Berklee 2.0

This post is so overdue it's not even funny.

I'm a sophomore/third-semester student at Berklee College of Music. The Greek definition of a sophomore is a wise fool. I may be a sophomore, but I don't think I'm a wise fool. I know a lot more about everything this year than I did last year, but I still know I don't know that much.

Last year was an incredible year. I learned so much and met/befriended some of the most amazing people. I would have loved to have started last year the same way as this year. I know it would have been impossible/entirely different, but I feel much better about this year. I'm forever the optimist, and I was an optimist last year, too. There's something different this year...I have a whole new level of optimism and confidence I had no idea I could muster. Even now as I type this alone in the dark, I glance over at my guitars and I get a rush of gusto, if you will. It's an incredible feeling. I wish I could share it with everyone.

Back to Berklee. I have a great schedule this semester. I'm done at one on Thursdays and I have no classes on Friday! Next semester I think I'm gonna flip it and have no classes on Monday. I think I'd like that more. Not that I'm complaining, but if I can do it, I will. Plus, Paul Stiller, aka P-Stills, normally has his Ear Training 4 class on Wednesdays and Fridays. He offered it to me this semester at the last minute (some foolish person dropped it), but I opted to stay in mine because it would give me Fridays off. I probably should have taken him up on the offer but RIck DiMuzio's a nice guy and a good teacher.

I think part of my new-found outlook on life has to do with being a Peer Advisor. It's kind of empowering, not that I'm power-hungry, but it's cool to say, 'Yeah, I'm a Peer Advisor.' I usually get a very enthusiastic response and it's probably the best job on campus. I can't get enough of it.

Scotty Johnson is just about the coolest guitar teacher in the department. I'm really enjoying my lessons with him. He has such a high level of energy and enthusiasm. He's so encouraging. If I don't take him next semester, I'll definitely take his Musical Theater lab. Not only do I love him, I have a burning desire to write a musical. I love musical theater. I've seen just about every show on Broadway that's out right now. There are sixteen musicals out not counting shows in previews. I've seen twelve. I've seen six in the past six months--including Hair twice.

Here's a little twist for you. Last year I was kind of missing having books to study from. I find that having a book makes it easier because you know exactly what to do. This year I have five books (not the workbooks you get for Ear Training and Harmony), and I miss not having them. It's more fun to explore on your own. As much as I enjoy economics, it can get a little dry and that book isn't exactly appealing all of the time.

On that note, I really love my business classes. Especially Taxation in the Music Industry. Everything is deductible! Well, not everything, but I never realized how much you can write off. When worded properly, I think your whole life could be deductible. My teacher is hysterical. I learned that Mick Jagger's lips are insured. Who would have thought...

What else, what else...There's so much to say. As you may or may not have noticed, I don't have any labs or ensembles this semester. I like it because it let's me focus on my private lessons more. I don't like it because I miss learning not only from different instructors but other students as well. Next semester I'll take at least one lab.

My History class is pretty sweet. Not as good as Shirley Tardif's class (BHS kids will understand), but hey, no class ever will be so I'm okay with that. My Sound Reinforcement class is interesting, but the book is so dry. It's a class that is much better in practice than in theory.

So that's about it for Berklee stuff. I've been playing a lot lately with some friends, and it's been good. It's only gonna get better. Be on the lookout for shows in, around, and out of the Boston area in the near future (November-ish).

I also have a great social life this year. Not that I didn't last year, but this year has been much more exciting. So far I've been to two winning Red Sox games (at this point last year I think I was at five, but I had a losing record and in my defense the Sox have been away a lot since I've been at school), and saw U2. I've gone out a lot more. I won't be in town the next two weekends because I have to go to New York (yes, I have to go haha) this weekend. The following weekend I have to go home for a wedding and to have my six-week catch-up dinner with Bob. It'll be good to get away. I haven't been away-away yet. I've been at BU (Boston University) a lot, but no where beyond the state line. It'll be good. No, it'll be great. Don't get me started on New York. There are a few posts about my love for it already.

On that note, I think I'm gonna try and go to bed. I wanted to two hours ago. Clearly that didn't happen. I'm not so sure my morning run will, either...Ah, well. Always tomorrow.

Anyway, I will be posting more regularly either here or my tumblog. All the posts that go here also go there so yeah. It's all good.

Summer So Far

Sorry it's been a while. I've been meaning to write. I sit at my laptop every now and then with my blog open, and try to write something, but it all felt too forced. So now that I've taken care of business (done my errands), I'm just gonna click away on my keys to my heart's content.

My summer so far has been fantastic. I play music probably five nights a week on average with my band, see my friends on a daily basis, do karate, work/get paid, take guitar lessons, write songs as much as possible (more on that later), and it's only June 16th! If have another two and a half months of this, I will be a very happy camper. I haven't been to any concerts yet, but I've got a few good ones coming up.

While I haven't been to any shows, I did have one of the best times ever last week. I flew to Nebraska to see my friend Natalia. I hadn't seen her since January when she flew to Boston to surprise Julia for her birthday. To recap the whole trip would take too much effort. I'll just say that I had an absolute blast and can't wait to go back. Can't. Wait. I returned home on Friday. I was so sad when I had to leave. I'm not sad to be back home, I'm just sad that Natalia, Annie, Kelley Bruce Robinson, Andy, Teddy, LaDuke, and everyone else I know/met are not here with me.

Anyway. My next trip will be Boston for the 4th of July, followed by New York City at some point during the summer. Both will be wicked fun. My cousin Dale will be here in 16 days, and that's always a good time.

Overall, I was right--my summer rocks. It's been a steady stream of awesome. What more could you ask for? The best part is that it's not even done yet. :)

24 Days (Until Possibly The Best Summer Ever)! And Other Things

I only have 24 days left in my first year of college. I don't think there is an adjective that can describe how I feel when I think about it. I'm incredibly excited for summer, but I'm also sad because I've had such a great time this year.

If things go according to plan, then I will have the greatest summer ever--even better than last year, and I saw five incredible shows and went to Europe for a week and a half. There's so much I want to do, all I have to do is do it (like Nike). Take a look at my plans:

--(It looks like) A few friends and I are getting a band together. We kind of had one last year, but it was more like we had jam sessions. I have to play shows this summer, otherwise I will explode. I gotta give my singer/pianist/guitarist a call this week.

--I want to take a few liberal arts courses to save time/money. There are two four-week sessions at USM, and if I can get Art History, Western Civ, and a physical science out of the way, that would be fantastic.

--I have to work. I need money! I need money mainly to buy Red Sox tickets when I'm back at school haha! I also need money to get new gear.

--I want to go back to karate. It's probably my favorite way to work out (with the exception of running). Not only am I burning calories, I'm having a great time doing it, and I'm also learning. I also love my Sensei and my fellow martial artists.

--There are a zillion books I want to read. There are also a zillion songs in me that need to be written/recorded. if I could get some studio time, that would be the cherry on top of everything.

--I absolutely positively have to take lessons (aka hang out) with Bob. I couldn't survive all summer knowing that he's 20 minutes away from me and I don't see him on a weekly basis. That is unacceptable. I want to come back here in the fall and be so much better than I am now that my friends will ask me what I did to get to that level.

--I want some time to chill and go to the beach (even in April, it's calling my name). It doesn't look like I'll have much with that schedule, but believe me, I will. I now know why college ends in May and not June like high school. If it were to go until June, we would all die. At least I would.

I think that's it. I hope that's it! Haha! I don't know how much more I could handle, and still get some sleep.

In other news, I am shooting for all A's (and a B in Ear Training because there is no way I can get an A at this point) this semester and I have been very busy doing work for the past week. My life consists of homework, music, and the Red Sox. I had a ton of English homework to do, and I'm redoing all the stuff I received a B on. Luckily there aren't that many. I did one last night, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I have a ton of other homework, too. I have an Ear Training quiz tomorrow, a Harmony quiz Thursday, and my Arraning project is due in two weeks. I also asked for extra credit in that class because I have no idea how I only got a B on my midterm. The class is so easy that I slack off sometimes when I know I shouldn't.

I've also been trying to put in two hours of practice a night. I've been reasonably successful. I won't be putting in two hours of guitar tonight, though. Gotta get an A on my quiz tomorrow! It's so nice out, and I've been inside all day Ear-Training my face off. If I don't get an A, I will be very disappointed in myself. I'm working my butt off!

I'll give the Red Sox their own post later this week, but there are four games this weekend--one of them is at 11 o'clock in the morning! I want to go to that game just to say I went to a game at 11 o'clock in the morning. I'll be at Friday's, Saturday's, maybe Sunday's, and definitely Monday's game. I should just say I'll probably be at all of them. Save myself some time.

Okay, back to work I go!

A Doozie Of An Update

I suggest getting something to eat or drink as you read this. You may be here for a while.

I don't even know where to begin... Actually, I should begin by doing my Arranging homework or my College Writing homework, but if I don't do this now, I never will. Or I'll screw up the facts because after a while things get jumbled in my brain.

I'll start with Monday.

I don't know what it is about dictation in Ear Training that I can't grasp. If you ask me to play a rhythm or a melody back on guitar, I'll get it after one try. When it comes to writing things down, I get lost. I'm find with intervals and chords, and even rhythm, but melody...Melody kills me every time. I know I didn't get an A on my dictation midterm. I did pretty good on the singing part. Just a few slip ups. I'm determined to get an A on the next quiz/test/final. My teacher, Paul Stiller (easily one of the best teachers at Berklee), said I've made a lot of progress from my last quiz. I'm getting there, in more than one area.

My Guitar Lab midterm went well. I played "Forever Man" by my man Eric Clapton. I made a few mistakes, but it was fine. Got an A on that one.

Let's move on to Tuesday.

Tuesday's my easiest day. I have Harmony 3 with Eric Byers in the morning, and my lesson at 6. I played a song I wrote called Doubt (there's a very rough recording somewhere on the blog) in my lesson this week. So that was cool. I'm often asked who influences me as a player, and the truth is, oddly enough, I wouldn't say I have any really strong guitar influences. Or they're not who you think they would be--other than Eric Clapton. I love Hendrix, I went through a pretty big Hendrix phase last year. Stevie's great, too. But the people that have influenced me the most are Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Pete Townshend. One of the reasons I have a Telecaster is because of Keith. I used to (and still do to a degree) want to be Keith, minus the drugs. When I saw the Stones a few years back, I went nuts when he came out playing "Jumpin' Jack Flash." I'm more influenced by songs and songwriters than I am by guitarists. I tried to get heavy into playing, but then I said to myself, 'You're always going to love Billy Joel more than Buddy Guy so just get over it.' I do love Buddy, but not the way I love Billy.

So after my lesson I went to see Ann Coulter and Bill Maher give speeches and debate each other. They decided to participate in Boston's 2009 Speaker Series. After a while, I had to stop listening to Ann Coulter. I just couldn't take it. Bill Maher was hilarious, as usual. I must have been in the Ann Coulter fan section because no one around me was even laughing at Bill. Some hecklers got thrown out, and some guy in the balcony started yelling at Bill Maher and Bill let him have it. It was great. It was a cool thing to see.

Moving on: Wednesday.

Wednesday was a very special day in Boston. U2 came to town to play a "secret show" at the Somerville Theater. The tickets were given away through radio contests, and U2 had their own guest list for the show. I did get into the theater, but not the show. I bought a ticket to the movies. You all know how much I was dying to see "He's Just Not Into You" right? I mean, I could not stop talking about it haha!

I missed the band at the Ritz that afternoon. There was no way I could have made it there in time, so I went straight to Davis Square to try and catch them before they went inside. I missed that, too, but I heard soundcheck! So that was cool. My movie was at 7, so I went in around 6.45. I have never seen so much security for such a tiny place! There were about 10 security guys in the lobby (which is about the size of my room)! There were about 12 of us at the movie, all with the same idea: sneak into U2's show. Well, none of us got in, but I did get to hear the first song ("Get On Your Boots") and the last song ("Vertigo"). I caught a few glimpses of the band at the Q&A thanks to a security guard that Tom (known as @BostonTweet for Twitter users) knows.

I decided to head back into Boston, and hang out at the Ritz Carlton, hoping that U2 would come back before I had to go back. Their entire crew did, but they were in Davis Square for a good portion of the night. The T sadly stops at 12.30ish so I had to get back to the Berk before then. On the bright side, I found a new cool hang place: the Ritz lobby. It's intimately spacious. The staff is great. There's a fire place, and it's quiet. I also finished up some work before heading back to my neck of the woods around 11.45 or so.

So today was also an eventful day. After my Harmony midterm, I went back to the Ritz to see if U2 was still around. If they were, I didn't see them. I was only there for 45 minutes because I had to go get in line for the Paul Simon clinic! I ran into my friend Tom (his blog is here) outside of Berklee, and we waited in line, chit-chatted, and ate scones outside the Berklee Performance Center for 45 minutes or so in the cold waiting to go inside for the clinic. Paul Simon's a character. It was a really relaxed atmosphere. We were able to ask questions, and he played us a few songs. It was a lot of fun.

After the clinic, I had my Legal Aspects class. We got our midterms back. I got a 97! I was pretty excited. That was only the first half. He said the second half is much harder than the first. I'm determined to keep that 97, though. I will be one of the few that manages to do so by the way he made it sound.

My class ended at 6. I bolted back to my dorm, grabbed my digital recorder and my iPod and headed over to Tom's (blog, website)show at the All Asia bar in Cambridge. The show was great, and I met some cool new people, too. I didn't get to stay for the next act. My friend Jordan and I had to finish a case study for MEISA, and I had an essay to finish. I actually just finished it up, yay!

So now I'm watching Seinfeld and relaxing. I did a lot of running around these past few days. I'm looking forward to a lot more relaxing in the next few days coming up.

Procrastination

I'm not one to procrastinate, but I really don't feel like doing my homework or studying for my harmony quiz tomorrow. I could play my guitar, but it's all ready to go. Snug in its case. Big Red does not want to be disturbed right now.

So here I am blogging while my book is open on the story I should be reading. I have so much to do, and yet I clack away on the keyboard. I'm hanging in the blogosphere--aka procrastinating--when I should be doing many other things. Like what? Well, here's a list (more procrastination):

1. My homework. For some reason my college writing homework never ends. Ellen (my teacher) is awesome, but cut us some slack! As much as I like literature, I'd like to have a life, too. Lately it has been tough.

2. Play guitar. I do go to music school. Sooo, yeah. I'll leave it at that.

3. Apartment/Roommate hunting. Here at the Berk, off-campus housing is not only cheaper but recommended. I need to get on the stick. I found a bunch of places, I just need to go check them out. And find a roomie.

4. Finish a song. I started a song back home and I really need to finish it.

5. Declare my major. I've known I wanted to be a Music Business/Management major since I was 15. Three years later and one and a half semesters in at Berklee and I have yet to declare. What the hell, Amy. What. The. Hell.

6. Swing by Student Employment. A little on-campus part-time job with very flexible hours would be a good way to get some extra cash. I gotta pay for Red Sox tickets some how!

7. Go the the gym/Go for a run. I ate ice cream today. Not good. I even feel a little nauseous. No more ice cream from the cafeteria. NO MORE.

8. Do my other homework. Ellen, please remember that we have more than just your class to worry about. I have Arranging and Legal Aspects homework to take care of. And Songwriting. Gaaaah!

9. Organize my room. Not so much my room. It is pretty clean. My clothes are just shoved into the dresser.

10. Hit up CVS. I need a few odds and ends.

11. Go to the library. There are a few Eric Clapton transcription books that have my name all over them.

Wow, I had even more to do than I thought I did. I'm going to go and try and take care of them now.

Wish me luck!

As Promised

I can't believe the year is basically over. Wow...Where did the time go?

I promised a big entry, so here we go!


Semester One of Eight:

My first semester at Berklee was pretty good. I met a lot of great people, made a lot of great friends, and jammed with some really awesome musicians. I need to work on Ear Training a lot more this next semester. That was definitely my weakness. I also didn't jam enough. Need to do more of that. Networking as well. I also want to go to the Songwriting club more often, and by more often I mean actually go. I signed up at the beginning of the year with a friend and we had planned to go together, but it didn't happen. We also planned on starting a band, that didn't happen, either. Anyway.

One Wednesday evening in October, I went to the Music Business Gala thing. It wasn't a gala, but I can't remember exactly what it was called. Chris Carlson (here's his blog, good stuff), the President of the Music Business Club at Berklee gave a little speech. I already wanted to join the Music Business Club, but Chris's speech made me feel like I had to join it. So I did, and I met even more awesome people and learned a lot, too. A lot of kids in college were once (like me) overly-involved in high school. Sports, student government, community service, National Honors Society, etc... But once they get to college, they stop doing that sort of stuff. I didn't want that to happen to me, and it did at first, but like most things, I fixed it.

I think the highlight of my semester wasn't even related to Berklee. I went to eight Red Sox games. Eight. That's a lot for someone without season tickets. The John Mayer thing was pretty cool, too, but lately I haven't been Mr. Mayer's biggest fan. Nonetheless, his clinic rocked, but the Sox games were great. I went to seven of them alone, but you're not really alone at Fenway. There are 39,927 other people there. And I'm not even counting the staff or the players.

I didn't write as much as I would have liked to. I only wrote one song really. Lots of ideas, but they were just ideas. That's another thing I need to work on.

(I'll put a whole list of goals/resolutions/things to do at the end of this. I will also write them down. Goals are manifested by being written down. Anyone can talk about doing stuff, but how many actually do it? My guess is not many. I'll admit to being a bit of a talker (not a close-talker like in Seinfeld), but I say I'm gonna do stuff, and I don't do it. Well, that's gonna change, too.)

I saw a fair amount of shows at Berklee, too. Oh yeah, and they were amazing and either free or two dollars. Can't complain there!

Here are the "Academic" Berklee Resolutions/Goals:

--Spend an hour a day at a piano
--Practice Ear Training daily
--Get all A's
--Play more guitar. Let's shoot for an hour a day--at least.

Here are the "Non-Academic" Berklee Resolutions/Goals:

--Get a band together. First thing.
--Write a song a day.
--Meet two new people a week.
--Actually GO to the Songwriters Club at least once a month
--Keep my room as clean as I have been


Looking back, 2008 was a damn good year. Between all the concerts (Elton John, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, and all the Berklee shows), the Red Sox games (eleven total, counting the three over the summer), and traveling, it rocked. As I said earlier, I met some really awesome people, and Berklee was good. I really can't complain.

As for non-Berklee Resolutions/Goals:

--Run three days a week; workout twice a week
--Eat healthier
--Look/Feel my best everyday
--Sleep better (haha)
--Find a good, upcoming artist every week
--Twitter better

I'll think of some more, I'm sure, but for now, I'll stick to those.

Happy New Year!

The Variety Hour

I couldn't think of a title for this one because there is so much to cover.

I got contacts. See, I used to wear glasses. I had them for seven years. Then my eye doctor told me that if I didn't want to wear them, I didn't have to. So I didn't. I had braces at the time, and I really didn't want both. So I opted out of glasses.
Then recently I began to notice that my left eye was (and always has been/always will be) significantly weaker than my right eye. So I went to the eye doctor's and got contacts. And they were a lot harder to put in than I thought they would be. I can put them in fine now, but it took three people to put them in the first day. I have incredible blink-reflexes (and just good reflexes in general). When I see something coming at my eyes my immediate reaction is to shut them--like most people. If you've ever tried to put eye-liner on me, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I have to go back next Thursday to make sure the prescription is right. We've been having problems with that. First it was too weak, and gave me a wicked headache. And it's possible it may be too strong now. We'll see.

Moving on.

I had a skimboarding competition Sunday. I was the only girl, so I automatically won in my division. I got a cool sweatshirt and some stickers. There's another one at the end of the month, and I'm definitely entering it. It'll be at Biddeford Pool, my home field. The one on Sunday was at Old Orchard Beach at high tide, and it was bad. Luckily I was the only girl because I did horrible. Sunday was also the day of Wimbledon which I will not talk about.

I had a "lesson" Monday. It wasn't really a lesson at all. Bob and I just sat there and talked, and then my mom and Dale came over because Dale wanted to meet Bob. So to make her happy, I let her meet Bob. She picked a good day to meet him because we didn't do anything with guitar. It was more like, "What do you want to do?" "I don't know..What do you think we should do?" "I don't know..It's hot." My mom and Dale showed up around quarter of five. So Bob gave us the Grand Tour (I was the veteran of the group), and Dale was happy. Then we did our favorite thing (aside form music)--we talked..conversed sounds better. I love my guitar lessons. I love seeing Bob. It's the best part of my week. I love my other friends more than I could say, but they can't play guitar. And we all know how much I love guitar.

I don't feel like talking about my horrible mini-golf round. I played so bad. We went last night (My mom, Dale, myself, Danielle, Alyssa, and Lyn), and after a certain point I just stopped trying because I played so bad. Alyssa won.

Today I went to the beach. It was beautiful. Dale and I went in the water, and then I was so tired from waking up at 7:45 to go to the eye doctor's for the third time this week, I fell asleep. I never take naps, and I never nap at the beach. But the sun was just right and I was so tired that I just dozed off. I had planned on reading, but that didn't happen. I'm still tired now. My mom said she's never seen a generation as tired as mine. So many of my friends nap all the time, it's crazy. I never nap. I hate naps, once I'm up, I'm up. Let me go full speed ahead until 11ish or later, and then I'll sleep like a baby. Which I will do tonight I'm sure.

It looks like we're ordering my mom's Mac tomorrow. My dad is still anti-Mac. Once he tries this, he won't want to go back to PCs. Macs don't break. They're much more use-friendly. And they're more fun. And I'm all about fun. They might be a bit more money, but they're worth it in the end (because they don't break).

The other day I figured out a way to record and have both the guitar and the vocals sound decent. The actual quality of the recording is still bad, but it's better than nothing for now. But you can't get very good quality with a computer microphone that cost sixteen dollars. If I don't get the Mac, then I'll go out and get a 4-track and a good microphone. Either way, I'll get a good microphone. But the Mac has an infinite-track recorder with Garage Band.

I think I'm coming down with a cold. I better be over it by Saturday (John Mayer!!). Speaking of JM, I gotta call Matt and figure out what time we're gonna leave.

My hand hurts. I'm gonna go now.