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John Ramsay, Chair
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"I began in 1962 as a self-taught rock drummer. I played for 10 years professionally before I began to study formally with Alan Dawson at the ripe old age of 22. I've played with everything from rock bands, trios, and big bands to symphony orchestras. Many of our students can relate to this experience of being self-taught and having gaps in their ability. I hope by my example they can see how one can maximize their opportunities to survive in the music business by studying and working hard."
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Yoron Israel, Assistant Chair
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"Drummers don't play an instrument where we're consistently called upon to play pyrotechnics and get paid for it. We have to blend with other musicians around us and make them feel good. So one of the things I emphasize in my teaching is sound and touch, which is very subtle and somewhat of a lost art in a lot of ways. But it's so important in the real world because you have to be able to play any given room, whether it's a tiny club or a festival amphitheatre."
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Gustavo Agatiello, Instructor
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"Growing up in Argentina after the dictatorship, there were not many resources in schools. I had some really good teachers, but music education was very sloppy. That turned out to be a positive, since I had to teach myself a lot of things I'd missed, espectially when I started teaching myself the vibraphone. That process has given me the sensitivity to see my students' missing links. I'm very sensitive to those things because they were in me at one point or another."
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Dean Anderson, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"Music is a reflection of all cultures. Berklee is a place for those cultures to coexist, mix, and blend together. Therefore, it was imperative for me, as chair of the Percussion Department, to organize a multicultural faculty, a stylistically diverse music curriculum, and an environment where all these elements could function in a positive atmosphere. I believe the diversity that we have in our department is the element that actually holds it together. The Percussion Department faculty have great respect for each other and recognize each other's strengths. We all literally 'feed' off of each other."
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"My teaching approach is very practical; I'm not much into intellectualizing the music. I like to put my hands on the instrument with them and act like a sort of a coach on the field. I also believe our best teacher is our own body. Repetition will actually empower your body and teach you the most effective way to do what's best for you. And the drums are very physical, so when we sweat for half an hour, the body is sending messages about what to do and what not to do. It's like learning how to whistle. I wouldn't be able to teach you how to whistle. You have to try to imitate me till you get it."
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John Blackwell, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"I tell my students, ‘When you play with a group, you don’t play chops; you’re the timekeeper of the band. If you don’t groove, if you don’t lock with the bass player, that group doesn’t function, and they’re going to call somebody else.’"
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Stephen Bolognese, Instructor
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"I usually try to practice about six or seven hours a day. That's what I've been accustomed to, because for about eight or nine years I've been practicing next to two guys who were Berklee grads. They are the ones who showed me that it was essential to practice as much as possible. Playing metal for me is a little more physical than other styles. I find that a little speed workout really gets your body to loosen up, like going to the gym. I play for about a half hour, then I stretch out so my muscles feel relaxed. I tend to have an agenda written down before I practice, so that I know what I am trying to work on. That could be anything from sight-reading, chart-reading, styles, double bass, left hand, etc. That's what I was taught: be dedicated, organized, and a hard worker."
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Terri Lyne Carrington, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Percussion Department"I've been performing with great jazz musicians since I was a kid. And I always revered them. It's been great to be part of a line of such amazing players. Teaching allows me to pass it on. Most of the masters of the music are gone now. So it's really important for me to be able to say, 'Dizzy Gillespie taught me this.'"
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"If you want to really know the language of any instrument or any music, you have to go to the roots. I always say, I can teach you A-B-C-D-E-F-G until Z, but if I don't teach you how to put those letters together, to make words and make sense, you don't know what to do with them. Students have to learn—go back to the roots—no matter what instrument they play."
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"There is a thread in this music. What they have in common is these little rhythmic cells, things that are actually from Africa and other ancient places. This is in Brazilian music, in Afro-Cuban music. It's in calypso, it's in New Orleans music. So there is a little musical DNA that's in all of them. It's like cooking. If you understand what curry does, what salt does, what pepper does, what garlic does, what olive oil does, you can play with food. I tell that to my students in every class: I don't want them to play rhythms; I want them to play withthe rhythms."
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