What You Didn't Learn in Music School [ AN's Bass Lessons #10 ] 

Lol I got an ad for anti depressants when this video was over

Being a nice person with people skills - who has a positive attitude and who shows up on time with the music ready to go is also an asset.

most valuable thing ive learned as a musician in the last 30 years is ... *learn how to say NO*

You also don't learn cooking in music school. Don't forget that one.

You hit pretty much every point. Excellent advice for young musicians. Having taught music at the university level, I have to say that I now council young people to avoid music degrees. The main reason? Terrible *Return on Investment*. Music performance on its own has pretty bad ROI when you factor in the time spent practicing for a gig when you get paid for said gig, and the ROI is even worse when you take on massive amounts of debt for an education you could get for free off of youtube, by reading books, or by asking the right people the right questions. There is also the very big problem of *career growth* - the money you make when you are 22 as a performer might not seem that bad, but it's pretty bad when you are thirty. Unlike most other careers where income, skill, and productivity increase over time, in music those increases either doesn't happen or doesn't translate into more revenue.

Absolutely spot on! There is SOOO much of this stuff that you never cover at music school and I suspect it can sometimes be because the standard bread-and-butter gigs can appear too embarrassing to mention in a competitive academic setting. The first time I played on a supposedly simple cruise gig I felt like a complete amateur because even though I could read well enough, my repertoire was badly lacking. Absolutely everyone around me could literally play any request thrown at them and the only stuff I'd been learning during my years at music college tended towards all things 'hip'. Very little Abba. Very little Village People! I know YMCA ain't gonna make any college syllabus anytime soon but, as you mentioned, the alumni networking is way more useful for real life gigging than a lot of the lesson content.

This video is relevant to much more than just the music business. "Industrialised education," as you called it, has its paws everywhere. You made a great point about how the real life lessons can differ so much from the classroom. Excellent video.

I have a theory on Julliard. I think many of the students there are playing classical, not jazz. So they probably graduate and immediately audition for orchestras. Where as jazz players graduate and look to form bands.

When practicing something it's best to alternate between that and something else if you want it to go into your long term memory. Don't just practice that one riff over and over, practice two riffs by alternating between them. This forces you to not only be able to play the riff but to be able to recall the riff, which implants it into your long term/muscle memory a lot faster.

I'm a music student at a small college in Australia, and I feel like we are pretty blessed here because they try provide material and courses that are relevant for contemporary musicians working in the real world. That being said, the alumni network is a lot smaller so you pick your battles I guess. Love your videos!

I am a 64yr old musician, my son a working drummer...he did a summer workshop at Berkeley years back, Adam you really nailed this.....love all your posts.... with all the EDM going on your verbiage & knowledge supports real musicians and the real tools needed so they can find a paying gig......I'm lucky left the band thing years ago to go solo being a singer/guitarist much more opportunity for paying gigs!

I'm a bassist/bandleader working in LA.. I didn't got to music school although I trained myself on Bach, Bird,Ray brown, Jaco.. etc.. Every musician I hire (I hire 6 or more people a week for weekly recurring gigs) went to college for music.... They are exactly as you describe! They know a bunch of chick corea licks but don't even know how to play Mustang Sally (or what that is).. These are the guys who are going to get jobs teaching at the schools so the cycle will continue....

30 years after graduating from the San Francisco Conservatory in composition, I would have rather invested that money in Apple and today I would be able to own the New York Philharmonic. My advice to Theory/Comp grads: study on your own and put the money into a hot demo. Conductors don't care where you went to school. Either they like your stuff or not. You only get the DMA if you want to teach and the world is overrun with Theory/Comp teachers.

I think the best thing you can do is "shop around" with music schools to find one that suits what you want to learn as well as having a solid alumni network, and fill in the gaps on your own time. The things that music school doesn't teach you, while maybe difficult, are all reasonable to learn on your own and especially in experience. Really, the important thing is to keep an open mind, and realize that being a musician means playing in bars, clubs, and restaurants for at least a few years. Being a musician in itself should be a rewarding experience for you, because just about everything else about it will not be. Also, I'm going to disagree about the musical memory part. In my time in music school, I was required each week to learn about 8-10 etudes on different instruments (percussion), for 12 weeks, and then play a random selection of them at the end of the semester. Both sight reading and musical memory are imperative to succeed on these exams, and the music is much less catchy or memorable compared to pop/jazz charts. When you develop the feel for certain chord progressions and melodies, and develop a strong reading ability, then really all you need to be able to do is make charts/sheet music for what your playing (if it doesn't exist already). Buy a fake book, and practice notating by ear with Sibelius or equivalent. Whenever you transcribe something, put it together in your own book, so that you have a massive collection of popular tunes and tunes that you've played. These are all things you can do while being a music student, including playing gigs around town. Take control of your own learning, and you will learn. Lose the superiority complex that comes with a music degree, and make sure that you can do everything the layman musician can and more. Network with everyone in the industry and just be a likable person. If you do those things, you will probably get some small time gigs. If that's not good enough for you, quit now because some very talented musicians are out there still playing bar gigs after 10 years.

This felt all too real. Just found your channel man, really digging your videos.

If you don't turn the Bass Lessons tune into a full track I will

I literally learnt everything I know about music theory in college studying music, I could play guitar before but I was literally just searching for sound alone without names for the notes or chords, I had visually absorbed the shapes of chords from watching guitarist's fingers and used them to imitate the sounds, music theory and aural perception classes have proved to be invaluable to me since, now I know what I'm doing, whereas before I was totally bluffing 100%of the time

the fast pace, the quick editing, the message of every video, the passion you clearly have, your musical taste, the memes, my god. I want to be best friends with you so bad its tragic.

Jon Batiste (and his whole band I think) are all juliard alumni who are the band for Colbert's The Late Show, if that counts as a "new york city" gig,

I'm surprised I went to the not particularly prestigious university of huddersfield doing popular music and the whole learning a ton of shitty pop songs was very much ingrained in everyone here who was going into performance. We learned how to write a setlist suitable for a cruise ship, a 50th anniversary party, a 70s disco night etc etc. Most of which you would have to learn more songs than we would actually play at the performance and during the grades they would pick random songs for the band to perform as "requests". It was ok but as someone who moved very quickly away from commercial music I would have enjoyed more theory. I got into Slonimsky by myself because I personally love jazz and Coltrane is my jam. Most the people from my course are still into music in full-time function bands, tutoring music, or creating jingles. I teach for my wages, play when I get a chance, and write music for fun. I'm not in it for prestige or money. I just want to make a simple living from the one of the few things that i'm both good at and enjoy. I had a job in outsourced sales and marketing and it was there that I discovered the true face of narcissistic ambition. They wanted to 'live like rockstars' and when i see people getting into music 'for the fame' i just think of those pyramid scheme fuckers and how when it came down to it their idea of success was snorting special K in the bathroom of an overpriced strip-club. Use your ears and you'll figure out what music is supposed to be about. I worry that it could attract even more of the "I wanna be famous" lot if the music schools focus too much on commercial success.

I totally agree with you and I experienced this after I moved to Taiwan when I graduated with a bachelor of music in trombone. There was no demand for trombonists, but there was a demand for arrangers in the vocal scene. I adapted my skills and started an a cappella group with which I could arrange for and have been fortunate to meet many people in all levels of the popular music scene. Very few of them had ever studied music at a university level. I have maybe ever met a handful of people who had studied music in this field and it is those I find the most difficulty to work with due to egos and inflexibility. It's been a really awesome adventure so far but the actual performing aspect of my life as a musician is by far the smallest.

This is bang on. Amos Heller (Taylor Swift) put me onto this type of thinking a few years back. I was really inspired with his story of moving to Nashville learning every song that every performing band was playing in town at that time, resulting in having 500+ songs on speed dial (WTF) and hustling sub work. Being able to slot into sub work and get the job done will open doors and again to quote Amos - "Until you are a professional musician, act like one", It certainly worked for him, ultimatly landing a great gig with TS. Adam again your work is an inspiration - thanks for reinforcing the message - Best from New Zealand.

My eyes are open! I'm greatly appreciating your videos, and especially this one. I've followed a specific graduating class of Berklee, those including groups like Mad Satta and Alissia Beneviste. It all makes sense now!

This is pretty much true for all degrees. After leaving music school I spent the next 3 studying accounting and I'd say in the 40+ years since I'd say that about 90-95% of what I do day to day I learned after I left school. Good videos Adam.

Solid advice. Respect for dedicating your time to speaking about things you truly have a detailed grasp of and sharing that knowledge with us. Very impressive channel overall! :)

Some great points. It is common among graduate musicians to look down upon pop standards as 'beneath them', that works as a great defense mechanism rather than having to admit playing dotted eighths for 5 minutes is way harder than Giant Steps.

Ah, my fellow Manhattan School of Music alum. I get the feeling you're entering the world of club dates. It's a shame the industry is all but dead. Even back in the 80's to anyone doing club dates it was clear that there were basically four types of musicians -- all of whom wound up in a wedding band at some point in order to pick up some extra money. (Today you have top players killing to get a club date gig to survive, but that's another story). You had the Berklee guys -- who as you mention, understood music, mostly jazz, but had no feel. They couldn't groove or even latch onto one. The guitar players could play like Alan Holdsworth but could n't play the rhythm to Proud Mary. Then there were the guys who were in original bands -- they tended to be the most creative and artistic but sometimes did not learn the songs correctly. You had the wedding band hacks, who usually played everything half-assed but could fake better than anyone and transpose anything into any key on the spot. And you had the bar band musicians. These were the guys who usually had no formal training but the best of them learned the songs like the records, learned the vocals parts and the harmonies, and played in a way that insured they'd be called back by the club owner. I've done a bit of all of it and there's something to be learned from all of it. And that was the biggest lesson to getting better. Do it all and don't think YOUR thing is the shit over anyone else's. Talent comes in many forms. You are correct that the business is very cliquish. And warning -- once you're over 50, that clique gets a lot smaller and the guys coming up want little to do with you.

I could never go to school at this point. I have achieved many things people told me were impossible and dropped out of high school. It was one of the best decisions of my life and shortly after that some of my younger friends went to college- and they really struggled. I enjoy us going on different paths and not having to be all the same, but having that happen really ingrained in me that I made the right decision more than I ever could have imagined. I am proud that I prove to so many people that my life is an example of success outside of school AND because I am outside of school. This video is personal because music is one of my best skills and I would never go to school for music to let someone interrupt my creation process, interrupt my way of doing it. If you want to have a say in my music, you better be playing what I wrote or playing with me. Musician's stake as I call it. Music school sounds like a depressing hell hole of false grandiosity, hype, and cookie cutter restrictions.

Kudos for explaining the realities of the music business. I find no disagreement. School is one thing and the real world is totally another. After almost 50 Plus years as a professional musician, I have learned that it isn't about how "good" you are, but can you make a living with that good. Nowadays everyone is good but the competition is fierce which is why the pay is at a minimum. Most of us chose to be musicians and artists for self expression and because it's so therapeutic. I was raise around a lot of Ike Turner, Chuck Berry, Albert King backing musicians. The rule was to play what people listened to at home or in the car (or strictly covers) and "not" to play what the "band" wanted to hear - which was the best way to get money from the patrons. Performing original material is a whole different universe and attitude. Most people are not patient to hear new music unless the media has already saturated their minds with it. None the less, I continue for it's all in the struggle. Sorry for the rant. Everyone be careful out there..

Just a guess, but I'd expect that most Julliard grads either end up teaching somewhere or do the orchestra thing, which is probably a very different scene than the pop/rock/jazz/theater/etc gigging scenes described here. I know a classical-focused guy (did not go to Julliard, but has a handful of advanced music degrees) and a lot of his career development has been through teaching positions and the like. I also wouldn't be surprised to find out that many of them end up in the U.S. military bands, which is a good way to make money playing music IF you can through the audition process.

Real talk mode, activate. Form of, realistic, modern working bassist. Can't thank you enough for these tidbits Adam, please keep them coming! And thanks for addressing what i had asked you about on your other video, your opinion on the validity of the traditional inroad for professional musicians was much anticipated and is greatly appreciated.

Part of the issue with a school with Juliard is that its so classically focused. At least at my school (which was classical) everyone graduates with qualifications to do 1 thing. Classical (90% symphonic) music. So everyone goes and auditions for Orchestras of which positions are becoming fewer and applicants getting greater. PLUS often times its still about who you know. This is the reason a lot of classical musicians I know struggle to find work. Its an all or nothing shot. Either land an orchestra job or miraculously get funding to start a chamber group. If you fail at those two thats the end of the road. Give up music, get a desk job.

As a church musician of 17 years, I can say the quick learning of music and sight reading skills I have learned from the years doing that are invaluable. However, countless numbers of my opera singer friends lack this skill as it was not taught at university level.

Adam. You are fucking fantastic. As a recent Berklee grad, you've captured pretty much everything in 7 minutes.

Been playing for 30+ years, started in the Military band system when I was 17. You sir, have done the world a great service. The only thing that I would add is that as a bassist, you need to have a convincing stylistic feel in every genre you can name...if you want to work. It is definitely "who ya know" out there in the real world

I must really agree with the one : "...It's mostly an old boys club." THAT IS SOOOO F*CKING TRUE... And it annoys a lot of people :D

The music industry isn't the only one suffering from this, in fact most colleges are kinda like that. While it is important to learn things while you are there, getting a good network is usually the thing that let's you get chosen instead of the others. You can have the best grades, but if you spend your time there not getting to know anyone, then you are slowly setting yourself up for failure.

Several years ago I was involved with a project with incredible musicians. We and our backers invested MASSIVE amounts of time and $ to successfully achieve my/our definition of "perfection", using both organic methods as well as those possible only via the miracle of DAW editing to do so. Poised to ascend to the next level and few guitar solos (mine) short of wrapping, I suddenly found myself imploding, unable to continue and with the work left sitting on a virtual shelf untouched ever since. Adam, your video not only succinctly summarized YOUR own how and why, but MINE as well, in a way I needed to hear SO badly. Though I continued working on others' musical endeavors in a professional capacity, the artistic and creative purgatory where I received my musical mail was a personal prison from which I desperately yearned to break free. That desperation was fueled by my complete inability to finish the original project and move on, all thanks to what I saw as yet ANOTHER of my failures: a frustrating inability to pinpoint exactly WTF went went awry so close to the (almost) culmination of those initial stages way back when. I had NO IDEA why my super-car's engine flamed out so spectacularly/boringly during what SHOULD have been the most joyous period of my musical life thus far. As you can imagine, this left me INCREDIBLY depressed and worried, knowing history would almost assuredly repeat itself if I tried to move forward without solving the underlying and heretofore unknown issue once and for all. I grew up in Yellowstone National Park before attending GIT at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, so unlike most in the middle I have seen the spectrum from one end ALL the way to the other. Yes, remote locations and memories of the "good ol' days" do have their place, but inventions of modern civilization made it possible for you to convey ancient wisdom and change my life unquestionably for the better. You see, thanks to the WWW plus other byproducts of modern ingenuity and Space Race tech, earlier this evening I was allowed the privilege of viewing this video about your Berklee recital here whilst sitting in front of my screen in rural Wisconsin. Your experience coupled with the philosophy overview was a unique delivery system, serving to clarify those ideas which are so deceptively simple with their ethereal natures that they can often be exasperatingly difficult to explain. You reached me in a way nothing else has, and all sent across the miles via the interwebs. Adam, I AM absolutely grateful for those men and women who created such tools, to be sure, but it is YOU to whom I shall be forever in debt. BTW, I have ALREADY finished the first of those remaining few solos. The rest should be finished in rapid succession now that the most significant barrier (by FAR) has been removed. Thank you, my friend I have never met.

I truly like your attitude, it's like you see things with clear perspective while still keeping space to differences. More teachers like that!

i know treasure so i feel better about myself now

The alumni network is true for visual art school too! Even with all the skills and head knowledge I've acquired, the people I've met through school have been the means to 80% of my art shows, sales and commissions.

Juilliard still has a lot of influence in the classical music world. My wife went there and it's the first thing everybody notices in her curriculum, even if there are more impressive things in there. Oh, and BTW, it's not only Berklee musicians who sound all the same: originality is virtually gone in the pop/rock and jazz world. In the 70's and 80's, if you were "different" (i.e. original), people would listen to you. If you're "different" today, people would consider you a weirdo.

Thank you for such a courageous and well-balanced video!

Berklee alumni here. That's true. Network is super important. However, I do think that if you know what you should be learning that it is better to learn by yourself rather than spending all the crazy amount of money they request. Fortunately, I had a scholarship. And my experience and friends is something I won't forget. But that doesn't mean that I will have any more success than someone who is tenacious enough and knows what he/she should learning and how to use the internet to get access to that information. Specially because in the music world, the CV ends up not being that important unless you are applying for a teaching career. A director/producer hires me based on my music and experience, not my CV.

I went to AIM in sydney and almost every single band formed there produced the same style of "berklee funk" you mentioned.

This video is pure GOLD! I studied in NYC and once I came back to my country I thought I was going to make it only as fusion drummer. The real world was totally different..I did all salsa, wedding gigs, tribute bands, salsa, heavy metal...And im still playing Margaritaville and oye como va...

Music is only a hobby for me, but I appreciate the brutal honesty in this and other videos on your channel.

Music schools often ignore the "art" of it all. And the only way to develop groove is to move audiences. I also feel the best thing for music memory (besides learning hundreds of songs) is to learn/play prog rock.

So much truth spoken in a single video. I second you on every single word you said here.

Thanks Adam - great content as ever. As a Brit - can I just say most of us find the way you speak both clear and engaging. Baffling this is the biggest debate on this thread.

Bravo Adam. Well done and marvelously on point. One thing that could have been added is: go to the best school you can get into and afford. Keep up the great work.

When I am auditioning musicians and I find out that they're Berklee cats, my first instinct is to say "NEXT". B Funk is real.

I busk in the UK and most of my solo gigs I get because someone saw me playing and wanted me at their event. Busking is a great way of advertising

As an old mostly retired musician, I can say you nailed this. I went to school at the University of North Texas (It was still called North Texas State when I was there) - they taught absolutely everything you never get to play on a gig. Music school was a fine chops fest but everyone came out sounding too much the same. Since I didn't stay in the area, the network didn't do me much good, but I'm sure it would have helped navigate that insanely overcrowded Dallas/Ft Worth market filled with 50 pretty damn good musicians for every available gig. I thought it was smarter to be the biggest fish in a smaller market, which is somewhat true if you are only competent, but very true if you are pretty damn good. As you mentioned, gigs pay the same now as they did in the 70's. I grew up thinking music was a reasonable career choice - I made more money than my father when I was 16 years old, lying about my age doing a house gig (thing of the past since disco.) It is now only a viable career choice for those willing to claw their way through the clutter, which isn't for everyone.

Absolutely spot on. I play and tech lessons for a living and none of what i play was taught in college. However my other music school was the Armed Forces School of Music and I will say I learned a lot more about performance and basic skills that weren't taught to me later in college. In particular, memorizing charts and popular music, as each field band had not only a concert and marching band but also a jazz band and Rock/ pop band. Talk about a fantastic musical experience. I was in The USMC btw.

Not particularly sure why I watched this, I’ve never touched an instrument 🎷 🤨

Certainly has got complicated since the 60's and 70's. There were only a few who knew jazz theory and how to apply it, but others just had to make the best of piano lessons, playing in a brass band and listening to the radio. But one could become quite successful with a little bit of theory, some natural talent and always remembering that playing music was mainly about providing people with entertainment.

Hey, that was John Funkhouser in that short video clip! He was one of my favorite professors!

You think this is bad? Try being a classical guitar player.

I don't play bass but this is the best fucking channel for music on youtube. you've answered alot of my questions that have been lingering in my head for a while Thanks alot man

oh god 3:05 brings back memories. I'm a 17 year old drummer who this summer when with my best friend and fellow band mate (guitarist), to berklee in valencia. And while yes the experience was one of the best of my life, It seems that It only taught me half of what i need to know. Also so much Berkeley funk lol.

In the mid 70’s I was talked out of music school by one of my professors. He pointed out that. A. I was already playing professionally and making $$$ and B. I knew as much basic theory as I was going to get at the two year program I was enrolled in at the time. He pointed out that most of the students who were in the program were either going to teach music Ed. Or go on to finish four year programs at near by schools and that if I wasn’t going to do that I was wasting money. I took his advice. For better or worse I made a career out of my music without hardcore music school.

So what do you do when you have bad memory? I've learnt lots of songs in my time, and I've forgotten every one of them within six months. Same problem with licks. Sure, I know what I'm doing when I'm learning them, but if I haven't played it in a week, it's gone. Doesn't bother me so much when I've forgotten a few Bowie songs I can re-find online and refresh my memory, but forgetting the Digital Love solo when I spent a month learning it by ear and wanting to play it again is a bit of a git...

You are so right! Your blog should be part of the music education!

I feel like Julliard is only useful if you want to go into classical and orchestral work with the well known symphonies and operas. Which is a pretty small fraction of the modern music scene. That said as a classical choral musician I know a fair number of our composers come from Julliard. (They also do a lot of classical pianists and accompanists for opera singers)

As an animation student it's mirroring in what you're saying about [school] funk and alumni..

Grammar Nazi input: it's fine to end sentences with a preposition. That rule was made up by a man obsessed with a dead language (Latin) and somehow it stuck.

I got my AS in music 20 years ago before switching majors for my BS. Everyone I know back then still plays and most of them play with people from that time period (there were about 20 of us going through the program together - ensemble, theory, piano, singing, etc. From that group we've branched out and added on a little bit but the core group still plays gigs all over town together. That was just an AS program at a community college in a small town in Western NY (some of since moved down to NYC- and one went to Berklee). Oh, and I met my current wife form that group as well.

This video only motivated me more to admit into a music school.

I guess I don't need to study in American colleges if I won't be able to stay there after graduating. And isn't julliard mainly a classical school?

Oddly enough, when talking about Berklee, it looked like you showed a couple of pics from Berklee Valencia. I actually got my Master’s from Berklee Valencia, but I did NOT attend Berklee Boston. As far as the academic stuff, I definitely missed out on some of the best that Berklee has to offer, but Ironically…The program was rich in the other areas you have described. I had tons of opportunities to play with musicians outside of the “Berklee bubble,” I was already a recording artist when I was accepted, so I was able to work on my unique sound (That’s also a part of the Contemporary Performance Master’s…more so on paper than practice, but they try lol), and I learned a CRAP TON of music. Where I came from (Topeka Kansas), there was no real music scene present, especially in the realm of Hip-Hop and R&B/Soul. Since that is where my specialty lies, and I have been a songwriter for a long time, I never got into playing cover songs. I would simply perform all originals. From 14 to 25 I almost exclusively played originals (except for in school where I studied classical music, but that’s a whole different story). At Berklee, I learned the value of actually LEARNING music in the styles that I supposedly wrote for. No criticism, just something I found interesting lol

I just finished my major's (part time student so still have a few classes to finish) for Bachelor of Popular Music at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. We have pretty much the opposite problems. plenty of music industry stuff, including everything you said would be useful to learn. Ear training and music theory is there but not as strong as it could be, but there was a huge emphasis on creative direction, be it performance, songwriting, production, engineering, arranging, industry or marketing. also our "alumni" network consists of academic staff, alumni and current students which has been amazing.

I agree with most of this stuff. I'd say the other benefit to music school, other than alumni, is that you're forced to focus on learning for several years. It's not exactly important what the curriculum is, just that you spent time practicing daily, stressing over your lessons, ensembles, theory homework, etc. and learning how much you don't know about your instrument. Just taking private lessons, learning songs, and playing in your own bands doesn't even come close to the rigor of music school. People who've never been handed a workbook in a lesson and told unequivocally that they need to learn 3 pages by next week "or else" and then walked into an ensemble rehearsal and got handed 3 new songs to learn "or else" and then told, by the way, all the time you need to spend practicing will be curtailed by piles of written homework, and then remembered how you need to be memorizing scales, chords, arpeggios, and standards on the side (only to be told next week after hours of practicing and studying that you didn't learn it well enough) tend to have a very inflated conception of their time management, skill level, work ethic, and patience. You just don't get that kind of saturation elsewhere.

You're clearly an authority on all things music. Thanks for setting us all straight on this subject, young pup.

Never been in music school but I still make a living as a musician. Maybe a good alumni is important but for me a good local music scene and taking every gig did it. He is so right about being willing to sub even if it's just for a one timer. If this is going to make you meet the people you know are part of the music scene and you want to play with them you absolutely must take the gig.

Hitting the nail on the head! Great video.

The reason you don’t see Jilliard graduates in the “music scene” is because most students in Hilliard are studying classical music and will be competing in a completely different industry than you.

You know what else they don't teach that I desperately needed? How to practice well. I barely practiced because I didn't really know how and just running my songs start to finish didn't help. I was mostly told that if I couldn't figure out a section, to just "plunk it out on the piano". Which is great and all, except that the part I had the hardest time with was rhythm and my rhythm is even worse on piano than when I sing. I often got yelled at for wanting to hear a piece when I struggled because apparently that's the wrong way to learn. I quit music school because of how much I struggled with learning/practicing music the way they wanted me to.

Love this vid, and fully agreed that 95% of the reason to go to music school is the connections

Adam Neely this is pure truth. Thank you.

I've held it in for so long, but your Grammar Nazi alert for ending a sentence with a preposition is really getting annoying. There is no, and never has been, an English grammar rule stating that a sentence cannot end with a preposition. The closest thing was a rhetoric guide written by a college professor saying that placing the preposition before the modified verb creates a more elevated diction, but is not a requirement for a proper sentence.

in the "Academic Industrial Complex", few universities teach any of the parallel areas you mentioned for any respective career choice. This is the difference between say, a trade school and a university. Its a shame more people in the US don't understand this...

You are so fucking right, I almost finish music/production school and my Music Bussines teacher has always said us that even if we are good with our instruments, as producers or anything related to music we are not going to grow if we don't focus in networking with other people

Do you think that maybe the reason for Julliard students not 'making it on the NY scene' is because it's dominated by Jazz? Just a thought.

The "Teaching the same equates to the students playing the same" philosophy has been my main reason for not getting lessons in the first 10 years of playing after the first 6 of having a teacher when I was just beginning. I however took lessons after that point for a year with a Guitarist who fronts a Frank Zappa tribute band and still tours.

Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Tommy Emmanuel, Jerry Reed, Steve Lukather, Brent Mason, John Coltrane, Pat Metheny, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorious, Simon Phillips, Dennis Chambers, etc. What do they all have in common besides being monster players? No music degree. BONUS FUN FACT: Up until a few years ago, Berklee had no audition requirements. Basically, anyone with a checkbook or credit card could get in. In "The Crisis of Classical Music," the author, former Director of the Eastman School of Music Robert Freeman, discusses one of the same topics that Adam mentioned in this vid. Freeman states that roughly 30,000 music students graduate EVERY YEAR -- all competing for a dwindling number of gigs. That's a harsh reality.

On the bight side, you went to a school that was at least covering contemporary styles. One of the things that frustrates me about academic music is that often performance majors in other instruments are ushered down a classical only path. Trumpet? Work on orchestral excerpts only. Piano? Prepare to be a classical concert pianist. Neither of those are even half as in demand as jobs that require jazz, pop, and other contemporary styles. Most schools seems to virtually pretend the last 100 years didn't happen in music. Enjoy the importance of 12-tone matrices and being able to tell the difference in types of augmented sixth chords.... but we'll never even touch on 7th chords, or anything larger, much less basic jazz chord notation. I know plenty of people with graduate and post graduate degrees who couldn't spell a 9th chord and wouldn't have any idea what FMaj713#11 meant. These are the same people who wouldn't even know which end of guitar to plugin where or how to do the most basic things with a mixer for live sound. The "hobbyists" I often play with in professional settings can run circles around these degreed musicians. They are one trick ponies all fighting tooth and nail for a handful of classical jobs or simply becoming bank tellers... or worse yet... teachers And now they teach a new generation of students a classical-only approach crapping on the idea of any contemporary styles purely out of personal ignorance and raising another generation of uniformed classical-only music teachers. Most of academic music it seems (outside of jazz studies or contemporary programs) is just teachers teaching more teachers to teach in the blind way that has been done traditionally for the past several decades. But hey, I can't complain to much because it means I have relatively little competition in a large variety of styles and venues.

By going to music school and watching this video, you gain all the knowledge in the universe

Glad I went to school for Electrical Engineering instead of Music. Sounds like all it would've done was kill my passion for playing.

I'm a new subscriber and had no idea you went to Berklee. I'm starting there next month, but only the online course. Wonder how this will affect said connections and networking opportunities as this is not the first time I've heard that stated to be one of the top reasons to go there. Still looking forward to starting and, if nothing else, the VA is paying for it and paying me to go so it's kind of a win win for me. lol

Chances are that 95% of your favorite musicians didn't go to music school in first place. I'd say go to music school if 1. you're filthy wealthy and dont have to worry about making money, and/or 2. you want to teach music at some point in your life.

Dude, you should do a follow up, addendum, etc of this called "Should I Go To Music School?" You and I were at Berklee around the same time, obviously for you, the answer to my hypothetical was yes. You had the right kind of personality for an institution like Berklee. For numerous reasons, I am not in music anymore, actually in Computer Science now. This is actually moderately common, I know a couple of other contemporaries from Berklee that are in Web/CompSci fields now. How many of your peers from Berklee do you still keep in contact with? How many of those are still in the music field?

I would recommend to learn music at home with an average PC and YT tutorials. You can gradually get contacts over time. I even suggest to get familiarised with a DAW.

I was obliged to memorize long pieces of classical music on the guitar. Reading live was not aloud.

I've also gotten a gig off the Berklee facebook page, but I was only let on there because I did the victor wooten bass camp. So yeah, spot on.

i really like this channel but oh boy does it suck the fun out of making and playing music

I really hope you teach off RU-vid as well. You are clear and funny. I bet one on one jams with you would teach in weeks how to find your new, exiting sound you talk about. Anyway, keep on keeping on.

Adam this really the true..75.00 a gig 🤣 ...Learning Songs quickly...Business..Alumni.Networking Excellent!!!!.Real talk as a Grad of MI..everything you have stated is true..the 45 songs on two weeks one rehearsal and the Singer leader adds 5 songs then changes the key 3 dats vefire the gig after you have learn them...Every gig I ever got was thru some else I knew...

Why do you call these bass lessons? Man, I'm a drummer.

interesting to see how different it is in the US, here in Europe (at least in Germany) uni is free and thusly it's always worth to go if you can, because you get 4-6 years of free lessons. we also don't chose the school, but rather the professor we want to go to and follow him/her to the school. But maybe that is only for classical music, I'm not that experienced with jazz/pop.