I went to Berklee in 2003. This is spot on. There's all kinds of personalities in the classes when you go there. The audition process shouldn't be a showcase of showing off it's just a showcase of what they ask you to play. It's different then playing at your house or on a stage. It's a professional atmosphere so you have to always keep that in mind. Having professionalism as a player and showing respect of the professors time will always impress and put you in their good graces more than anything.
@williamperri3437 The big thing with most music schools, especially Berklee, is that there's a variety of skill levels. From people that are flat out fantastic that are just there to make more music business contacts to people that barely know how to read sheet music. I was the more reserved type of player but a lot of dudes just wanted to show off and you could tell what their playing personality was pretty quickly. Sometimes it was almost like a showcase of musical insecurities. At the end of the day you have to remember that it's a school. What you get out of it depends on the work that you put into it. I ended up having a good 20+ year career so it was worth it for me.
@@themicrotonalguitarist You can say that about any school. What does that have to do with anything I'm saying though? If someone wants to go to a school bad enough then they'll be willing to take the risk of having a student loan. If not, then they don't HAVE to go. Having the choice to go or not is the same as saying that most people can't afford it. 100% of the people that go that aren't on scholarship are all taking the same risk because they want to be there. So being able to afford being there depends on how much you actually want to be there.
This is incredibly great advice for any young drummer Preparing to audition for ANYTHING. PS in 2016, my son was selected into Berklee’s summer Global Jazz Ambassador program. You were VERY helpful and kind regarding giving us info on the program and Berklee. I’m a fan. Thank you. 🙏🏽
I remember taking your lessons in 2022's Five Week. I applied that year to Berklee and got a scholarship! Although I couldn't afford Berklee anyways, but it was an amazing experience being your student, specially since your lessons weren't just about drums, but also about being a proffesional musician and a better human being. Thanks for this video!
Great advice! Especially about not "over adjusting" and overplaying. Many times being professional and courteous will get you further than your talent will.
about talking yourself down, i remember my dad telling me once "if you go to a restaurant, and the chef comes out right when you get your food and tells you every thing he did wrong, are you still gonna be hungry?"
I would eat because I am hungry and only thing that matters is that my meal is fresh and tasty. When it comes to music, if it sounds good, it is good. I know some advanced theory and I can hit Amaj9 on a piano and I can find out a voicing that works on guitar, but there is nothing wrong if I just play the simple triad. It is better to play simple things with confidence than to try to impress somebody and play polychords in 11/16 time and do it in non musical way. The second aproach is wrong. On audition for drummer, if he or she cannot play afro cuban 6/8 it does not matter. If he or she does 4/4 straight 8ths but with overplaying and timing is all over the place, it is game over.
Guitarist here, what you said applies to me too. I have that bad habit of downing myself after gigs, and I am trying to rid myself of that tendency. I am looking to do an audition at our state university in about a year, but I have plenty of recitals and juries ahead of that so opportunities to put the new habits in practice. Thanks for this video.
Awesome advice!!! I auditioned back in the 80's. It was the most relaxed audition EVER. I had auditioned for The New England Conservatory a few weeks before (I had NO business being at that one.) and wore a suit. When it was my turn to go in, I shook the professor's hand. I have a firm handshake and he was having problems with his right hand at the time. UGH!! He was nice about it, but I felt horrible. He invited me to take off my jacket and my shoes - like I said earlier, really laid back LOL! He asked me to play some eighth note rock, sixteenth note rock, some swing, a shuffle, and then some latin. I was upfront with him that my latin chops were non existent. He said no problem and started singing a lick for me to play. I made my way through it and thanked me for trying. I thought I was going to sight-read some charts, but he through a snare drum method book in front of me and asked me to read it down. It was pretty easy. I was accepted but unfortunately it wasn't the right fit for me. I was looking to get a Music Ed degree and at the time, might still be, it was really geared to the performer. It was an awesome experience!
This is good advice not just for auditions, but exams and interviews of any kind. For any "test", your performance is not based on how much you have crammed in the last five days. Rather, your performance is based on what you've been doing for the last five years (or more). Go in there and let it show.
I was fortunate enough to study with Larry FInn for a short time in 1996. I still have all the material he gave me. Larry doesn't know it but he was pivotal for my development. Larry was very eye-opening for me! Thank you Mr Finn!!
Exactly 👍..if you can’t teach yourself,go to Berkeley and become someone else’s pet! Instead…go and take some illegal substances and listen to Alvin Stoller
Larry well done on both videos. First video is gold and if you do what you advised, then that person will have thumbs up what you are saying in this video. How to believe someone would be unprepared but i guess it happens. 👌
The thing with downtalking myself is something I deal with too much, even though people really enjoyed my playing. Thanks for the list, the rest are obvious points which should be followed with some basic human understanding lol
I think smth I'm currently trying to work on is just accepting compliments and/or graces. I would say part of it but really it's almost entirely with me being overly humble. Now I don't ever plan on going to Berklee although it sounds great,but just in general I often don't really enjoy compliments. Never did for the past 3-4 years. Now I'll GIVE other people compliments but I just never am able to receive it. I just say thanks and move on. Now as Humble musicians I do believe it's important that we remain humble as much as anything goes whether it's the skill, talent, or experience. However my mind can just never process compliments for whatever reason. It's definitely hard for me as much as I hate receiving any form of compliments. I've been drumming now for 9 years and I've spent a good amount involved with a few groups and communities but that huge part of me will still never accept compliments or praises by any means.
Ha .. I used to do the same thing .. when someone said we were great I'd have all the excuses etc. The guy who ran the club and a friend of mine stopped me one night and said .. "You do realise you just told that guy he was wrong?" Never forgot it.
not talking yourself down is such good advice. I used to always talk myself down and thought it made me sound humble or at worst, insecure. Then I realized, if someone thinks youre really good and you talk down about yourself you might just look like a douchebag. Or like you said, you might just come off as too negative.
don't act chummy don't over adjust don't try to show off the moment you sit down, it's bad manners don't talk yourself down or up don't preface with how good or how you are at something
Never took a drum lesson. Grew up dirt poor , and I have dyslexia 😅. Been playing non stop for 20 years now . I lead with my left hand , even though im right handed 😅. I cant read music but i do have an ear for it. I can play almost any music within one take and can create on the spot. Occasionally i find a song with different time signature changes and i take it as a challenge. Because i can't read music ive been shamed before . Especially people from berklee( Live in Los Angeles, they are everywherehere ), im surprised this guy is nice . To be real , i figure it was a rich people only club kind of vibe. But he seems like a cool dude 😎
I have dyslexia and could barely read when I got a scholarship to Berklee. I graduated and still can't sight read all that well (and probably never will be able to) but there are way to get around a lack of sight reading ability. even if you're like me and can't sight read well you can still learn how reading works so you can take charts home and learn them at your own pace, as well as be able to wright down your ideas, do transcriptions, ...etc. there are a lot of rich kids at Berklee, but at the same time a little less than half of the student body is on merit scholarship (at least when i was there) and a lot of folks get full rides so its not just a bunch of rich kids.
Ironically, 99% of the musicians I have met who studied at Berklee, didn't want the audience to know they went to Berklee. I guess there is some stigma that they actually "care" about their craft or something. You guys are amazing though... most recent discovery was Molly Tuttle.
One thing left out as someone who graduated in 2019 is preparing for all other theory core classes. You can save a lot of money by testing out of those classes.
If i were to start a new work project ,i would be nice and calm , take a step back , read the room from the start and blend in very quietly and politely without trying to be a horse's ass weisenheimer .... You will last much longer in the job in my opinion . Its not quantum computing?
Idk if they cant grasp that some people arent the best at taking compliments, this far into their music/teaching career, then theres something seriously wrong in there heads if theyre reaching the conclusion youve considered. Would be surprised if thats received in the way youve described by the majority of profs, like a slight. If it is, there are some serious victim complexes amongst the profs.
I was fresh out of high-school with only 4 years of self-taught guitar playing, and wanted to go to Berklee to learn more. I come from an immigrant lower mid class family, but my parents were willing to save and make as much money if I get accepted. My audition was GARBAGE. I can sight-read SUPERRRRRRR SLOWLYYYYYYYYY, but can't play anything on the spot. If anything ,what I sight read before my audition was pure memory. I panicked so much I messed up on 12-bar blues. My original piece was a thing I made up on the spot because I was focused on playing my usual practice repertoire of cover songs and originals that I forgot to write an original for Berklee. I made something very Jimi Hendrix inspired, with a lack of direction a bit, that they told me to stop. In the interview portion, I held strong on the fact that I just wanted to improve on my guitar playing and being in a music environment with a focus on being taught it would help me. Ironic that I despised the 2 month lessons I had sophomore year because I was being taught lead instead of a general path. I feel like I knew what I wanted to do, but I still lacked direction. I was still adamant on going to this school because of all the youtube videos I've seen of graduates and people who were amazing. I wanted skill, yet was so lost somehow. It was like "my way" only because my biggest worry, inserted into my head by other people, was losing the love of music because of school. I didn't figure out till 2019 at another college (that I enjoyed) that I really wanted to study Ethnomusicology/Historical Musicology (and more recently an interest in Music Business), but never had the chance to because my field is super niche. I like the branches of how musicians and artists affect one another directly/indirectly, and cause zeitgeists to happen. I had a grudge against Berklee to be better than them somehow (teen angst, ahhh...) but it motivated me for sure. I still can't sightread, but I'm confident in my ability now to play any instrument (and learn it), and play improv anytime. I still would love to get a free ride or at least somewhat paid because I'm such a nerd when it comes to Ethnomusicology that I'm doing my own research on the side, but I hope Berklee kept my audition if they filmed it :)
you'd be better off learning music than wasting your time writing this stuff. It's only interesting to you. A tip from a pro. One day you might thank me for this freebie.
We are in 2023. Getting in serious debts to learn to play drums is not smart. As this guy is explaining, all of this have nothing to do with your skills or how great you sound like. It's about being agreable, basically dealing with relationship, and doing whatever they are asking to do. It's more a powertrip of ego and personnality then actual good musicians wanting to play good music. Especially obvious when one of my friend, a music school teacher, having 30 years of experience in the reality of music, but still he is creating 13 minutes songs, extremely complicated, that no one is ever going to enjoy or listening to. That's why ordinary music can pop out, it's because the people in power care more about how you are, and does not care about the value of your music or what you are playing. The White Stripe is a good example of mediocre music, mediocre musician, doesn't stop Drumeo to put that pathetic drummer in a Top 100 best drummers of all time.
I went to Berklee in 2003. This is spot on. There's all kinds of personalities in the classes when you go there. The audition process shouldn't be a showcase of showing off it's just a showcase of what they ask you to play. It's different then playing at your house or on a stage. It's a professional atmosphere so you have to always keep that in mind. Having professionalism as a player and showing respect of the professors time will always impress and put you in their good graces more than anything.
Wow. I saved money and just made music in my bedroom. Not in some sterile classroom.
@williamperri3437 The big thing with most music schools, especially Berklee, is that there's a variety of skill levels. From people that are flat out fantastic that are just there to make more music business contacts to people that barely know how to read sheet music. I was the more reserved type of player but a lot of dudes just wanted to show off and you could tell what their playing personality was pretty quickly. Sometimes it was almost like a showcase of musical insecurities. At the end of the day you have to remember that it's a school. What you get out of it depends on the work that you put into it. I ended up having a good 20+ year career so it was worth it for me.
good attitude and such is cool, but this kind of says something else too. Most people can't afford to even BE there
@@themicrotonalguitarist You can say that about any school. What does that have to do with anything I'm saying though? If someone wants to go to a school bad enough then they'll be willing to take the risk of having a student loan. If not, then they don't HAVE to go. Having the choice to go or not is the same as saying that most people can't afford it. 100% of the people that go that aren't on scholarship are all taking the same risk because they want to be there. So being able to afford being there depends on how much you actually want to be there.
This is incredibly great advice for any young drummer Preparing to audition for ANYTHING. PS in 2016, my son was selected into Berklee’s summer Global Jazz Ambassador program. You were VERY helpful and kind regarding giving us info on the program and Berklee. I’m a fan. Thank you. 🙏🏽
I remember taking your lessons in 2022's Five Week. I applied that year to Berklee and got a scholarship! Although I couldn't afford Berklee anyways, but it was an amazing experience being your student, specially since your lessons weren't just about drums, but also about being a proffesional musician and a better human being. Thanks for this video!
Great advice! Especially about not "over adjusting" and overplaying. Many times being professional and courteous will get you further than your talent will.
about talking yourself down, i remember my dad telling me once "if you go to a restaurant, and the chef comes out right when you get your food and tells you every thing he did wrong, are you still gonna be hungry?"
I would eat because I am hungry and only thing that matters is that my meal is fresh and tasty. When it comes to music, if it sounds good, it is good. I know some advanced theory and I can hit Amaj9 on a piano and I can find out a voicing that works on guitar, but there is nothing wrong if I just play the simple triad. It is better to play simple things with confidence than to try to impress somebody and play polychords in 11/16 time and do it in non musical way. The second aproach is wrong. On audition for drummer, if he or she cannot play afro cuban 6/8 it does not matter. If he or she does 4/4 straight 8ths but with overplaying and timing is all over the place, it is game over.
I’m a keyboard player but there’s so much wisdom here for all musicians. Thanks man!
Learning to take a complement is an art.
Guitarist here, what you said applies to me too. I have that bad habit of downing myself after gigs, and I am trying to rid myself of that tendency. I am looking to do an audition at our state university in about a year, but I have plenty of recitals and juries ahead of that so opportunities to put the new habits in practice. Thanks for this video.
Awesome advice!!!
I auditioned back in the 80's. It was the most relaxed audition EVER. I had auditioned for The New England Conservatory a few weeks before (I had NO business being at that one.) and wore a suit. When it was my turn to go in, I shook the professor's hand. I have a firm handshake and he was having problems with his right hand at the time. UGH!! He was nice about it, but I felt horrible. He invited me to take off my jacket and my shoes - like I said earlier, really laid back LOL! He asked me to play some eighth note rock, sixteenth note rock, some swing, a shuffle, and then some latin. I was upfront with him that my latin chops were non existent. He said no problem and started singing a lick for me to play. I made my way through it and thanked me for trying. I thought I was going to sight-read some charts, but he through a snare drum method book in front of me and asked me to read it down. It was pretty easy. I was accepted but unfortunately it wasn't the right fit for me. I was looking to get a Music Ed degree and at the time, might still be, it was really geared to the performer. It was an awesome experience!
This sound more like a life lesson, and a very good one.
This is awesome Larry :)
Thanks! Many greetings from Italy!
This is good advice not just for auditions, but exams and interviews of any kind. For any "test", your performance is not based on how much you have crammed in the last five days. Rather, your performance is based on what you've been doing for the last five years (or more). Go in there and let it show.
I was fortunate enough to study with Larry FInn for a short time in 1996. I still have all the material he gave me. Larry doesn't know it but he was pivotal for my development. Larry was very eye-opening for me! Thank you Mr Finn!!
lol this is just good advice in general for a lotta things
This is why I taught the drums myself. 😂😂😂
Exactly 👍..if you can’t teach yourself,go to Berkeley and become someone else’s pet!
Instead…go and take some illegal substances and listen to Alvin Stoller
Excellent. Every HS senior drummer should watch this.
Wow !!!! Things have CHANGED immensley since my 1968 Audition !
I need a double bass for what i play though
This is gold as it can be applied to any audition. Thanks very much 🙏
Lol, i auditioned last season on drums! Wish I saw this video before cause the afro cuban thing stumped me😅😂
Cool video to see. A lot of what you said definitely applies to life in general as well.
Larry well done on both videos. First video is gold and if you do what you advised, then that person will have thumbs up what you are saying in this video. How to believe someone would be unprepared but i guess it happens. 👌
I can only imagine, after watching this, that all those ticks on the wall are souls you've crushed.
This is really great. Thank you.
Great advice. 👍🏻
(Side note: there's a little hint of Bryan Cranston in your delivery. 🕶)
The thing with downtalking myself is something I deal with too much, even though people really enjoyed my playing. Thanks for the list, the rest are obvious points which should be followed with some basic human understanding lol
I think smth I'm currently trying to work on is just accepting compliments and/or graces. I would say part of it but really it's almost entirely with me being overly humble. Now I don't ever plan on going to Berklee although it sounds great,but just in general I often don't really enjoy compliments. Never did for the past 3-4 years. Now I'll GIVE other people compliments but I just never am able to receive it.
I just say thanks and move on. Now as Humble musicians I do believe it's important that we remain humble as much as anything goes whether it's the skill, talent, or experience. However my mind can just never process compliments for whatever reason. It's definitely hard for me as much as I hate receiving any form of compliments. I've been drumming now for 9 years and I've spent a good amount involved with a few groups and communities but that huge part of me will still never accept compliments or praises by any means.
i feel the same as you, reading through this... i can't stand compliments because of my humbleness so much it hurts to receive one...
Ha .. I used to do the same thing .. when someone said we were great I'd have all the excuses etc. The guy who ran the club and a friend of mine stopped me one night and said .. "You do realise you just told that guy he was wrong?"
Never forgot it.
this was actually pretty hilarious to me!!! lol subbed!
Great tips and all true.
“Can you play an Afro-Cuban sixth eighth?”
I would have said…”What?”
Here's the earlier "Auditioning for Berklee (drum set)" video mentioned at 0:23 : ua-cam.com/video/sEY6pChc1ts/v-deo.html
Thank you,I needed that!
good info . well said!
You seem like a great guy, amazing natural command of attention too.
Nice vid…
In fact, this applies to any audition or interview.
Good life lesson
Thx !!
not talking yourself down is such good advice.
I used to always talk myself down and thought it made me sound humble or at worst, insecure. Then I realized, if someone thinks youre really good and you talk down about yourself you might just look like a douchebag. Or like you said, you might just come off as too negative.
Nice advice
Damn. I always talk myself down and neber noticed it
Excellent explanation, love the videos, thanks very much.
Good information...thanks👍🥁
I wished I had seen this about 20 years ago! haha!
Thank you sir for this insight ✨
This is just good advice in general.
why does youtube want me to audition for Berklee i live in canada and im 15
don't act chummy
don't over adjust
don't try to show off the moment you sit down, it's bad manners
don't talk yourself down or up
don't preface with how good or how you are at something
😂 yes exactly. He's hilarious
Never took a drum lesson. Grew up dirt poor , and I have dyslexia 😅. Been playing non stop for 20 years now . I lead with my left hand , even though im right handed 😅. I cant read music but i do have an ear for it. I can play almost any music within one take and can create on the spot. Occasionally i find a song with different time signature changes and i take it as a challenge. Because i can't read music ive been shamed before . Especially people from berklee( Live in Los Angeles, they are everywherehere ), im surprised this guy is nice . To be real , i figure it was a rich people only club kind of vibe. But he seems like a cool dude 😎
I have dyslexia and could barely read when I got a scholarship to Berklee. I graduated and still can't sight read all that well (and probably never will be able to) but there are way to get around a lack of sight reading ability. even if you're like me and can't sight read well you can still learn how reading works so you can take charts home and learn them at your own pace, as well as be able to wright down your ideas, do transcriptions, ...etc. there are a lot of rich kids at Berklee, but at the same time a little less than half of the student body is on merit scholarship (at least when i was there) and a lot of folks get full rides so its not just a bunch of rich kids.
ha ha. thanks. funny and true.
Looking back. I did all things wrong and did not pass 😢 (no talent 😂)
Take you and your Berkley and stick it!
You mispelled Berklee.
Ironically, 99% of the musicians I have met who studied at Berklee, didn't want the audience to know they went to Berklee. I guess there is some stigma that they actually "care" about their craft or something. You guys are amazing though... most recent discovery was Molly Tuttle.
God the bar is so low
I wouldn't audition for Berklee. I'd smoke crack in Berkeley, tho.
You're not A-OK. You need a dad like this so you can blast beat in 7/8 at age 9.
One thing left out as someone who graduated in 2019 is preparing for all other theory core classes. You can save a lot of money by testing out of those classes.
If i were to start a new work project ,i would be nice and calm , take a step back , read the room from the start and blend in very quietly and politely without trying to be a horse's ass weisenheimer .... You will last much longer in the job in my opinion . Its not quantum computing?
Idk if they cant grasp that some people arent the best at taking compliments, this far into their music/teaching career, then theres something seriously wrong in there heads if theyre reaching the conclusion youve considered.
Would be surprised if thats received in the way youve described by the majority of profs, like a slight. If it is, there are some serious victim complexes amongst the profs.
First ask yourself why you are about to drop a fortune on a paper that won't help you earn back that lost fortune.
I was fresh out of high-school with only 4 years of self-taught guitar playing, and wanted to go to Berklee to learn more. I come from an immigrant lower mid class family, but my parents were willing to save and make as much money if I get accepted. My audition was GARBAGE. I can sight-read SUPERRRRRRR SLOWLYYYYYYYYY, but can't play anything on the spot. If anything ,what I sight read before my audition was pure memory. I panicked so much I messed up on 12-bar blues. My original piece was a thing I made up on the spot because I was focused on playing my usual practice repertoire of cover songs and originals that I forgot to write an original for Berklee. I made something very Jimi Hendrix inspired, with a lack of direction a bit, that they told me to stop.
In the interview portion, I held strong on the fact that I just wanted to improve on my guitar playing and being in a music environment with a focus on being taught it would help me. Ironic that I despised the 2 month lessons I had sophomore year because I was being taught lead instead of a general path. I feel like I knew what I wanted to do, but I still lacked direction. I was still adamant on going to this school because of all the youtube videos I've seen of graduates and people who were amazing. I wanted skill, yet was so lost somehow. It was like "my way" only because my biggest worry, inserted into my head by other people, was losing the love of music because of school.
I didn't figure out till 2019 at another college (that I enjoyed) that I really wanted to study Ethnomusicology/Historical Musicology (and more recently an interest in Music Business), but never had the chance to because my field is super niche. I like the branches of how musicians and artists affect one another directly/indirectly, and cause zeitgeists to happen. I had a grudge against Berklee to be better than them somehow (teen angst, ahhh...) but it motivated me for sure. I still can't sightread, but I'm confident in my ability now to play any instrument (and learn it), and play improv anytime.
I still would love to get a free ride or at least somewhat paid because I'm such a nerd when it comes to Ethnomusicology that I'm doing my own research on the side, but I hope Berklee kept my audition if they filmed it :)
you'd be better off learning music than wasting your time writing this stuff. It's only interesting to you. A tip from a pro. One day you might thank me for this freebie.
@@citizenworld8094 Thanks for nothing ❤️💀
NOT MY TEMPO!!!!!!
Just be yourself. On a perfect day. When all of the planets are aligned. 😂 This is a joke.
😂😂😂
L school
We are in 2023. Getting in serious debts to learn to play drums is not smart. As this guy is explaining, all of this have nothing to do with your skills or how great you sound like. It's about being agreable, basically dealing with relationship, and doing whatever they are asking to do. It's more a powertrip of ego and personnality then actual good musicians wanting to play good music. Especially obvious when one of my friend, a music school teacher, having 30 years of experience in the reality of music, but still he is creating 13 minutes songs, extremely complicated, that no one is ever going to enjoy or listening to. That's why ordinary music can pop out, it's because the people in power care more about how you are, and does not care about the value of your music or what you are playing. The White Stripe is a good example of mediocre music, mediocre musician, doesn't stop Drumeo to put that pathetic drummer in a Top 100 best drummers of all time.
Thank you for breathing life into this brainless comment section.
You must be a lot of fun at parties.
@@BuildTheSandbox I'd have a beer with this guy for sure
@@BuildTheSandbox I completely agree with this guy. Short version:
Go to Berklee! Learn to play Jazz! Be broke and in massive debt your entire life!
Better advice is - "Don't audition for Berklee" lol...
I play left handed, if the drum set is set up for a right-handed person I will readjust the cymbals and they're going to have to deal with it.😁
This is everything that sucks about music.
So Who the F are you, and what do you know about auditioning for Berklee???
Berklee professor.
Foot, meet Mouth...
🤦🏽♂️
Behold the idiot.
@@LarryFinn I was just talking about this comment last night. I came back to see if he deleted it. LOL Nope. Still here for the to see.
You forgot the most important tip - mention you have money
Berklee grads are overrated 🙄