Music schools for bassists?

First, let me introduce myself, I'm Muss, and I've been playing bass for several years now, and I'm now looking for the right music school for me.

It's important to say that I'm looking for a school that really focuses on the bass, meaning a school with a bass program (for instance MI in los angeles, or Berklee).

I've already got some info on these schools:

-Musicians institute in los angeles

-LA music academy

-The players school (jeff berlin's school)

and I'm waiting for an e mail response from Berklee for more info..

So if anyone as attended on the above bass programs, and could give me some more info that would be great!

so let me know of any school that fits in this criteria!

also,It's important to say I'm from Israel, so I'm looking for a school that will really prepare me for "the real world" and would be as close to the industry as possible ( this is why I think the los angeles schools are good, you are really close to the industry. honestly I just dont wanna graduate from a a kick ass school and just "go home", I wanna find jobs, and continue with the music!

thanks a million,

Muss

A a buddy of mine was studying bass at a university here, and one thing that strikes me about his experience is that the specific school doesn't matter a whole lto, because what he ended up doing was intensive study mostly with one instructor.

Although he was at a pretty podunk university (WTAMU in Canyon TX) he was studying wiht a really great musician and learned quite a bit.

I can't say that any school really prepares people for "the real" world, and at least where I live there is so little industry that "preparing for the real world" entails learning how to teach lesson, learning how to rehearseand manage high school orchestras, and learning how to arrange stuff for other people. Which is what you'll find in a lot of performance programs in real universities in the US.

But if you look around at colleges and univeristies that offer various BA degrees in music, you'll find that there are a whole, whole lot of places you can go. It comes down to visiting (or at least interviewing by phone) the specific faculty with whom you'd like to study. Of course, in those types of programs, you'd be required to study a wider range of m aterials including arts and sciences. That might be distracting, or it might be a big benefit.

I don't know what you'd get at a school that only taught you how to play bass, though, so I can't comment on that.

My wife is in the bass program at Atlanta Institute of Music. They have guaranteed placement after graduation, so you'd definitely have some sort of music job after you graduate. Here's the website if you're interested:

http://www.atlantainstituteofmusic.com/index.html

"They have guaranteed placement after graduation."

That is interesting. Where and how? Does your wife know where folks are getting jobs as bass players?

Actually I'm not sure a BA is what I'm looking for, right now I think that a diploma would do the job much better for me, for the exact reasons you said...

"you'd be required to study a wider range of m aterials including arts and sciences. That might be distracting"

yesterday I met a guitarist who graduated from berklee, and he told that he went for the degree program, and after few months, he switched to the diploma program.

he told me that he found himself "wasting his time" studying subjects he wasn't interested in, but those subject are "musts" in order to get a degree (I think he signed uo to the BA program at first...). those subject also took from his practice time, that as we all know,is very very important.

he told me that having the diploma from Berklee, does the same "wow" effect that a degree does, and honestly, this is music, and having a degree doesn't make you a better musician than another musician with no degree....

actually, no piece of paper makes you a better musician

That's the only bass instruction video you ever need:

Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens:

The solo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK_AgQ5hkVc

First of all, if you think that learning less in life will help you learn more... then maybe you aren't ready for college/university. If you can't handle learning that many things at once and a fast pace of life... then maybe you need to find a simple desk job instead of trying to enter into the music industry.

I think there's a handful of legitimate choices for music:

Berklee- Great if you're going into pop/rock/jazz.

Julliard- Great if you actually want to actually learn to play AND be able to charge out the wazoo for it afterward by playing in unions and such.

Miami- I've heard good things

NorthWestern- I've heard they don't have a bad program either.

Seriously, if you don't think that taking English or Humanities classes will help you be a better musician, thinker, communicator and a better person overall then you should really rethink your entire plan. Learning more never hurts.

DavidFisher, on one hand learning never hurts, but the thing is that I'm going to spend all of my money on studying _music_, and I have to stay focused on my target=music(not English or Humanities)... don't I?

also what do you people think about studying with a kickass private teacher insted of going to a school (taking lessons from lets say areal big bassist in LA, and while learning I can also get in the scene and all), just an idea a friend offerd me, and I havn't thought of until now...

a quick clarifying question

Are you studying double bass or bass 'guitar'?

(or both?)

"DavidFisher, on one hand learning never hurts, but the thing is that I'm going to spend all of my money on studying _music_, and I have to stay focused on my target=music(not English or Humanities)... don't I?

also what do you people think about studying with a kickass private teacher insted of going to a school (taking lessons from lets say areal big bassist in LA, and while learning I can also get in the scene and all), just an idea a friend offerd me, and I havn't thought of until now..."

Both dedicated music study and private lessons are valid models for gaining great technical skills in music, and I see a lot of folks who have done either of those things. And even in US universities, students studying music will put that study before all other things, and mostly view anything else as a distraction.

To an extent, they treat it the way athletes treat college; they see it as a good way to get into the bigger leagues.

Unfortunately, the analogy goes even farther than that comparison. After college, many student athletes have learned very little outside of their chosen field and, after graduation, are unable to pursue a career as a professional athlete.

Similarly, there are so few jobs for professional musicians in the US that the odds are almost the same as pursuing a career in professional sports.

However, there are more possibilites for people who have BA degrees; education and orchestral performance (I assume that you play electric bass) are some possibilities.

More abstractly, music is an art, and while there are a lot of people who are great technicians, few have much to express with their art because they haven't really given much thought to anything outside their most basic and immediate concerns. While I have a lot of complaints about the university system in the US (to disclose I am writing this from my beautiful office at one of those institutions), one thing is that it does offer at least the chance at having more to think about then technique and thus the opportunity to have more to your art than pure technique.