by Matt Baamonde.

This semester started off with a bang, full of some of the busiest days that I’ve spent at Berklee thus far. To start with, my schedule has gone under so much revision and adjusting that I’m barely in any of the classes I originally registered for last semester. At the very last moment, someone dropped from Paul Stiller’s Ear Training 4 class and I was able to sneak in, beginning my last semester of Ear Training.

Now that I’ve completed the Harmony Core Music requirement, I have room on my schedule for more classes related to my major- CWP, Contemporary Writing and Production.

I tested out of a technology class- Tech Tools for the Writer, by completing a small recording and MIDI working project. There are many similar opportunities available, so if you’re a student looking to get on with more classes that interest you, or drop subjects that you already have extensive experience with, I highly recommend researching these and seeing where you can get an early placement.

This allowed me to skip a prerequisite class and take Writing for Small Ensemble instead, and get me in line to graduate next spring. On top of those two classes, I’m taking MIDI Applications for the Writer with Richard Grudzinski, a very experienced professor I had for Arranging 1. This class helps CWP majors get a better understanding of their hardware and software bundles while working on real-life, practical projects like writing jingles or arranging for strings.

Next on my schedule, I’m completing my classical music core classes, with both Traditional Harmony and Traditional Counterpoint 2, (now known as Tonal Two-Part Canon and Invention.)

Most Berklee students usually dread these classes as the subject matter can be somewhat dry, but they are proving to be important classes and definitely help with keyboard/piano playing skills.

I’m also taking private instruction with Mike Ihde, who I took for Rock Lab last semester, preparing for my Ensemble Rating re-audition in March, and studying for my end of the year Level 4 proficiency test. Needing work on rhythm guitar related skills, I am taking a Jazz/Rock Rhythm class with Jim Kelly and he is really expanding my knowledge of the fretboard and improving my dexterity.

Finally, since writing is such a passion of mine, in addition to music, I’m taking a Creative Writing: Fiction class with Joe Coroniti and currently working on a short story that may end up becoming a full novel by the end of the semester.

Outside of my core Berklee studies, I’ve started a band with singer Jessica Mellott. Jessica’s won quite a few awards for singing and songwriting, and has had a song included on a movie soundtrack and much more. I am excited to be able to collaborate with her. We’ve decided to combine our musical styles to make a rock/pop band that could definitely go somewhere.

We’ve added a bassist and drummer and practice frequently, fully intending to start playing live gigs soon. This is escalating exponentially, so expect updates on the band as time goes by!

Much of my focus at the moment is obtaining a Berklee Achievement Scholarship and it was recommended by a Berklee administrator, who strongly believes my work is worthy of a scholarship, that I make my achievements known to my department head. The thinking is that since there are more guitarists at Berklee than any other instrument, recommendations from key people at the school can make a big difference towards distinguishing you from the pack.

Though I have achieved a number of awards and recognition for my music, I have always kept this low-key, and I am not comfortable blowing my own horn. My advisor told me that it was time to let people know, and hear, what I had done and to get my name out there. So, I e-mailed my department chair, requested a meeting, included my resume, and also asked for an interview for this magazine (since I was going to be there anyway), and found myself face-to-face with the head of the Guitar Department the very next afternoon.

I interviewed Larry Baione, Chair of the Berklee Guitar Department, last week and we discussed some of the things a Berklee guitar student needs to keep in mind in order to be successful. If you are a guitar player and you're considering applying to Berklee, preparing to audition, or even have already been accepted, I highly recommend reviewing this interview, examining your own playing, and seeing how you could better prepare for your own Berklee experience.

Interview with Larry Baione, Chair, Berklee Guitar Department

What would you tell prospective students’ parents who are afraid to commit to hundreds of thousands of dollars for tuition, room and board, etc., on a future and career they might perceive as risky? How would reassure them?

Larry Baione: Well, I think that a lot of people go to school for different degrees and most of them are risky. I would say I know a lot of people who went for computer science that are not working now. They went there and got that degree because of security. I think that a student who loves music should go and study music and then there are so many different careers that could come from that. It’s the time to do it, you know?

There’s nothing like the placement system here at Berklee. If you are a performance major we’re going to place you in a playing situation for a career after you leave here. But, hopefully, part of what you learn here is not only the playing but also the contacts. The contacts help you; it’s the beginning of your career when you get here, that’s how I feel. And there is a reason why we’re doing music. It’s calling us and we need to answer that phone call and then see what happens.

What is it you’re hoping for when new students enter Berklee? What would you hope their mindset would be?

LB: Well I hope that we help them get better, first of all, that’s my main thing with the guitar department. I hope that we find the right teacher, the right situation so that first of all in the time here you’re getting what you need and what you want. A lot of times that is the same thing, what you want is you want to get better, you need to get better.

What you want is to be able to play and make music at a high level and that’s what we want you to do and what you need to do here. I am a fan of anyone who takes their music seriously. The main thing that I see with us is, you know, Berklee wants to have you build a career. As guitar chair I want you to get better on your instrument.

If you were a student, how would you prepare a year or two in advance before coming to Berklee?

LB: Well, now, there are many, many, many guitarists applying and auditioning for Berklee. So you have to show more fretboard harmony skills than a lot of students who don’t take lessons or they just take lessons for figuring out solos. So a big thing is know your fretboard, know your fingerboard, know chords. Know the notes on the instrument. Know how to read some, we don’t expect you to be great readers but we don’t expect that you’ll only tab. In addition to that I want you to play your music very well.

So you should have more than a couple of things. One is technique; you work on your technique. One is you work on the fingerboard harmony, fretboard harmony, people say it differently. And then you work on your style. And when you work on your style you’re not only doing transcriptions, you’re playing in bands and in real life situations.

No matter what style is personally preferred, what kinds of skill sets should an aspiring guitarist have when entering Berklee?

LB: Good technique, sound technique. Good harmonic knowledge on the instrument. Music knowledge, not even on the instrument, spelling chords, you know, being able to do that. And playing experience… and you get that with lessons.

Though Berklee does promote many styles of music, it still focuses primarily on Jazz- what advice would you give to aspiring rock and metal guitarists who are fans of Steve Vai and Dream Theater?

LB: Well, you see, I have a problem with people that just look at Berklee as Jazz. I really support the rock instrumentalists or a singer. But there’s a thing at Berklee that you need to be able to play in a few different styles.

And if you could work on your blues playing, and if you could work on your chords that have tensions on them, whether its pop music or jazz, the main thing is that you’re able to play like a piano player or a horn player. It doesn’t have to be, “Giant Steps.” But it has to be that you show that you know how to navigate through some chord changes. But, if you’re a rock guitarist when you come here I want you to play rock!

Being a former student of Berklee yourself, how has the school changed between times?

LB: Well, when I went to Berklee they didn’t know what to do with fifty guitar players. Berklee was definitely a jazz-oriented school, and as people are learning how to teach rock, that was in a situation where people were learning how to teach jazz. And Berklee was codifying the Harmony. There was a lot more emphasis on writing.

Right before I came to school there were mostly musicians who were on the road that weren’t as concerned about a degree, they wanted to learn about arranging. Now it’s become more about pick your major. It’ll take me ten minutes to remember all the majors here. When I came to Berklee there was Performance, Music Ed, and Composition. There were more big bands and there were more horn players.

What do you feel were, and possibly still are, the biggest challenges about being a Berklee student?

LB: Being a Berklee guitar student, for me the biggest challenge is not being stereotyped into a guitarist with no training or a guitarist who plays too loud. Which is fairly common outside of Berklee. [Laughs.]So I mean, this is like a big city, and in a big city there are a lot of guitarists. At Berklee there are a lot of guitarists and you gotta do things to get yourself noticed and/or into the right classes. You have to be proactive for yourself.

How do you recommend a Berklee student organize their time between practicing, homework for other music classes, while still maintaining an active social life?

LB: Yeah. [Laughs I mean, I think that the only way to organize practicing is to really develop a schedule. And to me sometimes morning and night is good. Let’s say you want to practice two hours a day. Most of the time you don’t have two hours but you might have an hour in the morning and an hour at night and then there’s less time in between that you don’t have the guitar in your hands.

What artists should a prospective student familiarize himself with before coming to Berklee?

LB: Well, I think there should be some history other than the present icons. So if you’re a rock guitarist- some people don’t know who Steve Vai is, or some people haven’t listened to Joe Satriani, or haven’t listened to Eric Clapton. Or if they’re a blues guitarist they haven’t listened to B.B. King. So I would want, at least in the style that you play to hear not just the present players but the people who influenced them. If you’re a jazz player, guitarists: Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, and I’m skipping many [like] Jim Hall. Many, many, and you see where they came from. See where you know, like Mike Stern came from. So if you’re a rock guitarist, listen to the classic rock guitar players first, in addition to who you’re listening to. Blues, like that.

What has being a teacher and a department chair made you realize about the Berklee community?

LB: As a chair I feel like I represent a lot of people. And I represent a lot of students and a lot of teachers. I try and look for the best situations for my constituency. So I would like guitar students to have more playing opportunities, I would like teachers to be known and to be able attract the right student on their schedules. I would like people to be informed about everything that’s coming to Berklee and when I’m in meetings, I look at it as a representative of the guitar community and the bigger Berklee.

If you had to say something bad about Berklee, in what areas would you say the school is weak?

LB: [Laughs] Playing opportunities for rock guitarists. I’d like more of that. Whether that’s ensembles, whether that’s opportunities for new situations of getting people to play, you know. Another thing is practice rooms, you know? More opportunities to play.

Where do you see Berklee evolving in the future in terms of both curriculum and physical location, including dorms, performance stages and classrooms etc?

LB: Well we’re going through a curriculum review. And I see Berklee evolving as keeping the main cornerstones of harmony, performing and writing but being able to branch out more and have students a little more, how should I say… I think what’s going to happen- I see Berklee becoming higher level. Attracting higher level players and higher level musicians and being known as more throughout the world. And physically I think we are just going to get more space and I’m hoping, and so do most of the people at Berklee, more friendly spaces to play and to perform.

Who are your personal favorite guitarists and/or favorite albums of all time?

LB: Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Peter Bernstein and I would put B.B. King on that list. And I can’t forget Barney Kessel. I’m also studying more about acoustic guitar, older acoustic guitar players, like Eddie Lang and Carl Kress and working on old arrangements of theirs and trying to a little more with pick-style acoustic guitar.

A sincere “Thank You” to Mr. Baione for his time. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to gather his insights and to be able to share them with others considering a Berklee education.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful winter!

-Matt
(Baazar)