Guitar
 |
John D. Thomas, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"The way I teach, it's the music that is most important and not the guitar. Personally I think that looking at things solely from the standpoint of the guitar is kind of self-restricting and limiting. One of my goals is to get students to appreciate the universality of things musical. The instrument doesn't matter; what's important is the person that plays the instrument. After all, all true art is nothing more than an expression of the human condition. The instrument is only the medium to bring out what's inside of you, so the most important thing is what's inside."
Read More |
Jon Wheatley, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"I feel that reading music has even more value for developing your improvising than we have previously thought. While reading and improvising may seem opposite, they are mutually supporting activities. Reading can be a way of thinking even more precisely about what you want to play. This is what an improviser does."
Read More |
John Wilkins, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"Good musicianship is about the fundamentals; it doesn't have to be intricate to be good. Technique is fine, but it's not everything. I stress accompaniment skills and time feel a lot. For most players, time feel is probably the most important skill, because you're usually part of a rhythm section. Your job a lot of times is to complement what's going on, so you have to be really good at listening to and interacting with other musicians. That's what makes great players great."
Read More |
Joseph Stump, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"Since I'm kind of the high-tech metal specialist, I spend a lot of time demonstrating these techniques. It's really a player's approach. Rather than holding the student's hand and saying, 'Do it like this,' I'm showing them how it's done and fielding questions, making it clear how to execute certain things. Then they come back after they've worked on it a bit."
Read More |
Curtis Shumate, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"In my Survey of Guitar Styles class, I try to give students insights into some historical players, respecting the tradition of the guitar. I acknowledge the present, but want to raise students' awareness of the more traditional players, not just in jazz but in blues. I'll play the blues great Albert King, and students will inevitably say he sounds a lot like Stevie Ray and Hendrix. And without disrespect, I'll say, 'Well, it's kind of the other way around.' Then, after class, a lot of students will come up and ask, 'What's a good Albert King recording I should check out?'"
Read More |
Scotty Johnson, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"My main message is that there's work out there for musicians—gigs and paychecks. I've brought students into the pit with me and they are glad to see that there are many attainable avenues for music other than being a rock star. There are other ways to do things creatively and work as a professional musician with a guitar in your lap. I tell students, 'Here's what you have to know, here's what you'll get paid, here's the person who will hire you, etc.' It's not always about music theory; it's experience. In my theater lab, they're seeing the actual chart that I read in the pit from shows like The Lion King or Spamalot, for example."
Read More |
Lauren Passarelli, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"A lot of kids who come to Berklee are struck by the magic of the songwriting process. So I feel like I'm showing them how the trick works. And the magic always comes back when they get into the emotional side of things, because they're putting their heart and soul into it."
Read More |
Thaddeus Hogarth, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"As a thriving independent recording artist, I think of my job as not only to disseminate information but to give a strong basis of context for this information and a method for incorporating it into the student's own identity as a musician, whether as a performer, a composer, or both."
Read More |
John Baboian, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"We get the misconception that you've got to be John Scofield or Pat Metheny. But that's such a small percentage of the population of musicians. For most musicians who are not quite up to that level, you're accompanying, you're part of band. The music wouldn't be the same without you, but it's not your name drawing the crowd. And that's okay. There's something to be said for being the side person and doing your job well. You get to be a part of making the music sound great and not have to worry about all the logistics. Go play the gig, do the music, do your job well, take the check, and don't worry about all the rest. That's the job of the versatile side musician. And that's, at least, what I am trying to prepare my students to be."
Read More |
Larry Baione, Chair
DEPARTMENT : Guitar Department"In teaching private lessons, I help students find repertoire to work on and to study the essentials of phrasing, soloing, chords, and technique. The goal is for the student to be able to sound the way he or she would like to sound—for them to take their instrument in whatever direction they would like. I also teach a recital prep lab. In that case, the object is to gain experience playing in front of people and to discover what a good performance means to each individual student."
Read More