Anyone Heard About Berklee?

molliegym
Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:17:28 +0000

I know someone who graduated from Berklee a few years ago. He is an AMAZING guitar player.

He says that Berklee does not prepare you to be a musician. Berklee prepares you to be a music teacher, but not a musician. In his words, “If you really want to be a musician, PLAY MUSIC. Don’t go to Berklee, it’s a waste. Just go out and play music.” He talked about “wasting time in harmony class” when he really wanted to be out there playing guitar with his band.

Many successful musicians that “went” to Berklee did not graduate from there, for example John Mayer (who was apparently an arrogant, idiot, ******* at Berklee, but hey, he seems to be doing okay right about now). Yes there have been some successful musicians that graduated from Berklee, but not as many as those who went, but didn’t graduate.

My friend graduated with a LOT of debt, and it’s going to take him years to pay it off… another student might graduate from MIT with the same amount of debt, but I bet they’ll pay it off a lot quicker. The job prospects for an MIT graduate are much better financially than a Berklee graduate (MIT grads will generally make more than Berklee grads).

Another friend of mine (who is only just starting high school; she’s a very, very talented singer/songwriter/guitar player) said that for awhile now, it’s been her dream to attend Berklee and major in songwriting. The Berklee grad told her that going to Berklee would be a waste of her time, money, and talent.

Berklee is a great place to study music. If you want to eventually teach music, go to Berklee. If you want to be a musician… don’t.

(Again, this is just one person’s experience at Berklee. Others may feel differently.)