For you, music is not a hobby; it is going to be your career.
The String Department at Berklee offers you the most diverse and contemporary string education to be found anywhere. We provide individualized instruction in violin, viola, cello, harp, banjo, and mandolin, and we offer you professional faculty who are specialists in each discipline, course work specifically designed to enhance your talents and abilities, and myriad playing opportunities.
We know how your instrument fits into today's music world, and we give it the respect it deserves. We know that the string player is not just a sideperson anymore, but a powerful musical leader, and that string instruments are extremely flexible and expressive, and effective in any musical style. Studying at a school that offers a variety of musical styles is the most important way for you to turn your playing into a career.
Studying Strings at Berklee
At Berklee, you will find your own voice and develop your own style. You will not be limited to one direction. We encourage you to experiment with other styles that interest you, so that you can challenge yourself, improve your skills, and develop your instrumental craft. We will help you to become a string player with a strong musical identity.
Berklee prepares you for today's music by building on traditional aspects of learning. In all instruction offered in the String Department, emphasis is placed on achieving a solid foundation in the standard technical challenges of professional performance, including scales and études as well as harmonic materials, contemporary scales, and arpeggio patterns and exercises played through all 12 keys.
Private Lesson
In your first week at Berklee, you will be given a placement audition by a String Department faculty member, and the chair of the department will match you with the teacher best suited to your needs for private instruction. Every student will take at least four semesters of private lessons and must pass a final exam at the end of each semester on the skills learned. Music education and professional music majors will take six semesters; performance majors will take eight semesters, with extra recital preparation lessons before senior jury and recital.
Instrumental Labs
These specialized string classes bring together players of similar performance levels and provide training in specific aspects of string performance. Many of the materials used in these labs are created by the same Berklee faculty who will be teaching you. Labs include:
String Improvisation
Free Improvisation
Reading Labs
Grooves and Horn Lines for Strings
Jazz Violin
Recording Techniques for Strings
Rock Strings
Sound Reinforcement Techniques for Strings
World Fiddle Group
Mandolin Labs
Banjo Labs
Harp Labs
Survey of String Styles
Course Work
The courses at Berklee are continually reviewed and evaluated so that they are up-to-date and consistently reflect today's musical needs. In classes such as Improvisation in the Jazz/Blues Idiom, you will become familiar with a broad range of musical styles and the challenges they afford contemporary string players.
Ensembles
Through ensembles, you will hone essential performance skills and techniques. They will help you to broaden your stylistic range, to expand your network of musical friends and colleagues, and to gain diverse group-playing experience.
Berklee offers an ensemble experience for every entering student. Ensembles are offered in multiple sections with varying levels of ability. You choose the group and style that appeal to you. Your eligibility is determined by ongoing auditions that measure your growth as a performer. This system enables you to move into higher levels of ensembles as you develop your skills.
More than 350 ensembles rehearse weekly at Berklee. These ensembles reflect nothing less than a full range of musical expression:
Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra
Berklee Contemporary String Orchestra
Classical Chamber Music
Alternative Chamber Music
Advanced Repertory Workshops
Celtic Music Ensemble
Contemporary Styles Ensembles
Country Music Ensemble
Django Reinhardt/Gypsy Jazz Ensemble
Improvisational Styles Ensembles
Jazz/Rock Ensemble
Small Concert Jazz Ensemble
Watch interviews and music clips from student string group Dr. Magpie's 2008 performance in Washington, D.C.
The Berklee Contemporary String Orchestra
The Berklee Contemporary String Orchestra is a chamber-sized string orchestra committed to the art of ensemble playing and the development of repertoire featuring improvisation and the rhythmic capabilities of string instruments and players. The group's repertoire includes original compositions and new arrangements of a variety of contemporary music styles and settings.
The Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra
The Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra is a full symphonic ensemble committed to the art of orchestra playing that honors the past, present, and future. In addition to the great orchestral compositions of the past, this orchestra's repertoire includes original compositions of faculty and students, contemporary orchestral music from around the globe, and contemporary genres such as film scores and video game music.
Visiting Artists
Through our Visiting Artist Series, you will be exposed to valuable first-hand career insight from some of the finest performers, songwriters, film composers, music business experts, and music professionals from every sector of the industry. Visiting string professionals have included: Darol Anger, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Regina Carter, John Cunningham, Erik Friedlander, David Grisman, Joe Kennedy, Alison Krauss, Mark O'Connor, Paul Peabody, Jean-Luc Ponty, Chris Thile, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Andreas Vollenweider, Claude Williams, and Sioned Williams.
String Faculty
One-on-one faculty/student interaction is crucial to your Berklee education. As preparation for a career in the music industry, it is essential that you work intensively with men and women who have been living that career already. Berklee's string faculty is a group of innovative educators as well as experienced professional musicians. Their expertise in contemporary string techniques and technology makes them invaluable as teachers.
The diversity of styles and experience of our faculty means you will be exposed to the best education possible. You need not be restricted to one teacher throughout your education. You can work with any number of faculty during your time at Berklee, giving you the ultimate educational experience.
"It's a huge challenge—a lifelong challenge—for a student to figure out which suggestions work and which ones don't. And because these things aren't instant, they have to take a leap of faith. So as a teacher you really have to feel authentic about what you're teaching. I do lean pretty hard on students to give something a try for a reasonable period of time, but then they have to make the decision for themselves whether or not it's working for them."
"It's a huge challenge—a lifelong challenge—for a student to figure out which suggestions work and which ones don't. And because these things aren't instant, they have to take a leap of faith. So as a teacher you really have to feel authentic about what you're teaching. I do lean pretty hard on students to give something a try for a reasonable period of time, but then they have to make the decision for themselves whether or not it's working for them.
"My particular specialty is teaching classical violinists and violists how to begin improvisation. Many students have played classical their whole lives and want to try something new, but they don't want to jump into the deep end. So I begin with simple improvisatory techniques using classical vocabulary, something they can relate to.
"Performing is very spontaneous no matter how much you plan. And that's really a lot of fun. But it means that when you're done, you often end up revising your thoughts: 'I intended to do this but I actually did that, so next time I'll try that again.'"
B.A., Oberlin College
M.M., Ph.D., Boston University
Violinist for the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and Boston Ballet
Violist, RESQ (Really Eclectic String Quartet), Northeastern Records
Performed under conductors Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, Keith Lockhart, and John Williams
Recorded for Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block, and numerous television shows on WGBH
Played back-up strings for Bjork, George Benson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Guster, Doc Severinsen, Frank Sinatra, Steven Tyler, and Livingston Taylor, among others
Specializes in teaching classical violin and viola, and in helping classical players learn to improvise
Five Recordings I Recommend For My Students
Sonatas and Partitas, by J. S. Bach
Itzhak Perlman
Violin Concerto, by Samuel Barber
Gil Shahan
Sonata in F minor, by Johannes Brahms
William Primrose
Available on EMI Classics, along with some beautiful Brahms piano music played by Rudolf Firkusny.
String Quartets, op.130, 133, by Beethoven
Guarneri Quartet
Symphony in C, by Igor Stravinsky
Berlin Philharmonic, with conductor Herbert Von Karajan.
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With more than a dozen performance and non-performance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing more than 70 countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today-and tomorrow.
Berklee was founded on two revolutionary ideas: that musicianship could be taught through the music of the time; and that our students need practical, professional skills for successful, sustainable music careers. While our bedrock philosophy has not changed, the music around us has and requires that we evolve with it.
For over half a century, we've demonstrated our commitment to this approach by wholeheartedly embracing change. We update our curriculum and technology to make them more relevant, and attract diverse students who reflect the multiplicity of influences in today's music. We prepare our students for a lifetime of professional and personal growth through the study of the arts, sciences, and humanities. And we are developing new initiatives to reach and influence an ever-widening audience.
More than a college, Berklee has become the world's singular learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow. We are a microcosm of the music world, reflecting the interplay between music and culture; an environment where aspiring music professionals learn how to integrate new ideas, adapt to changing musical genres, and showcase their distinctive skills in an evolving community. We are at the center of a widening network of industry professionals who use their openness, virtuosity, and versatility to take music in surprising new directions.
Performance Facilities
The Berklee Performance Center, our largest facility, seats more than 1,200 and is constantly alive with student and faculty concerts sponsored by the college or professional performances sponsored by independent music producers. In addition, Berklee maintains four professional-quality recital halls for smaller concerts and gatherings. All in all, more than 600 performances take place each year at Berklee. As you progress musically, you are sure to be part of many of them.
Learning Resources
The Stan Getz Library offers an extensive collection of printed materials, audio and video recordings, and other instructional media for student use.
The Career Development Center provides counselors to help students identify and assess their skills, locate information about specific music careers, expand and develop their career network, explore graduate school options, prepare a resumé and professional cover letter, discuss job search strategies, learn or refine interview and audition skills, and generally create a plan for mapping out their own unique career path.
The Learning Center offers small-to-large group instruction rooms with Apple computer workstations. As a complement to the training sessions, the software is further discussed in ongoing forums that cover popular software and hardware topics and are led by faculty, Learning Center staff, upper-semester students, and software company representatives.
Library of Instruments
Berklee boasts a unique library of electronic string instruments. Students are encouraged to borrow these instruments during the term.
Studio and Lab Facilities
To prepare for careers in music, students work in studios, labs, and classrooms that emulate the conditions found in professional environments Students learn the fundamental and enduring qualities shared by great music and explore music technology applications in the most up-to-date educational facilities possible in contemporary music education.
The Recording Studio Complex consists of 13 professional production facilities, which include multitrack digital and analog recording capability, automated mixdown, digital audio editing, video postproduction, 5.1 multichannel surround mixing, and comprehensive signal processing equipment.
The Synthesis Labs feature more than 250 different types of synthesizers, standard and alternate controllers, effects processors, recorders, mixers, and software. Students receive hand-on instruction and supervised development time in areas of synthesizer programming, electronic composition/production, audio for visual media (games, film, television, interactive), sound design, software design, and performance.
The Performance Division Technology Lab is a five-station lab designed to support students' study of new electronic instrumental controller techniques. Featuring Apple/Macintosh computers, various synthesizer modules, and the latest in guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, and woodwind, and brass MIDI controllers, the lab enables students to learn to adapt traditional playing techniques to complex electronic setup and control environments.
The Professional Writing Division Technology Lab consists of 12 digital audio/MIDI workstations.
The Film Scoring Labs offer students the opportunity for hands-on study in the areas of film music composition, conducting, MIDI sequencing, and digital music editing, with two lab/classrooms, a self-contained scoring-studio complex, a 40-seat theater/classroom, and two DAW/screening rooms.
Coming to Berklee
Berklee Summer String Fling
In addition to Berklee's full-time program and other summer programs, we also feature a three-day String Fling. The program focuses on improvisational technique for violin, viola, and cello, as well as instruments traditionally found in a bluegrass band, such as acoustic mandolin and guitar.
For Further Information
For further information about the String Department, contact Chair Melissa Howe at 617 747-2572 or mhowe@berklee.edu.
Complete application information can be found in the Berklee prospectus. Also available is information on the many scholarships available to outstanding student instrumentalists and vocalists. For a copy of the Berklee prospectus, or for further information about Berklee College of Music, contact the Office of Admissions at 800 BERKLEE (toll-free within the U.S. and Canada) or 617 747-2222.
Write to us at:
Office of Admissions
Berklee College of Music
1140 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693
U.S.A.
Visit Admissions at:
921 Boylston Street, Suite 600
Boston, Massachusetts
Berklee College of Music does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, pregnancy, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law in employment or in admission to and participation in any of its programs and activities. Any inquiries or grievances may be directed to the Title IX Coordinator, the Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693, 617 747-2231, or to the Regional Director, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Boston, Massachusetts.
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