steiny

I posted here awhile back w. the same question and thanks to all who responded. I am trying to help my 23 year old son w. his school search. He has an A.A. degree and wants to pursue a music degree and hopefully be able to transfer some credits. After looking at a lot of schools we are still at a loss. Son has been prolifically writing all sorts of music,songs,and lyrics for years now,studied classical piano only until about age 10 w. a teacher who found him to be precociously gifted--he was teaching himself classical pieces by ear at 6 and continues to do so now.His sightreading skills are very poor and i wonder if he could pass an audition. When he was younger he sold hip hop beats and performed but his interests musically are wildly eclectical now. He is interested in film scoring and commercial music and I do think he is very gifted but has alot to catch up on skillwise.It seems that most composition programs are classically oriented and would find him lacking in skills.Berklee sounds like it could be a match but i have no idea if he would have a shot at getting in or getting financial aid.He is madly creative,also writes fiction,and is just back from extended work and travel in Asia and is feeling regretful that he has waited so long to get serious about what he has loved doing the most of anything in his life.Unfortunately he has no teacher or network here(Portland OR) to offer advice. If anyone has further advice or suggestions to offer we would be very grateful.Time is really running out to try to organize something for next year. thanks!

violadad

steiny- If you checked all the schools form you previous thread, it would be helpful if you went over some of the pros/cons.

You might want to call Berklee and speak with an admissions counselor... they might provide some direct answers to your specific questions.

Good luck.

BassDad

Definitely check with the admissions folks at Berklee but, if that does not work out, be aware that there are for-profit trade schools that offer instruction in film scoring. I do not know if any of them are worth the cost, but you may want to check them out as a possible intermediate step. Two that I have seen advertised are the Musicians Institute (mi.edu) and the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program (pnwfilmmusic.com). I have no experience with them at all so I am merely pointing them out, not recommending them.

binx

This is kind of a random idea, but have you looked up the bios of any film scorers, and looked at where they went to school? We did that when looking for schools for one of our kids - looked up bios of musicians he admired.

For example, here is the Nashville Composers Association:
http://www.nashvillecomposers.org/meettheboard.html
Maybe browsing that site will give you some ideas.