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but when i'm slow i force myself to do it.
Sean Malone said:A lot of guitarists and bassists are drawn to schools such as Berklee and the like, due mainly to their reputation and to the fact that they seem to specialize in areas that more 'traditional' universities may not even offer. In addition, attendees and graduates of these schools are often in bands that many of you admire. (You might notice often in the résumés of performers that they'll mention Berklee or GIT, but notice the wording: the word "graduated" is seen a lot less often than "attended" - this is an important difference that will be addressed later on.)
The first step in determining if furthering your education is something you'd like to do is ask yourself "what is it that I really want to do as a musician?" The second part is "...and what am I willing to sacrifice in order to get it?" The last component to this preliminary stage is "of those things, what might I be able to achieve outside of the academic environment?" So I'll try to go down this list, fill it in a bit with my own experience, peppered with my own opinions, which, of course, should be taken with a grain of salt because what works (or not) for one may not apply at all to any other person.
As I was finishing high school, I was firmly in music's grip (had my first bass, bought for me by my parents from a department store) but was concerned only with playing, and knew only that I was "supposed" to go to college. You know - everyone says you're "supposed" to go to college...I had no idea why I was supposed to, just that I was. One thing I can say for sure though, was at that point I never wanted to try and be a 'rock star' (whatever that might mean) in any way I had no interest in running away with the musical circus so to speak. What I was interested in was soaking up as much music as possible since it seemed to be everywhere I turned; Florida is great for that. Prog was certainly that upon which I was cutting my teeth, but jazz, pop, rock, flamenco, Afro/Cuban you name it was everywhere to be heard and learned. For whatever reason, bass guitar would be the vessel.
I went ahead and started college, taking the core classes to get them out of the way so that when I decided what it was I wanted to do, my last two years would only be filled with only those classes. So try and get all of your English, Math, and Sciences taken care of up front. In my first year of college (at a community college) the mystery of music theory had me firmly in its grip, but at that point all I wanted to do was learn it. Why? Because I felt that I could not only learn music faster but if I understood it, then I'd really be getting so much more out of my own musical experience, either as a listener, a performer, a composer...anything. Also, learning music theory seemed the key to becoming a musician; a term used often too lightly and too quickly and without consideration. At that point it just seemed like everything was possible. So it occurred to me: although playing and composing would be my priority, I could enjoy and earn a living teaching music. But it was apparent that in order to seriously teach music - I mean at the university level - nothing less than a Ph.D. would be needed, and here I was my first year in college as an undergrad. Where I was and where I needed to get to seemed light years apart...and they were, but that was the good part...
So to answer the question - what is it that I really wanted to do as a musician? I wanted to be a bassist and composer that taught music at the college level, probably music theory. (With the possibility that if Peter Gabriel happened to call somewhere in the mean time, well, you know...)* That sounds a lot more 'together' than it actually was, and for sure, don't feel compelled that as a freshman you need to have a plan worked out through your post-graduate years. Not at all. Even though it's what I would shoot for, many, many bumps in the road would come my way, and I still had no idea what it would take, and what I'd be willing to sacrifice to get it.
This ends installment number one. The next installment will deal with getting through either a 2-year AA degree, or a 4-year BA degree, and whether or not majoring in music is the thing to do (in most cases, it isn't).
* Peter hasn't called. Yet.
Sean Malone said:
The Nashville Jazz Workshop has a ton of classes (I'm directing their Yellowjackets Ensemble class right now and for the next 6 weeks). www.nashvillejazz.org I might see if there's a class in Jazz Piano for Non Pianists or Ear-Training. There are ensemble classes all the way from Beginning Rhythm Section Classes to advanced ensembles like the Yellowjackets Ensemble, The Chick Corea Electric Band Ensemble, The Weather Report Ensemble, etc.
The best theory resource I've seen in quite some time is The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine (Sher) www.shermusic.com
If you want another perspective, you can learn the Nashville Number System. It's how we chart Pop, Rock and Country tunes quickly in the Studio and to learn arrangements for performances, tours, etc. It's by Chas Williams, a fine session guitarist that I've recorded with and the bassist on the playalong tracks is Dow Tomlin, one of my old students. Invalid Link Removed
Hope this helps you out.
i think a music program at a school like yours is a pretty attractive way to go. it seems like they're more interested in (for lack of a better term) real world aspects of the music business.
