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Joseph Mulholland, Chair
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"The essence of the Harmony Department is music fundamentals as they play out in notation, chord progression, melody, and bass lines. In any other school, they call it theory. And it is theory, but it's much more practical than an ordinary theory class would be. We teach students to take apart the music they listen to and understand how it's put together. They take the music apart like a watch, see what the pieces are and what they're doing. Hopefully, the students learn from that and use that knowledge to create their own music, a watch of their own—but one that still runs."
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Thomas Hojnacki, Assistant Chair
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"My whole career as a professional musician has been about playing diverse styles of music. I've been fortunate enough to have the kind of training that lets me move pretty easily from one kind of style and performing group to another. So when I teach harmony, I try to show how much of the harmonic structure of music is the same from one style to another. The things that differentiate styles are often superficial."
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Kris Adams, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"As a singer, I can share a different perspective with students. Singers and drummers usually do things by ear. Drummers are dealing with rhythm, and a lot of times they say, 'Why do I need to know this stuff? I'm just a drummer.' But if you talk to famous drummers who write and lead bands and compose, it's a lot more."
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Kevin Bleau, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"Arranging music is a very powerful discipline. Arrangers tell performers how to play by the marks they write on the page, so I tell my students to embrace that power. Be clear. Be specific. And insist that performers follow your instructions."
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Eric Byers, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"I'm a strong believer in process; you learn by doing. So starting in the first few weeks of my arranging classes, students arrange something every week. I don't really think you can learn much about any art form without actually getting your hands dirty. I want my students to gain the ability to notate, transcribe what they hear, and put down on paper what's in their heads. I don't know if you can really develop an idea unless you have the the skills to articulate what you're hearing inside your head."
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Charles Cassara, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"In my writing classes my students have to not only write tunes, but also write their own arrangements for them. Even students who have never written a tune before, I'll tell them, 'Well, you've got to start at some point, so were going to start now.' So we start out simple, but by the end they write an arrangement, record it, and perform it in class."
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Jeff Claassen, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"Students deal with these varying perspectives all the time. If you’re looking at a band, you have to communicate and explain to the drummer, ‘I want a rock groove.’ What does that mean? That’s the whole spectrum of what we hear on the radio. To actually know and be able to show him, how can you do that if you’re a trumpet player? Show that I thought about your instrument enough to be able to communicate with you. It’s a very application-oriented approach to harmony."
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Suzanne M. Clark, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"We call it 'music theory' because in a sense it is theoretical until you actually put it to sound. So I try to stress in class not to get caught up in your head to the extent that it's all calculated. In the end, you either confirm or affirm your theory by listening to it and saying, 'Yes, I hear that the leading tone wants to move to do, or that fa wants to move to mi.' I want my students to develop their own ear and make connections between what they hear outside of class and what goes on inside class."
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Winnie Dahlgren, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department"Berklee is such a unique place. You get people from all over the world. And though we come from different backgrounds and different cultures, music is one language. There are different styles, but at heart it's the same. We separate the topics into harmony, ear training, arranging, private lessons, etc., but it's important to understand these are all just parts of the puzzle. It's about learning the rules, and once you do, you understand how you can then go out and break the rules."
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Stephen Dale, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Harmony Department“All professional contemporary musicians, no matter what style they favor, should have a degree of what I call ‘harmonic improvisation’ skill. By that I mean the ability to add or change chords selectively in progressions to enhance the harmony and make the music more appealing to the listener. In my harmony classes, I cover each functional group of chords by showing how to use the chords on the spot in a free-wheeling, improvisational way."
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