by Matt Baamonde.

Thus ends one of the most brutal sequences of weeks in my Berklee-related history. After seven midterms, while completing my application before the deadline for the Berklee Achievement Scholarship, and my Robbie Krieger interview for Modern Guitars Magazine, sleep seems like some ancient ritual that I have not experienced in quite some time.

When midterms end there is a brief day or two of relaxation where you can actually find time to go to a party, watch a movie or hang out with the girlfriend or boyfriend that you have been neglecting- right before you fall right back into the daily grind.

Despite all my grumblings, this is kind of a reality check and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world. These weeks are tests to see how badly you want results from your time here at Berklee.

Outside of the core curricular activities, one thing I have been taking advantage of with any free time I can salvage is scholarships. I cannot stress this enough - if finances are a major concern for you to entertain the notion of coming to, or continuing at, Berklee, then you should at least consider the many scholarship opportunities available. Entering students, under the new Berklee President’s changes, are now required to audition in what’s called the “World Scholarship Tour.”

Scholarships are still given to students that demonstrate exemplary skill. Also available to entering students is the Berklee BEST: Berklee Entering Student Talent Scholarship, which in addition to a live audition, requires that you mail in a CD featuring at least three original songs with their scores, for a maximum of $8,000 awarded annually.

For continuing students, we have the Berklee Achievement-based scholarship, which is a portfolio-based scholarship that has taken up a lot of my time for the past two weeks. A lot went into my own portfolio and I am eagerly awaiting the results that will be discussed during a follow-up interview sometime soon.

If you have any questions on scholarships, be sure to check the official Berklee information site. Now that I’ve gotten through a lot of the intense studying and preparation for midterms, I can really look back and determine which classes I need to spend more time on in order to really ace the finals.

This semester my private lesson teacher gave me a mock midterm, which was essentially the Level III proficiency test, minus my actual performance piece, which we are re-working. I would have ended up with an 80% if I had taken the test that day, having blanked out on a few of the chord voicings, so I need to get myself in gear and prepare for the real test coming in December. In addition, my skills in Ear Training have always been mediocre at best, and I really need to prepare myself for the final in order to pull off a decent grade.

A few weeks ago, Steve Vai, once a student at Berklee himself, returned to the college for an hour-long clinic and a performance later that evening. Listening to him speak about the major changes that have taken place at Berklee over the years, his experiences at the college and how they changed him, and his view of the future that awaits, really reminded me of how amazing it is to be here with all the resources at our fingertips.

He explained how nearly 30 years ago, there was a movie theater and a dollar hot dog stand right on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Boylston, and how he used to go there with his now wife, Pia. He spoke on the same stage that he performed for the first time at the Berklee Performance Center where he once shook like a leaf and hid in the corner.

This, of course, is a huge contrast to the show he put on later that evening, with his wild guitar slaying, his wall of sound, and his confident yet eccentric stage presence. He reminded us that though the format of music is ever changing, and the business is becoming much more pronounced, the industry will always need content, and that’s where we come in as artists - so we shouldn’t worry about the future of the industry.

He went on to describe waking up at 6 a.m. every day to get a practice room to work on "impossible" music with his band and taking all the old harmony and core classes. He even spoke of spending an entire summer in his apartment on Westland Street just practicing sight-reading!

It’s quite a moving experience to see the possibilities of where being here can take you. His speech will be something I will remember for a long time.

Fall Teacher Review

Jeri Sykes – Arranging 2 – Arranging horns is a difficult class to teach, especially at 9:00 a.m. on a Friday (of all days) morning, but Jeri can pull it off and still make it fun and interesting. Though I do not have much use for the subject matter (taking it for major requirements), Jeri still keeps my interest high, and, on top of everything, she is an excellent teacher, which is vital with a subject that can be somewhat tedious. Highly recommended for students who are not familiar with horns, and/or how to transpose and arrange them.

Mike Ihde – Rock [Guitar] Lab – From the first minute of class to the last, Mike gets right to work and gets things done efficiently, and of course, is loads of fun, especially when he’s teaching a class called “Rock Lab.” A note to all rock guitarists: this class is a lot harder than it sounds. Though you may be used to reading classical etudes and jazz guide tone lines, you may not be prepared for Mike’s homework examples involving all sorts of lead guitar tricks like tapping, bending, sliding, pulling strings behind the nut, and shreddy sextuplet lines in notation and no tab. You’re asked to play both lead and rhythm parts in front of the class on the spot after one week’s worth of practice. Fret not, however, since Mike is a great help and will always make sure you fully understand the work. Highly recommended for all guitarists.

Until Next Month…

Matt Baamonde

Funny story: Van Halen played Boston in October and Eddie Van Halen apparently went shopping across the street from Berklee at Daddy’s Junky Music. The story that is going around is that the counter guy didn’t recognize him and asked him if he could help him and what kind of guitar he played. Eddie patiently said, “A Peavey EVH Wolfgang,” after which the lights apparently went on and the rep realized that the actual EVH was standing in front of him and lost it!