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Studying Piano at Berklee
At Berklee, you will find your own voice and develop your own style. You will not be limited to one direction. We encourage you to experiment with other styles that interest you, so that you can challenge yourself and improve your skills. Berklee prepares you for today's music by building on traditional aspects of learning. Piano Department instruction emphasizes a foundation in the standard technical challenges of professional performance—scales, arpeggios, exercises such as Hanon, Czerny, and Pishna—as well as materials designed to help you master the many combinations of classical, jazz, pop, and rock styles common in today's music. We also provide intensive training in sight-reading and in chord symbol terminology and chord voicing.
Private Lessons
During your first week at Berklee, you will be auditioned by the piano faculty and placed with a private instructor best suited to your needs. You will participate in at least four semesters of private lessons. At the end of each semester, you must pass a final exam that covers the skills you have learned.
Instrumental Labs
These group lessons bring together piano players of similar skill levels and provide training in specific aspects of piano performance. Many of the teaching materials used in these labs are created by the same Berklee faculty who will be teaching you. In addition to required lab subjects such as reading and comping, the elective labs/courses include:
- Advanced Comping (for funk/fusion, jazz, Latin, pop, roots/rock, and world beat styles)
- Advanced Reading
- Classical Repertory for Two Pianos
- Hammond Organ Techniques
- MIDI Performance
- New Music Improvisation
- Performance Ear Training for Keyboards
Course Work
The courses at Berklee are continually reviewed and evaluated so that they consistently reflect today's musical needs. In classes such as Contrapuntal Jazz Improvisation, Improvisational Theory, Piano Accompaniment Techniques, and Survey of Piano Styles, you will learn the history of your instrument, analyze its present-day challenges, and pursue an in-depth study of styles and techniques.
Ensembles
Through ensembles, you will hone essential performance skills and techniques. They help you broaden your stylistic range, give you experience playing with a variety of groups, and expand your network of musical friends and colleagues. Ensembles are offered in multiple sections with varying levels of ability. You choose the group and style that appeal to you. Your eligibility is determined by ongoing auditions that measure your growth as a performer. This system enables you to move into more advanced ensembles as you develop your skills.
More than 270 ensembles rehearse weekly at Berklee. These groups reflect nothing less than a full range of musical expression:
- Avant-garde Ensemble
- Berklee Recording Orchestra
- big band ensembles
- Chord Scale Madness Ensemble
- commercial pop/rock recording ensembles
- electronic/synth Ensembles
- funk bands
- fusion/rock ensembles
- Latin ensembles
- small group jazz ensembles
Visiting Artists
Through our Visiting Artist Series, you will receive valuable firsthand career insight from some of the finest performers, songwriters, film composers, music business experts, and music professionals from every sector of the industry. Visiting piano professionals have included Kenny Barron, George Cables, Cyrus Chestnut '85, Chick Corea, Hal Galper '57, Barry Harris, Billy Joel, Andy Laverne, Lyle Mays, Don Muro, Danilo Perez '88, Kenny Werner '68, and James Williams.
The Piano Club
Open to all piano principals, the Piano Club hosts guest performers/speakers, informal student performances, regularly scheduled meetings, and other events determined by the group. This organization is completely managed by students and sponsored by the Student Activities Office.
Piano Rooms
All of the Piano Department's private teaching studios are equipped with two pianos to enable the teacher to play along or demonstrate. The studios have either a Yamaha Disklavier for recording and immediate playback or a Yamaha Clavinova digital electronic keyboard for rhythmic accompaniment and a wide variety of instrumental colors. You will also have access to more than 80 practice studios. In addition, there are larger group instruction rooms complete with the latest in digital electronic keyboards. Audiotape players, CD players, and digital sequence playback systems are used extensively for listening/analysis and for play-along purposes. Piano Department performances are often videotaped for subsequent faculty and student analysis.
Piano Faculty
One-on-one faculty-student interaction is a crucial element of your Berklee education. In preparation for a career in the music industry, it is essential that you work intensively with men and women who have been living that career. Berklee's piano faculty are innovative educators as well as experienced professional musicians. Their expertise in contemporary piano and keyboard techniques and technology makes them invaluable teachers. Berklee also is home to one of the largest and most diverse piano faculties in the world. Whether you wish to emphasize one musical style or prefer to explore a wide variety of styles, you will work with teachers who understand and demonstrate the highest standards.
Our piano faculty includes:
Paul T. Schmeling
Chair Emeritus
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- B.M., Boston Conservatory of Music
- Graduate studies, Boston University
- Performances at numerous festivals, on radio and television, and with Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Carol Sloane, Slide Hampton, and Ernestine Anderson
- Recordings with Dick Johnson, Phil Wilson, Herb Pomeroy, and Rebecca Parris
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Stephany Tiernan
Chair
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- B.M., Berklee College of Music
- M.M., New England Conservatory of Music
- Pianist
- Piano studies with Margaret Chaloff
- Accompanist for numerous instrumental, dance, and vocal performances
- Composer and performer of twentieth-century piano music
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Tony Germain
Assistant Chair
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- B.M., Berklee College of Music
- Performances with Judy Garland, Herb Pomeroy, Joe Hunt, and Dick Johnson
- Musical director, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well, Charles Playhouse
- Pianist and keyboardist with jazz and commercial groups
- Recordings include Forces with Jerry Tachoir; Risa's Waltz with Danny Harrington; Until Further Notice with Steve Rochinski; Sasha Sings Dinah, A Tribute to the Queen, Dinah Washington with Sasha Daltonn; Happy Talk with Christine Fawson; At Last with Kimberly Keating; Read Between the Lines with Jan Shapiro; Live at the Firehouse with Danny Harrington; The Berklee Great American Songbook series; and for Acuff-Rose, Nashville
- Published articles in Keyboard and Berklee Today magazines
- Professional performing and recording artist
- Television and radio experience, including Community Auditions/ Dave Maynard Talent Showcase, WBZ, Channel 4, Boston; Jack Harris Show, Detroit; Nick Cluny Show, Cincinnati; Music America, WGBH Radio, Boston; and Grand Ole Opry, Nashville
- Performer and clinician, Berklee on the Road programs in Umbria, Puerto Rico, and Los Angeles
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View all Piano Department faculty...
Berklee College of Music
Berklee was founded on two revolutionary ideas: that musicianship could be taught through the music of the time; and that our students need practical, professional skills for successful, sustainable music careers. While our bedrock philosophy has not changed, the music around us has and requires that we evolve with it.
For over half a century, we've demonstrated our commitment to this approach by wholeheartedly embracing change. We update our curriculum and technology to make them more relevant, and attract diverse students who reflect the multiplicity of influences in today's music. We prepare our students for a lifetime of professional and personal growth through the study of the arts, sciences, and humanities. And we are developing new initiatives to reach and influence an ever-widening audience.
More than a college, Berklee has become the world's singular learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow. We are a microcosm of the music world, reflecting the interplay between music and culture; an environment where aspiring music professionals learn how to integrate new ideas, adapt to changing musical genres, and showcase their distinctive skills in an evolving community. We are at the center of a widening network of industry professionals who use their openness, virtuosity, and versatility to take music in surprising new directions.
Performance Facilities
The Berklee Performance Center, our largest facility, seats 1,220 and is constantly alive with student and faculty concerts sponsored by the college or professional performances sponsored by independent music producers. In addition, Berklee maintains four professional-quality recital halls for smaller concerts and gatherings. All in all, more than 650 performances take place each year at Berklee. As you progress musically, you are sure to be part of many of them.
Learning Resources
The Stan Getz Media Center and Library - offers an extensive collection of printed materials, audiotapes of Berklee performances and seminars, videotapes of concerts and clinics, and other instructional media for student use.
Career Development Center - provides career counseling, a job board listing hundreds of employment opportunities, an extensive career library, and Macintosh computers for student use. This office also houses the Berklee Career Network, which provides students and alumni assistance in reaching their career goals.
Learning Center - equipped with 40 computer-based MIDI workstations, 15 cassette stations, four tutoring/private study rooms, and a technology-based classroom, this is the largest networked music technology facility of its kind in the world.
Studio and Lab Facilities
Berklee offers a wide range of facilities specifically designed to help you realize your goal of becoming a professional musician. The technology at Berklee is that of the industry—the same equipment being used in studios and concert halls around the world.
Recording Studio Complex - consists of 12 studio facilities that include 8-, 16-, and 24-track digital and analog recording capability, automated mixdown, digital editing, video postproduction, and comprehensive signal processing facilities.
Synthesis Labs - feature more than 250 MIDI and digitally equipped synthesizers, expanders, drum machines, sequencers, and computers, including hard-disk recording.
Professional Performance Division MIDI Lab
This five-station lab is designed to support your study of new electronic instrumental controller techniques. Featuring Macintosh computers, various synthesizer modules, and the latest in guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, and woodwind MIDI controllers, the lab enables you to learn to adapt traditional playing techniques to complex electronic setup and control environments.
Professional Writing Division MIDI Lab - offers the ability to produce high-quality demos of compositions, arrangements, and songs at individual workstations.
Film Scoring Labs - provide professional training in film music composition, editing, sequencing, and computer applications.
Coming to Berklee
Once a year, Berklee sets aside a week to showcase each instrumental department. Piano Week, which takes place during the spring semester, features major concert events, equipment demonstrations, industry exhibits, and clinics spotlighting visiting artists and piano faculty members.
Berklee Summer Programs
In addition to Berklee's full-time course of study, the college also offers 14 short summer programs focusing on a variety of instruments and music topics. In particular, the five-week Summer Performance Program covers all aspects of performance. It includes classes, workshops, and participation in ensembles as well as private lessons, lecture/demonstrations by faculty and visiting artists, and exposure to the latest innovations in music technology.
For Further Information
For further information about the Piano Department, please contact the Piano Office at (617) 747-2277. The Piano Department also offers a monthly e-mail newsletter listing piano related performances and workshops in the Boston area, with an emphasis on jazz and classical styles. To subscribe, simply send us a blank e-mail.
Complete application information can be found in the Berklee prospectus as well as the bulletin. Information is also available on the many scholarships established for outstanding student instrumentalists and vocalists. For a copy of the Berklee prospectus or the bulletin, or for further information about Berklee College of Music, please contact the Office of Admissions at (800) BERKLEE (toll-free within the United States and Canada), or (617) 747-2222.
Write to us at:
Office of Admissions
Berklee College of Music
1140 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693
U.S.A.
Visit Admissions at:
921 Boylston Street, Suite 600
Boston, Massachusetts
E-mail us at admissions@berklee.edu.
Berklee College of Music does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender, national or ethnic origin, age, handicap, status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran, or sexual orientation in employment or in admission to and participation in any of its programs and activities. Any inquiries or grievances may be directed to the Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693, U.S.A., (617) 266-1400, or the Regional Director, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Boston, Massachusetts.
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