Berklee

Hey. Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been stopping by and checking stuff out, but not really saying much. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has ever gone to/heard of Berklee Music College. My parents are really pushing me to start doing things that'd be good for college apps because they never went [therefore I HAVE to]. If anyone has any info on it it'd be greatly appreciated.

Ozz

i just know that steve vai went there, thats about it

lol. My guitar teacher went there too and he pwnz those strings.

if you want to be able to make it easy on yourself, just stay focused(it is certainly easier said than done, I know) through high school, and apply for all kinds of scholarships for different things.
Community service looks great(my school makes us all do 80 hours)
My drummer who's a year younger than me is starting off college as a Junior because he did so many damn AP courses(which is college level) and passed them with a B+ average.

above all, just do your work and you'll be fine with getting noticed by colleges.

I know. I just want to know what all you have to have on your record to get into Berklee. I don't even want to go to college. I want to get a good band going, I just can't find anyone with similar interest. Plus my dad insists I HAVE to go to college and I cringe at the thought of wasting years of my life to gain something I don't want to use. At the most, I'd like to be able to be a session musician out of it. I can't be a teacher because I don't have the patience. If theres anything else it could provide please tell me. I just can't stand the thought of doing anything [by choice basically] after high school that I can't apply guitar to. I could probably go to most any colleges if I put my mind to it. I just don't want to. It's just the typical big-dream guitar player stuff and I really don't want to give up on it. I haven't dedicated years of my life to it to be told I'm a ****ing factory worker.

you would probably be a factory worker if you don't go to college though. Most job's now, actually are wanting to have college grads go in for the job.
College isn't a waste of time, you'll either get it done now(or at least in the next 5-10 years) and have the rest of your years to get a good band going while holding a stable job with nice income, or, you could get a band going, not be sure if you are going to have enough to eat tonight and not sure if you still have that gig the next night.

I'm not sure what it takes to go to berklee, but just ask you counselors about it, they'd be happy to help.

Yo, i have a friend that goes to Berklee and she loves it. Apparently its pretty good.

@ Case - I know what you're saying dude. Quite honestly though, I could live both way [given the band thing] and be fine. It's just that I don't know where to go [when I actually CAN go anywhere] and I don't know where to start looking for people. Quite frankly, in my whole town, me and one other guy are about the only two that are really serious about playing. I've played with him though and we're both lead-oriented and it just wouldn't have worked. He's really good though nonetheless. About the counselors, this whole college spat started with people getting called at my school for National Junior Honor Society [kissing ass]. My dad wants me to do it because it's good on a resume'. I asked the lady telling us about it [the school guidance counselor] and she'd never even heard of it. Shocker.

@ Schecter - Cool. Could you ask her if it's more theory related, jam stuff, teaching how to improvise, etc for me? If you could that'd be a great help dude.

Ozz

Ive got a cousin that is auditioning for berklee on february. on the other hand, if you have the chance to go to college, do it, lots of people dont have the chance to.
i better get a good job n use my free time on a band..
but thats a good point, have a motivation for doing good: if you play good you eat, that way youll do your best all the time

Yeah, sure, I'll ask her whats the deal with it. I think that they have a large emphasis on performance and recording, but thats might not even be true.

I'm just waiting for Carl's essay on this topic... :D (Automatic A+)

@ Soy - Yeah man. Thats basically what I'm saying.
@Schecter - Oh cool dude. Thanks a bunch!
@ Jazz - Hahaha. I thought of that while I was still writing it up. I'm also looking forward to it. :)

Oh, just a snappy Q, if anyone knows, is LA still a big music capital [rock-wise. Not screamo, nu-metal, just hard rock and maybe some metal once in a blue moon.].

Ozz

I'm not sure about LA, but there are so many people there that it seems like it would be. Nashville seems to be where everyone goes around here. I've seen many bands go down there thinking they are going to make it big, but they usually come back. One guy I know got stuck there. His band fell apart down there and he had to get a job and stay in a motel to get enough money to come back. Its tough to make it in the music biz. You need to be good, have a good sound, have tons of material and have something unique that is a good unique and not an annoying unique. These are just assumptions though. There are so many good bands out there trying to make it that it can be difficult to stand out. I'm not trying to discourage you from doing this, but these are just things that I have seen happen.

I would say spend some money on some studio time and get some stuff on Youtube and promote the heck out of it and see what happens there. People seem to be brutal, but honest on there (with some exceptions). If it starts getting lots of hits and lots of good feedback then you know you got something thats worth taking somewhere. The video would have to be pretty cool too though. Heck I made a video about some ballistic gel tests and it has over 160,000 hits and I never really told anyone about it. It just spread out on its own. It could work, but who knows.

Wow, what a coincidence. I did a service call today for a guy who's son teaches at Berklee! Guitar was on the wall so I asked the guy if he played and he said no but his son teaches at Berklee and some other school. So say the word Ozzy and i'll get you in there for free or this guy will be reading books for the rest of his life! hahahahaha
(I fix TV's for a living)
Phip

Hahahahahaha! You had me goin there dude. I thought I was gonna get a free road after all then I find I'm being fooled by the cable guy. [Can I pay you in juicy Trident Layers?] lol. I'm not hating on technicians though dude. I love my electronics and I'd love to have the knowlege to fix them all lol. Hell, I get schooled for a living [think literally] so I have no room to speak anyway.

college is a great place to meet new people with similar interests as you, it will probably be even easier at a music college.

Hahahaaa...
(be careful what ya wish fer ;~)

I'd copy/paste a section of my hilarious Berkley experience from my web-bio but that just feel strange. so i offer the 'short version'

In 1984 I "got'/'Had'(?) a musical scholarship to BA, as did a friend of mine.
We had high hopes, but i had heard it was another factory like GIT-etc but my Bro Chick (band = Scarce) Granning kept insisting it'd be worth a try.
last minute = i followed my gut : "its too cold and i just dunno about that kinda place"
Chick went
(i'd get these 'they want me to play everything sooo safe' letters and calls)
Chick got an assignment dealing with modal play.
Chick played the 'lesson' with a slide (thought it'd show creativity and garner a better grade)
His "teacher" gave him an F and told him that "the slide is an incorrect tool for modal play" (a quote i will never forget)
Chick looked at this clown, said , F-U !, walked out of Berkley and into a new band which later signed to Warner Brothers and made good money (take that! Mr "slides are bad", man lol)
BUT
Dont think for one second Warner (later band on A&M) or any 'Major' would ever "have yer back"... Chick had a brain-annurism(sp?) on stage!! and due to his 1-Mo recovery was dropped from the label and left to float back home.
anyways
HIS thoughts on Berkley?
(paraphrasing)
'drummers drumming on every surface you pass' - ' silly scale assignments'
and
'a "one size fits all" philosophy'
UGH
I get the same story from Phil F (Now Professional Guitarist/scorer), and Bill M (drums - Pro ... on tour now)
ALL
had SOMEthing good to say about the place, but the bad far outweighed the good..
BUT
this was 1984 ... a Looong time ago, things may have changed.
may have.

my advice = find a "spy" (lol) to scope the place out fer ya! lol

If ya go ... I hope its changed and wish ya al the luck in the world (sincerely)
but if asked to vote i'd have to give Berkley a thumbs down (just due to the folks i've know who've attended)

sorry i couldn't write the lol, manifesto, Jazzy,alluded to, lol but my back was thrown a few ago and i have a ton of questions to answer and emails to delete, Dig? Cool.

and aside from the school stuff remember to....

RAWK!
Cs

Oh no! Berklee has hacked the forum and are shutting us down!! Carl can't even talk about them without half his post being erased!! Lord have mercy on our souls!!

lol. They're all showing up now haha.

I fixed it for you Carl, it's because you typed in a certain html type code which this site interprets as "secret" text, which hides everything you've written.

It's all good now :)

Wow. Now that I've been able to see it all I must say. Thank you. I can't honestly say I'm surprised because sadly, That's the exact kind of attitude I was expecting [and dreading].

get good grades ! stay in school! all that good stuff!

LOL ! ... Hanx Jazzy!

I had NO IDEA I was a spy ;)

RAWK!
Cs

Thanks mom.