Berklee Summer Semester

Based on your track, your classes during the Berklee Summer Semester will include the following:

Guitar Track

• Private Instruction (two credits): Study one-on-one with a Berklee faculty member to improve your technique and overall musicianship.
• Four Guitar Labs/Ensembles (four credits): Enhance your understanding of a variety of contemporary styles or focus on areas such as sight reading or soloing.
• Survey of Guitar Styles (two credits): Explore contemporary guitar players and styles through listening exposure and transcriptions.

Songwriting Track

• Songwriting 1 (two credits): Explore songwriting techniques in a variety of styles to develop a strong sense of form, melody, harmony, bass line development, and rhythm.
• Lyric Writing 1 (two credits): Study the structural aspects of lyric writing with an emphasis on compositional decisions and the choices available to you. 
• Singer-Songwriter Workshop (two credits): Write and perform your own material, developing your ability to express your persona to the audience with the song as your vehicle.
• Business of Songwriting (two credits): Learn the business considerations of songwriting, including making and marketing demos, copyright law, publishing contracts, sources of royalty income, performance societies, and collection agencies.

As a student in the Berklee Summer Semester, you will have access to Berklee's many resources, such as:

• Practice rooms
• Ensemble rehearsal rooms
• Visiting artist clinics
• Stan Getz Library and Media Center
• Learning Center
• Career Development Center
• Counseling Services
• Campus Life Center
• Student discounts on tickets to Berklee concerts

No audition is required. You will need a minimum of two years of formal music training or experience in your area of study (guitar or songwriting), and a good working knowledge of the written fundamentals of music theory (including rhythmic notation, melodic notation in treble and bass clefs, key signatures, major and minor scales, intervals, and the construction of triads and seventh chords). 

Students currently attending a university program may earn transferable credit through completion of the Berklee Summer Semester. Check with your institution to see what credits can be applied.