Is Berklee College too commerical these days ?

[Tissot]

Are they still that great as they used to be? :(

[Nefertiti]

I think it's as great as you make it. It was way back when and it is today, I went there back in the eighties and I wasn't really impressed with it as a school but there were some burning players there when I was there and I'm sure there still are. For me it's always been about being around amazing players and practicing like crazy. Yeah it's very commercial but it was in the eighties and it was in the seventies from what I hear. I think the real serious players and jazzers end up finding each other and making their own scene no matter whats going on. IMHO

[Kenfen]

I'll second that. The Berklee way is for you to make your own way. So they train you for the real world in a sense. I went back in the late 80's and it was great. Inspiring instructors, meaningful clinics from monster players, all kinds of styles and approaches going on. Plenty of opportunities to play, record, write, whatever you wanted to do.

You just have to get in there and go to work!

I had a great time there.

Regards,

Kenfen

[jazzbluescat]

Heard in an interview on NPR with Gary Burton yesterday that he's leaving after three decades. He wants to pursue his recording career full time. It was news to me because, for some reason, I thought he had been recording as much as he wanted all along. He's some kinda head honcho at the school as well as an instructor, I gathered.
I wonder who'll "replace" him. Probably some unknown bonifide whiz that noone's heard of. They seem to pop up everywhere; and, Berklee seems to attract them like flies to......nevermind. :twisted:

[Randall]

When I see "commercial" and Berklee together in the same sentence, I believe that impression may have to do with the pop guitar program.
Basically Berklee, like it or not, is a bop school at heart.
All the monies brought in by the scores of pro-rock-guitarist-wannabees basically fund the more "serious" jazz programs, scholarships, etc....
This is not to say that there are not a variety of good, serious and valid study avenues other than bop at Berklee....but I believe that the guitar program at Berklee is basically a cash cow.
Would I recommend Berklee?
Absolutely.
It is what you make it, and the instructors there are top notch.
My time there was the best I have ever spent, musically.

[gary]

I believe Gary Burton is Berklee's Vice-President.

[saxgirl9]

I don't know, there are a lot of guitar players at the school, and so overtime, the school might head in a more commercial direction. Plus, a lot of the smooth jazz, pop guys come out of that school too

[Chris S]

I heard Gary Burton (the vobe prof there, apparently the former vibe prof there) and Makoto Ozone (a recent graduate, couldn't be more than four or five years out) live. I've heard Gary a few times, but never heard Makoto until then. Let me just say... if they're putting out musicians like that.... I'd be more than happy to have that school's name on my degree.

Chris S

[Vader]

Berklee is still great. You have to make sure you get the right private instructor and/or try a few diffirent ones. You have to do the work and apply what they give you..........basically(as said before) it is wat you make it. There are so many resources....it's amazing.
The ensembles were a blast.
The best thing about it though........connections connections connections.
If you get to an advanced level while you're there, you'll possibly get to play with the pros...a friend of mine has played with the Yellowjackets and most recently Brecker............they didn't do this as much when I went there.
More than pro connections, it's peer connections. Go for the high level ensembles........be a part of the scene that's there. Get to know people. don't stay in your practice room all the time(like I did). That's a mistake, that doesn't rear it's ugly head until years later...when you realize just how many of your fellow students are in the national scene....while you're playing weddings. I have made my road to where I want to be infinitely harder by doing what I thought was right at the time.
Plus.
There are actually girls there now too....which also wasn't happening when I went there. WTF.

[saxgirl9]

Haha.. but really, at any school - it is what you make of it as far as connections and education

[themusicalone]

I went to a tour of the campus about a month ago and it looks fantastic! I'm only a freshman and i know that's where i want to go. More specifically i want to be a Music Education major. Only 3 more years...

[Gargoyle]

I'll be a HS senior next year and I plan to apply to Berklee (I'm nearly done with the Glazunov and am starting working on the Creston Sonata.) I have been working mainly classical music... and I know that there are plenty of other sax players better than me.

On their website, the audition requirements/scholarship requirements are rather vague... do you all have any recommendations of what kinds of skills, or good pieces to play would be to maximize my chances of getting in (and more importantly, finding money to go there...)?