Berklee

berklee can't give everyone the amount of attention everyone wants because there are so many students, especially in the percussion dept. i'm a 3rd year berklee student and from my experiences here i've grown in ways that i couldn't have anywhere else. yes, it's true that drumming, just like any other art form, is very subjective (well, to a point) and testing something subjective is kinda dumb but i think there's a valuable lesson that a lot of students forget. preparing for all those performance exams really helped me look at all the details in my practicing and also made me realize that people are going to judge the way you play in school or out of school so to learn how to play that will please someone else is good to know. for instance, what is the difference between a berklee proficiency exam and a band audition. not much really. in both cases you play to please a person watching and judging the way you play. a lot of it is playing what you play well but i think some of it is also trying to figure out what to play that'll please the person auditioning or judging you. i think you should stick with it and try to get as much as you can. private lessons are only 30mins a week but every teacher has office hours. i usually go to about 2 or 3 teachers one hour office hours every week. that's like 3 hours of private lessons a week. you just gotta learn the system. good with finals and the future.

"mindless flaming".........your too kind.

so because im 17 i shouldnt be on this forum........u do seem pretty knoledgable however you dont own this forum. i was simply discussing my opinion on the waldman album and i personally thought vinnie overplayed thats all.......then i asked some questions about berklee....

i have been drumming for 12yrs and my father is a pro drummer too so im not totally oblivious to the legend drummers of the past.........i know enough to pass an opinion.

all i did on this forum was post some reviews on some cool gigs in NYC for you guys.......sorry!!

"so because im 17 i shouldnt be on this forum........u do seem pretty knoledgable however you dont own this forum."

Don't really know what your talking about here PL. Read the post over again. You're free to like whomever you like, in this forum or the next.
The context of my comment, "this forum stays away from mindelss flaming" was based on the sentence the preceeded it, "For the fun of it, I checked out as many drum forums as possible and there are a few good ones..." As there are a FEW good drum forums out there, many seemed to flame away at each other, sometimes with over 450 posts going back & forth with nada to do with drums and drumming. My comment had nothing to do with your thoughts and posts on Dave Weckl and Vinnie Colaiuta, but on my findings in other forums, i.e.; the flaming away at each other. Sorry if it sounded like I was focusing on your posts; not the case at all.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 10, 2002 04:58 AM: Message edited by: PocketPlayer ]</font>

i just thought u were pretty much telling me to get lost cause i wasnt "mature" enough for this forum...........now im confused?

Hmmm...don't know what more to say. Reread the post(s) again. I can only wish I had the exposure to a drum forum like this when I was 17!!!
Take this place for a ride bro.

Hey..

Interesting.. especially after reading Abe Jr rip berklee a new one in MD..

Oh let me also ad i'm a student at Musicians Insitute in LA.. in PIT.. Steve weant there, i think someone else on here weant there.. anyway..

first, there are a bunch of other great music and drum schools, so don't limited yourself to berklee if you ar elooking for a music school.. or don't like hte cold :-)

Now the good stuff..

What have I learned in a year at MI?

You aren't going to be taught anything you didn't already know ro could have read out of a $16.85 book.
In fact that is prob true about most industries.. but truly music.

So that said.. I start PIT with the pretense of getting better.. not better grades.

As well.. understand that you are there to get better as a drumm and a musician. Use the school for everything can! Hound your teachers for answers! Make copies of everything for later.. in 5 years you are going to be wanting something and it'll be there in that massive stack of papers from the your teachers that you saved.. maybe..

However.. like I said, I don't think you will ever be taught anything you couldn't have taught yourself. OUtisde of a 3rd person opinion on various topics.. you are all you need.
So don't put hte blame on the teachers sucking, so what if they do? Teach yourself, you are there to learn and get better.. go for it.

Though 90 for a 30 min private is nuts.. I'm paying $20/hour a week with one bad dude named Bone.. ha!

Berklee has built up quiet a reputation for themselves and are banking on it to get students, frankly the number of people going to that school and walking away with bad thigns to say far outnumbers the ones withgood thigns to say right now.. i don't claim to know everyone, but just a random guy talking to people, this is what I get.. take it for what you will..

Most schools are just there to provide the discipline nessssicaryfor learningthe material, beauase most people wouldn't be able tosit down and work it all on their own.

However your story is not an uncomon one..

Drum6282,

I had some experience with drum audition/exams in the military, as a student and then as a drum instructor. A simple way to impress your judges is to track down their students and ask them what their teachers are really fanatic about. Next, go out and practice those things like crazy. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at their reaction to your playing during your auditon. Good Luck!

Of course the military school of music was a little different than the school in Boston or MIT. In the military, they pay the students to go to school and to practice. And if you fail the school,...well you're still in the military, you're just not going to be working as a musician. (No pressure...)

In other words [re: Andy's last post], "play the freakin' game" - only, play it SMART [img]wink.gif[/img] ....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 18, 2002 07:58 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

i never went to berklee, but i did my tour of duty at music college in b.c.
i was 19 going in and gradded at 21. looking back i wasn't mature enough to really grasp everything that was taught.

as a drummer,the overload of harmony, theory, compostition, ear training, basic keyboard sucked.i still have nightmares. it took a couple years after graduating to assimilate evereything.

i personally hated all the theory classes. had no use for them at all. you spend all this time mucking around with piano , and singing and you aren't playing drums. i loathed it. in retrospect it was well worth it.

it takes time for things to become apparent to you.

as a full time musician, when i meet young guys that want lessons who never had the opportunity to go to music college. the biggest thing i notice is the fact they can't spend the time needed to get really good.

they all want to do it, but they have day jobs, have to pay rent, can't practice when the roomate is home ect. if i were you i would just do my best to practice as much as i could. "all the time" its a luxury that you have now.

the fact that you can put all your time and energy into it and have a place to practice is huge!!! it's something i didn't realize at the time.

focus on getting better, not on the b.s. around you. the longer you are there the more people you will meet that have similar interests.


try to fill the requirements of your courses but also try to get what you want out of things. ask teachers about what interests you.

also in a city like boston you should be able to find former grads that have gone through the same thing you are now. pick there brains.

good luck

chris perra

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 13, 2002 03:30 AM: Message edited by: chris perra ]</font>