Why I left Berklee- The Final Review

After two semesters at Berklee College of Music, I have decided to move on to other things.  So what happened, you ask?  Well not much, that was the reason I decided to leave.  Personally, I felt like I was accomplishing more from my apartment than I was by going to class after a certain point.

Now don't get me wrong, Berklee is a great place, and this is just what happened in my situation.  I don't regret coming to Berklee at all, and in fact, I know I would never be the musician I am today, or the musician I will be in a few years if not for my time at Berklee.  But rather than the classes, it was the atmosphere of Berklee that changed me.  Meeting so many talented musicians from all over the world was an eye-opening experience, and the main thing it taught me is that I need to devote as much time to refining my craft as possible, and ironically, Berklee's course load was getting in the way of that.  I remember in high school having to write my song lyrics in the margins of my history test; spending all day in school left me little time for creative freedom.  Well it was the same situation at Berklee, only instead of a history test it was a harmony test.  Just because the course material deals with music, doesn't mean it will be any more relevant to you as a musician, nor does it ensure that you will become a better musician.

If you want to be the best musician you can be, honestly it doesn't really matter whether you come to Berklee or not, because achieving that goal is up to you alone.  Berklee is a great place to get honest feedback, and a great place to try out new things, but in the end it's about how much time and effort you put into attaining greatness.

What I learned from Berklee:

Attending Berklee was a great way for me to see what other musicians were doing, how they were developing, and what I needed to work on. I never would have found out about a lot of the goings-on in music technology if not for Berklee; and there have been some truly thought provoking clinics and inspiring concerts. But personally, I don't feel like I would learn much more in 4 full years of Berklee than I did in my first couple of semesters. The classes are great if you are the kind of person who really needs a push to be organized and critical of yourself, but that is not what I need right now. In fact, I am truly enjoying the freedom to be able to devote my time to refining my skills and writing more songs every day.

What's Next?:

Interestingly enough, a few weeks after I decided to leave Berklee, I got my first full-time job as a performer, and I got it because of Berklee (kind of). Starting in May I'll spend 4 months as a guitarist/singer in a show at Cedar Point, one of the nations most famous amusement parks-- known for having some of the biggest roller coasters in the world (it's going to be a fun summer). Until then, I am going to savor every moment of free time I have and devote it towards developing as much as possible, because I will be performing 6 times a day, 6 days a week for those four months. Afterwards, I plan to use the money to move to Austin, and if all goes well I will be able to launch my first CD soon after.

Is Berklee worth the money?

I wrote an entire article on the subject before, and you can read it here.  But I can tell you, from a purely financial perspective that Berklee is not a good investment.  That is, if you are considering an investment  to mean something which yields greater monetary returns than you put in.  The price tag of Berklee is a very large one, and no it will not repay itself easily.  If your goal is to learn everything you can possibly learn about music, go to Berklee!  You should.  Berklee is an incomparable experience and I think that every musician would be lucky to go there.  However, from a purely financial aspect, you would be better off taking lessons, buying better equipment, living comfortably somewhere, and devoting the time to getting better as a musician.  When I think of music production majors, and how they are spending $120,000 dollars over the course of 4 years, that's enough to build a studio, and get as much hands-on training as you want.

I think that going to Berklee is an amazing experience, but I personally don't see the advantage of having a degree from Berklee.  Yes it is distinguishing, but if you aspire to be a performer like myself, no one cares if you have a degree.  Berklee classifies an alumnus as having attended Berklee for at least one full semester, and being an alumnus is good enough for me, and a hell of a lot cheaper.

I have truly enjoyed my time at Berklee though, and if you can get your hands on the tuition money, or if you get a good scholarship, it's a great place to go.  If you can't go here, it's not the end of the world, and there are a lot of other great opportunities out there.  I do want to state firmly that you will not get the experience of Berklee anywhere else, Berklee is an experience in itself, and breadth of experience is what makes a musician great.  Whether you decide to go or not, remember that the only way to reach your potential is to constantly push your limits, and to constantly work towards a goal.  Berklee is not a goal, it is just a step in the journey.  Don't make it your destination, make it a jumping off point, and remember that whether you go here or not, nothing will prepare you for the real world except hands-on experience.

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