Guitar Department For you, music is not a hobby; it is going to be your career. Many of the world's most successful guitarists began their careers at Berklee, s uch as John Abercrombie, Bruce Cockburn, Al DiMeola, Kevin Eubanks, Bill Frisell , Emily Remler, John Scofield, Steve Vai, and Mark Whitfield. They came to Berklee because of who we are: the world's largest independent musi c school and the premier institution for the study of today's music. The Guitar Department at Berklee offers you the most comprehensive guitar educat ion to be found anywhere. We provide individualized instruction in both electric and acoustic guitar, allowing you to select either of these as your principal i nstrument. We offer you professional faculty who are specialists in each discipl ine, course work specifically designed to enhance your talents and abilities, an d myriad playing opportunities. We know how your instrument fits into today's music world, and we give it the re spect it deserves. Whether electric or acoustic, the guitar is an extremely flex ible and expressive instrument and can be effective in any musical style. Studyi ng at a school that offers you all those musical styles is the most important wa y for you to take your playing and turn it into a career. Studying Guitar at Berklee At Berklee, you will find your own voice and develop your own style. You won't b e limited to one direction. We encourage you to experiment with other styles tha t interest you, so that you can challenge yourself, improve your skills, and dev elop your instrumental craft. We will help you to become a guitarist with a stro ng musical identity. Berklee prepares you for today's music by building on traditional aspects of lea rning. In all instruction offered in the Guitar Department, emphasis is placed o n achieving a solid foundation in the standard technical challenges of professio nal performance, including scales, chords, reading, improvisation, interpretatio n, and standard repertoire. Also included is intensive training in sight-reading and in the understanding of chord voicing. Private Lessons In your first week at Berklee, you will be given a placement audition by a guita r faculty member, and one of the chairs of the department will match you with th e teacher best suited to your needs for private instruction. Every student will take at least four semesters of private lessons and must pass a final exam at th e end of each semester on the skills learned. (Music Education and Professional Music majors will take six semesters; Performance majors will take eight semeste rs, with extra Recital Preparation lessons before their senior jury and recital. ) Instrumental Labs These specialized guitar classes bring together players of similar performance l evels and provide training in specific aspects of guitar performance. Many of th e teaching materials used in these labs are created by the very Berklee faculty who will be teaching you. In addition to the required labs Guitar Performance Sk ills and Guitar Style Skills (blues, funk, fusion, jazz, or rock), the elective labs include: Advanced Guitar Performance Lab Advanced Reading Advanced Rock Guitar Performance Techniques Blues Guitar
Building Guitar Technique through Triads Country Guitar Developmental Arpeggios Electronic Effects for Guitar Finger Picking Blues Guitar George Benson Lab Guitar Chord Soloing Guitarmony Guitar Synthesizer Lab Jazz Blues Guitar Jazz/Rock Improvisation for Guitar Jazz/Rock Rhythm Guitar Playing Jeff Beck Lab Jim Hall Lab Jimi Hendrix Lab Linear Approach Concepts The Linear Style of Pat Martino: Approaches to Jazz Improvisation Performance Techniques and Comping Polyrhythms Professional Guitar Styles Rock Guitar Lab Show/Theater Guitar Lab Slide Guitar Lab Standard Tune Workshop Steel Guitar Lab Walking Bass Lines and Chords for Guitar Wes Montgomery Lab Course Work The courses at Berklee are continually reviewed and evaluated so that they are u p-to-date and consistently reflect today's musical environment. In classes such as Guitar Performance Styles, you will learn the history of your instrument, ana lyze its present-day challenges, and participate in an in-depth study of styles and techniques. Ensembles Through ensembles, you will hone essential performance skills and techniques. Th ey help you to broaden your stylistic range, to expand your network of musical f riends and colleagues, and to gain diverse group-playing experience. Berklee offers an ensemble experience for every entering student. Based on your placement audition, you may be eligible for Contemporary Styles Ensemble, Guitar Performance Ensemble, or Rhythm Section Ensemble. Ensembles are offered in multiple sections for varying levels of ability. You ch oose the group and style that appeal to you. Your eligibility is determined by o ngoing auditions that measure your growth as a performer. This system enables yo u to move into higher level ensembles as you develop your skills. More than 350 ensembles rehearse weekly at Berklee. These ensembles reflect noth ing less than a full range of musical expression: Art Blakey Ensemble Avant-garde Ensemble Berklee Recording Orchestra Cannonball Adderley Ensemble commercial pop/rock recording ensembles Concert Choir country music ensembles
funk bands jazz ensembles John Scofield Ensemble Latin ensembles rhythm and blues ensembles rock ensembles Stevie Ray Vaughan Ensemble Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Ensemble Thelonious Monk Ensemble Wayne Shorter Ensemble Wes Montgomery Ensemble Yellowjackets Ensemble Visiting Artists Through our Visiting Artist Series, you will be exposed to valuable first-hand c areer insight from some of the finest performers, songwriters, film composers, m usic business experts, and music professionals from every sector of the industry . Visiting guitar professionals have included: John Abercrombie '67, Adrian Bele w, Peter Bernstein, Hiram Bullock, Joe Diorio, Ronnie Earl, Nelson Faria, Tal Fa rlow, Robben Ford, Mick Goodrick '67, Rodney Jones, Mike Keneally, Steve Khan, P eter Leitch, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, Ben Monder, Steve Morse, John Petrucci '8 6, Duke Robillard, John Scofield '73, Alex Skonik, Leni Stern '80, Mike Stern '7 5, Martin Taylor, Carl Verheyen, and Mark Whitfield '87. Guitar Rooms The Guitar Department has nearly 50 amplifier-equipped rooms for private or smal l ensemble instruction and rehearsal. In addition, there are larger group instru ction rooms complete with audio-visual learning aids. MIDI equipment, compact di sc players, digital phrase samplers, videotapes, and audio tapes are used extens ively for performance analysis classes and musical accompaniment. Guitar Departm ent performances and recitals are often videotaped for faculty and student analy sis. Guitar Faculty One-on-one faculty/student interaction is crucial to your Berklee education. In preparation for a career in the music industry, it is essential that you work in tensively with men and women who have been living that career already. Berklee's guitar faculty are innovative educators as well as experienced professional mus icians. Their expertise in contemporary guitar techniques and technology makes t hem invaluable as teachers. Berklee has the largest guitar faculty in the world. The diversity of styles and experience of our faculty means you will be exposed to the best education possi ble. You need not be restricted to one teacher throughout your education. You ca n work with any number of faculty during your time at Berklee, giving you the ul timate educational experience. Our guitar faculty includes: Chairs 14 Larry Baione, Chair Title: Chair Department: Guitar B.M., Berklee College of Music M.M., New England Conservatory of Music Recipient of Down Beat Hall of Fame scholarship award Principal guitar, U.S. Army Band, Washington, D.C. Performances with numerous jazz, concert, and recording ensembles
311 Rick Peckham, Assistant Chair Title: Assistant Chair Department: Guitar B.M., Ohio State University M.M.Ed., University of North Texas State Internationally active jazz guitarist, composer, writer, and clinician Frequent contributor to Down Beat and other magazines Coauthor of Berklee textbooks for ear training and musicianship View all Guitar Department faculty... Berklee College of Music Berklee was founded on two revolutionary ideas: that musicianship could be taugh t through the music of the time; and that our students need practical, professio nal skills for successful, sustainable music careers. While our bedrock philosop hy has not changed, the music around us has and requires that we evolve with it. For over half a century, we've demonstrated our commitment to this approach by w holeheartedly embracing change. We update our curriculum and technology to make them more relevant, and attract diverse students who reflect the multiplicity of influences in today's music. We prepare our students for a lifetime of professi onal and personal growth through the study of the arts, sciences, and humanities . And we are developing new initiatives to reach and influence an ever-widening audience. More than a college, Berklee has become the world's singular learning lab for th e music of todayand tomorrow. We are a microcosm of the music world, reflecting t he interplay between music and culture; an environment where aspiring music prof essionals learn how to integrate new ideas, adapt to changing musical genres, an d showcase their distinctive skills in an evolving community. We are at the cent er of a widening network of industry professionals who use their openness, virtu osity, and versatility to take music in surprising new directions. Performance Facilities The Berklee Performance Center, our largest facility, seats more than 1,200 and is constantly alive with student and faculty concerts sponsored by the college o r professional performances sponsored by independent music producers. In additio n, Berklee maintains four professional-quality recital halls for smaller concert s and gatherings. All in all, more than 600 performances take place each year at Berklee. As you progress musically, you are sure to be part of many of them. Learning Resources The Stan Getz Library offers an extensive collection of printed materials, audio and video recordings, and other instructional media for student use. The Career Development Center provides counselors to help students identify and assess their skills, locate information about specific music careers, expand and develop their career network, explore graduate school options, prepare a resumé a nd professional cover letter, discuss job search strategies, learn or refine int erview and audition skills, and generally create a plan for mapping out their ow n unique career path. The Learning Center offers small-to-large group instruction rooms with Apple com puter workstations. As a complement to the training sessions, the software is fu rther discussed in ongoing forums that cover popular software and hardware topic s and are led by faculty, Learning Center staff, upper-semester students, and so ftware company representatives.
Studio and Lab Facilities To prepare for careers in music, students work in studios, labs, and classrooms that emulate the conditions found in professional environments Students learn th e fundamental and enduring qualities shared by great music and explore music tec hnology applications in the most up-to-date educational facilities possible in c ontemporary music education. The Recording Studio Complex consists of 13 professional production facilities, which include multitrack digital and analog recording capability, automated mixd own, digital audio editing, video postproduction, 5.1 multichannel surround mixi ng, and comprehensive signal processing equipment. The Synthesis Labs feature more than 250 different types of synthesizers, standa rd and alternate controllers, effects processors, recorders, mixers, and softwar e. Students receive hand-on instruction and supervised development time in areas of synthesizer programming, electronic composition/production, audio for visual media (games, film, television, interactive), sound design, software design, an d performance. The Performance Division Technology Lab is a five-station lab designed to suppor t students' study of new electronic instrumental controller techniques. Featurin g Apple/Macintosh computers, various synthesizer modules, and the latest in guit ar, bass, keyboard, percussion, and woodwind, and brass MIDI controllers, the la b enables students to learn to adapt traditional playing techniques to complex e lectronic setup and control environments. The Professional Writing Division Technology Lab consists of 12 digital audio/MI DI workstations. The Film Scoring Labs offer students the opportunity for hands-on study in the a reas of film music composition, conducting, MIDI sequencing, and digital music e diting, with two lab/classrooms, a self-contained scoring-studio complex, a 40-s eat theater/classroom, and two DAW/screening rooms. Coming to Berklee Special Annual Events Besides the regular activities and musical events that occur daily, once a year Berklee sets aside a time to showcase each instrumental department. Berklee Guit ar Week, held during the spring semester, blends Berklee faculty clinics/concert s, student concerts, and major artist performances, clinics, and product demonst rations in a festive atmosphere. This may be an excellent time for you to come a nd take a look at what Berklee and the Guitar Department have to offer. Berklee Summer Guitar Sessions In addition to Berklee's full-time program and other summer programs, we also fe ature the week-long Guitar Sessions during the month of August. We offer classes in guitar craft, guitar style, improvisation, and performance ensembles (blues, funk, fusion, jazz, and rock) at all levels. For Further Information For further information about the Guitar Department, contact Chair Larry Baione at 617 747-2294 or Assistant Chair Rick Peckham at 617 747-2511. Berklee also offers campus tours and informational sessions throughout the year. Complete application information can be found in the Berklee prospectus. Also av ailable is information on the many scholarships available to outstanding student instrumentalists and vocalists. For a copy of the Berklee prospectus, or for fu rther information about Berklee College of Music, contact the Office of Admissio
ns at 800 BERKLEE (toll-free within the U.S. and Canada) or 617 747-2222. Write to us at: Office of Admissions Berklee College of Music 1140 Boylston Street Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693 U.S.A. Visit Admissions at: 921 Boylston Street, Suite 600 Boston, Massachusetts Email us at:
[email protected] Berklee College of Music does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, reli gion, gender, national origin, age, disability, military or veteran status, sexu al orientation, genetic information, marital status, pregnancy, or any other cha racteristic protected by applicable law in employment or in admission to and par ticipation in any of its programs and activities. Any inquiries or grievances ma y be directed to the Title IX Coordinator, the Vice President for Student Affair s/Dean of Students, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass achusetts 02215-3693, 617 747-2231, or to the Regional Director, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Boston, Massachusetts.
