7
....in my previous post I short changed Cliff a bit and that was not my intention, got whistle bit with catching my flight!

I did want to emphasize the quality of Cliff's material. Cliff has a wealth of very mature material especially in regards to improvisation. Cliff will provide you with a ton of material each week (way more than a weeks worth) that will keep you busy for months. Each week builds on the subsequent week. Berklee will give you a concept each week with pretty specific guidelines on how to work the material and an assignment to submit. Mastering the lesson in one week is reasonable to do. It kind of depends on how you want to learn or how you learn best. I've found both formats great, but different. I still work some of Cliff's material to this day. My favorite part of Berklee was having to record and submit each week. I think that really helped fine tune a lot of things for me with technique, creativity, etc.

You can't go wrong with either content wise.
 
#13
mightypog said:
Berklee is quite expensive but you found it was worth the money? I see you took two classes.
Click to expand...

You are correct - Berklee on-line is expensive, but I have found it to be worth it. I make sure I devote the time to it each week to get the most out of it. It's like most things - you'll get out of it what you put into it. If you do sign up, add me as a contact and we can keep in touch.
 
#14
sedgwick1489 said:
You can't go wrong with either content wise.
Click to expand...

sedgwick, your review of IIB just confrimed my decision into signing up. I was a bit concerned of the quality/quantity of the material because of the price but I believe now that I made a good decision. I signed up last night and his response was immediate. So far so good. I also would like to sign up for Berklee. Now is not such a good time, time wise. I am considering it when I retire, 2 1/2 years from now, and using my GI Bill. But for now, IIB's class starts tomorrow so I am definitely looking forward to it. Thanks for your review!
 

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