Studying Music Online

Mark Hopkins is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Berklee College of Music, as a Guitarist/Songwriting Major, in 2009. Mark is a regular gigging musician who has toured extensively and released 6 albums in the past 10 years. You can hear some of Mark’s music at www.markhopkinsmusic.com.

Howdy Folks!

So, in my last Blog I talked about how you get started when playing slide in open E tuning; now we’re going to get on the path to feeling more comfortable playing finger-style while in that tuning. This Blog will include Major/Minor/Dominant 7 Chords as well as a short description of harnessing your basic box Pentatonic scale. I am trying to get to the point where I can play a whole night on my Open E guitar and still feel as comfortable as I am in standard tuning. This is going to be a long road for me, but here are some tools and tricks I have found on the path thus far.

Here’s a Video of my band (Mark Hopkins & the Hotel) jamming Cissy Strut while in open E:

So, be fearless – tune that thing to Open E and explore. I am no where near where I want to be, as far as skill is concerned, but taking risks and falling on my face is all part of the process. Every show I get more comfortable in that tuning and I am sure you will too!

Funk Nugget:

Best of Luck String Slingers!

-Mark

www.markhopkinsmusic.com

Want to take your guitar chops to the next level? Check out our guitar courses and certificates.

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on January 14th, 2013

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

Doug Orey is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2009 where he earned a degree in Music Business and Management. He is currently an avid gigging musician heavily involved in the Boston rock scene. He is the lead singer/rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for The Field Effect (www.thefieldeffectmusic.com/). He enjoys pizza and also has a beard.

So you have the line-up. You have the name. You have the songs. You’ve practiced until your fingers hurt and your lungs are empty. You’ve even picked those killer new shoes. You’re ready to take the stage and unleash your sonic awesomeness live upon the masses. So how do you get that first show?

When you have a brand new band booking those first few shows can be the hardest part. No one has heard of you so why should they book you at their venue? Johnny Slick says you can play his bar on Wednesday night at 6pm if you pay him $100 and guarantee you can bring at least 20 people willing to pay a $15 cover! As enticing as this deal sounds…don’t take it. I’ve heard a few different folks say you should expect to pay venue managers or promoters to play early on in your young band’s career. I’m here to tell you that you should NEVER pay to play. So here are a few tips, from my own experience, to help you nail down that first show.

Go to other shows. There is no doubt in my mind that there are other bands where you are. Get out there and go meet them. Become friends with them, especially bands that play music similar to your band. Don’t be afraid to talk to them about your project and what you’re hoping to do. Build up a solid rapport with the other bands on the scene and express your interest in opening one of their shows. We’re all in this together and every band remembers what it was like to book their first show.

Open mics are your friend. While not my favorite thing in the world, I acknowledge they can be a lot of fun. One thing about open mics that tends to be true nearly everywhere you go is they are run by fellow musicians from the local music scene. I just mentioned going to shows and meeting other bands…this gives folks from those bands an opportunity to hear some of your songs. If they like what they hear, you just upped your chances of landing an opening slot. Not to mention you might be able to earn a few fans!

Start small, be realistic and be honest. Everyone wants to play on a Friday or Saturday night to a packed house. The chances of this happening your first time out are going to be slim to none. If you’re e-mailing venues in town looking to book a show, start small. They are bound to ask what you think your draw is. If you think you can only get 10 friends out to the gig…tell them 10. Clubs talk to each other. If you tell one club that you can bring 100 people out and only 13 people show up they aren’t going to be happy. Start small, build your fan base and keep your reputation high.

If you want to be part of your local scene it’s important to immerse yourself in it. Be social and be sure to show your support for the other bands. We’re all in this together and want to help each other out the best we can.

Doug

www.thefieldeffectmusic.com
@thefieldeffect

Check out our Online Music Marketing course if you are interested in leveraging all of your digital marketing efforts.

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on September 24th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

Mark Hopkins is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Berklee College of Music, as a Guitarist/Songwriting Major, in 2009. Mark is a regular gigging musician who has toured extensively and released 6 albums in the past 10 years. You can hear some of Mark’s music at www.markhopkinsmusic.com.

Howdy Folks!

As a regular gigging musician I often get flooded with questions from other guitarists about what amps, effects and guitars I use. As an advisor I get into a lot of the same conversations on the phone with other guitarist (mostly about what guitars I recommend they buy) whether they be seasoned professionals, amateurs or hobbyists. My goal in this blog is to inform you of my 22 year guitar hunt, which I hope will help you find your next perfect instrument.

As a kid you don’t know anything about guitars, pickups, amps, effects etc… So you deal with the hand you are dealt – not to mention you have no income as a 7th grader so you don’t get the right to be picky. I had no intentions to learn the guitar and then on my 10th birthday my parents presented me with a red Yamaha electric. It sat in my room for a year staring me down every day saying “learn me you fool” – so finally, a year later, I started private guitar lessons…. I am so glad I did because it has turned into a life long passion. I digress. That guitar had a cool configuration: 2 single coils (1 in the neck the other in the middle position) and a humbucker in the bridge. I liked that guitar because it gave me the best of both worlds (strat/les paul) although I did not know it at the time. I still have it – yet it has not seen any stage time in decades.

Soon after starting lessons I discovered Jimmy Page and was in awe of his sheer rock mystique. I was totally hypnotized by his old flame top Les Paul’s! I intensely lusted after a Les Paul, so I saved up some money from odd jobs and birthdays and bought a Black Les Paul Studio with chrome hardware in 1993! I loved that guitar; it was pure rock n’ roll and I recorded two albums with it. At that point in my career (if you could even call it that cuz I was still in high school) I didn’t appreciate that guitar enough or understand it’s legacy and tonal capabilities, which leads me to events that would follow. While recording the 2nd record I used one of the studio’s Fender Stratocasters on a tune that I thought needed more spank and twang and I fell in love! Up until that point I had never played a Strat and it was like the instrument was made for my hands. Sadly I sold the Les Paul – but gained an American Standard Strat , which has been with me since my early college years.

After the Strat everything snowballed! My obsession with guitars, amps and tone has only become more potent with my maturing career and currently I have guitars for any occasion: 2 Fender Strats, 1 King Bee Telecaster (they rule, it’s my current #1 www.kingbeeguitars.com, 1 Ibanez Hollowbody for the Jazz stuff, 1 Epiphone SG tuned to open E for slide guitar and a Taylor 714 CE for the acoustic gigs. Here’s some pics of my current six strings:

Strat 1

Strat 2

King Bee

Ibanez

Epiphone

Taylor

You might be asking – where is this blog going? Well, I agree with you, but I guess that’s the point. It’s a constant evolution of preferences. Here are a few things I think might prove helpful for those of you on the guitar prowl considering my experience:

1. My first suggestion to any player is this; play 100 guitars before you make a decision. With every guitar I bought, I played countless before I settled on one. As cheesy as it sounds, the guitar will choose you. They are all different so try not to choose one just because you like the color. You will know when the “one” shreds into your life. Make sure the neck feels comfortable and that your arms/wrists don’t feel fatigued or in pain after clanging away for a bit.

2. Don’t feel intimidated when you walk into a guitar shop. Some salesman can be lame and snobby so no matter what guitar you can afford just tell them you will find them if you need help. Take your time and don’t feel rushed – this is an investment and you need to make the decision that is right for you. Oh and it’s okay to leave the shop empty handed.

3. Think about what music you listen to and what type of music you want to play. That will help you choose the right kind of pick up configuration. I am primarily a single coil type dude, but love having a couple other guitars with humbuckers when I need that tone. Keep in mind if you love the feel of a guitar but aren’t blown away by the pickups that you can always swap pickups – that can make all the difference in the world!

4. There are many schools of thought when it comes to finger boards ie Maple vs. Rosewood. Some say Maple is brighter and Rosewood has a warmer/darker sound – honestly I think it just comes down to what feels better to you. There is no reason to get caught up in that debate when purchasing an instrument. I have always preferred rosewood boards to maple because of the way they play, not for how they sound (which is not even that much different if at all). It’s in your hands folks so that’s the best judge as you move from guitar to guitar.

5. Play the guitar through an amp that you think you might be purchasing or already have. That will give you a good indication of how your amp and hands react with the new guitar; which in turn will help make your decision that much easier. If the shop does not carry your particular amplifier – bring yours! It’s your investment, you should be happy with the decision.

I really hope that helps you guys find the axe you’re looking for! As guitarists, we’ll always be buying and selling our instruments.- it’s the nature of the poor musician. I like all of the guitar flavors and hope to explore every option before I leave this earth…it’s just plain fun!

Happy hunting and I hope you find the guitar that melts your face.

Stay Classy Berkleemusic,

Mark

www.markhopkinsmusic.com

Want to take your guitar chops to the next level? Check out our guitar courses and certificates.

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on September 24th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

Mark Hopkins is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Berklee College of Music, as a Guitarist/Songwriting Major, in 2009. Mark is a regular gigging musician who has toured extensively and released 6 albums in the past 10 years. You can hear some of Mark’s music at www.markhopkinsmusic.com.

After years of studying every instrument I could get my hands on: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Harmonica, Trumpet, Trombone and Sax I realized I have been delaying the inevitable…Slide Guitar!!!

I have been a fan of slide guitar since I was in middle school, but never got the courage to attack it. Now that I have a decent amount of musical education under my belt I figured I would take the plunge. Oh what a plunge it was, or should I say is! It’s like relearning how to play guitar; which to me is exciting more than words can express.

For those of you not privy to slide guitar, it is one of the most expressive ways to play the instrument and no one personifies that nowadays more than, my personal hero, Derek Trucks. You’ll notice that in the video clip below Derek makes his SG take on a vocal like quality- something that can only be achieved with slide guitar. Plus he has a killer touch on the instrument which reinstates the mantra “tone is in the hands of the player”.

Derek plays slide, much like his predecessor Duane Allman, in open E tuning which takes a bit to get used to when you have been playing guitar for over 20 years in standard tuning. How do you get used to open E – well I am not sure there is a right and wrong way to go about it, but I can tell you a few things I am doing that have drastically helped me.

1) Take your guitar to someone who knows what they are doing that can set up your instrument for open E slide. Make sure you do not set the action too high because you will want the option to go back and forth with the slide and fretted style.

2) Draw a map of your fret board (writing in all notes) from 1st to 12th fret so you can familiarize yourself with the differences between standard and open E. If you know your theory this will immediately help you visualize your fret board.

3) Find a slide that feels comfortable. It shouldn’t feel bulky and obtrusive. Also, find one with a timbre that really resonates with you (no pun intended). I prefer glass, but a lot of players dig on metal/brass as well.

4) Buy some CD’s and start listening and copying everything you hear. Don’t just buy Allman Bros. and Trucks albums, get the best of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin etc… Learn to play lyrically and vocal like. This will in turn spill over into your standard tuning skills as well.

That is a great place to get started. Now let’s learn a few things to get the ball rolling! In this first clip let’s discuss vibrato.

Now that you have that under your belt let’s examine one of the most important aspects of learning slide…Right Hand Technique.

I hope this was interesting to you guitar nerds out there. I am really enjoying the process of slide guitar; and if you, like me, want to play more soulfully inspired music- this is one way to get yourself to that next level.

Best of luck guys!

-Mark Hopkins

www.markhopkinsmusic.com

Check out our new Acoustic Blues Guitar course which gets into some awesome bottle-neck slide techniques.

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on June 25th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

Mark Hopkins is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Berklee College of Music, as a Guitarist/Songwriting Major, in 2009. Mark is a regular gigging musician who has toured extensively and released 6 albums in the past 10 years. You can hear some of Mark’s music at www.markhopkinsmusic.com.

As a student advisor this is a question I get asked often. Students are quite perplexed by how online courses work; I am here (as a guitarist and Guitar Master Certificate holder) to clear up all those gray areas for you!

The main argument is… “why shouldn’t I just invest my money into a private instructor?” Well, you definitely could go that route, but writing this blog as a guitarist of 22 years I can attest to the fact that great teachers are few and far between. I have spent mucho dinero on private instruction that got me in a room with a bunch of great players, who mostly like to talk about themselves. Before you know it your hour, or worse – half hour- is done. For me, as a life long student of music, I need a raging fire under me to motivate and push me to the next level! Private instruction doesn’t really deliver on that 100% of the time, but our online courses do.

I went through the guitar program at the main campus and after finishing up at Berklee I got a job here at Berkleemusic! Taking advantage of the amazing guitar curriculum we offer, I jumped into the Master Guitar Certificate right away. I was simply looking to maintain and juice up my chops- ya know, get in that shed and start chopping wood! I can say, with all honesty, it delivered… and then some. Every week I was challenged with 1-2 assignments where I was responsible for performing with a backing track and submitting it to my teacher. I love this format! It pushed me to up the ante on each assignment during the 12 week courses. Even courses like Chords and Scales 101 were absolutely amazing in helping revisit my fundamentals and technique. After completing all 8 courses involved in the Master Certificate I am an even better player than when I left the main campus. I noticed a huge difference in my playing and musicality. Not only do I feel intensely more comfortable on my neck, but I am hearing things at a deeper level than I was before.

With a bigger set of ears, my musical communication with my Trio has vastly expanded. I have now reached the point where I finally feel comfortable and understand how to craft my guitar tone the way I always heard it. With classes like Getting Your Guitar Sound you get to unleash the inner gear nerd from within and explore amps and effects like never before with the software Amplitube. If you are a tone nut (like me) and want to learn more about how your gear works, while also improving yourself as a player you will dig on that class hard. I got to play through amp mods that I have always dreamed of: Orange, Marshall, Vox and even old Fender Blackface amps. I have a 71 Twin Reverb that I mic’d and A/B’d with the vintage Fender amps in Amplitube… you cannot tell the difference. In fact, I have used a bunch of these amps on my latest tracks because they are so convincing! Not to mention I can come back to a guitar solo 3 days later and the tone is dialed in exactly the same so punches aren’t an issue at all. Y’all gotta check that class out it was one of my faves!

I genuinely believe in the education we offer here at Berkleemusic and I continue to take classes online whenever I can. It’s a great investment that you will never regret, and it’s a gift that you will cherish your whole life and a guitarist. I don’t think I’ll ever stop seeking out education, knowing more about my guitar makes it that much more enjoyable to sit down and play every day.

See ya guys soon, I’m off to the wood shed.

Mark Hopkins
www.markhopkinsmusic.com

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on April 2nd, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

Mark Hopkins is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Berklee College of Music, as a Guitarist/Songwriting Major, in 2009. Mark is a regular gigging musician who has toured extensively and released 6 albums in the past 10 years. You can hear some of Mark’s music on myspace.com/markhopkinsmusic

We talked about his experience as a Berklee student, the importance of music fundamentals and his approach to composition. It was quite an honor to pick Wayne’s brain and if you are a fan of music, like I am, you have to see this interview.

Hey, it’s Amy Heidemann!  Like my fellow advisor Liam mentioned, we get to chat with students everyday, so we wanted to feature a “Weekly Favorite” Certificate Program to give you guys the inside scoop.  I’m actually in the midst of the Master Certificate in Music Business and Technology myself, so you’re getting the DIRECT inside scoop here…

My ultimate career goal is to be a self-sufficient artist.  I want to write, perform, record, produce, and market my music!  The reason I chose the Music Business and Technology Master Certificate is because I already have a pretty solid background in performance and songwriting.  I wanted a program to teach me the business lingo and important topics on royalties, publishing laws, and marketing techniques for getting my music out there.  I also needed to know how to record my own, professional sounding demos at home.  There are so many great Certificates to chose from, so why this particular one?

First, I like that it splits Business and Technology right down the middle.  You get half business courses (all essentials for any artist or producer) and half technology or production-based courses.  Hiring a lawyer to consult me about that certain paragraph on a contract or agreement about money issues just doesn’t sit right.  I want to know the basics on how to read contracts and get what I want in terms of revenue and copyright ownership. On the other hand, when I write a song or want to put something down, I can just flip on my system and go!  I am also excited to learn how to edit my performances, tweak the vocal sound, and get a real effective demo put online as an mp3.  Paying $50 -$100 per hour at a studio got very frustrating, especially when it didn’t come out sounding the way I wanted.

Finally, after you’ve gotten into Publishing, Marketing, Recording, Producing, and other valuable areas of study, you have three elective courses.  I chose Critical Listening 1 because I had some issues with feedback and noise interference in my audio tracks.  Finding the solution for this can take a good amount of trouble-shooting, so I figured, why not eliminate it entirely?

Since I chose the Critical Listening course from the provided list of “Recommended Electives,” I am now able to choose the other two electives from ANYWHERE in the catalog.  So, naturally I took a guitar course (so much fun)! Rhythm and Groove Guitar with Bruce Bartlett taught me the real meaning of “pocket.”  Now my rhythm playing/accompaniment to my singing is a lot more natural sounding and diversified.  Prior to this course, I caught myself playing only one rhythmic figure—problem solved.  I’ll be saving my final elective for later because I’ve heard Berkleemusic is launching some awesome new courses this Fall.  In fact, Berkleemusic launches new courses almost every term—so why get tied down?

In conclusion, the Master Certificate in Music Business and Technology is a fantastic program that fits me perfectly.  I’ve recommended it for many other students who have similar interests and they always seem very relieved that there’s a Certificate Program that fits their goals so perfectly.  Get in touch with a Student Advisor if you’d like to find out if this is a good fit for you. If not, there are many other Certificates we’ll be featuring in later weeks.

If so, I’ll see you in class!