Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.
Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/180042
For the past two decades, Diamond and scores of his education colleagues have used his curriculum successfully with thousands of students. Diamond hopes that his online practice support system—which marries comprehensive methodology with the power of technology—may reboot pianoeducation methods for the iGeneration. "I believe the Diamond Piano Method could become one of the go-to piano curriculums of the near future," he says. "Its emphasis on empowering students to create original music and not to just play what's on the page is exactly what this YouTube-oriented generation wants and deserves. Technology is now developed enough to allow musicians all over the world to communicate and share with one another, and my method is uniquely capable of bringing people into that fold. I think the time is right for a piano-instruction reboot." discipline that simultaneously stimulates both sides of the brain. Many consider the left side to be analytical, and the right creative and emotional. Vega has noted that the majority of Rauner's students at the top of their class are in the band. "Stamp is fond of saying that musicians take black-andwhite symbols on the page and make colors with them," Vega says. "I want my students to be able to add color to their own worlds when they leave here." Vega has a ready-made bond with his students because they share commonalities. "My family was on welfare too," he says. "But my parents were able to get off and provide a life for me and my sister. I tell these kids that there's no reason for them to fall into generational poverty or think they can't succeed. With a bit of hard work, success will always follow." Music Education with a Colombian Twist Many of Berklee's international alumni return home eager to share the knowledge they've acquired with their countrymen, and several have founded music schools. One notable case is Escuela de Música Moderna Audio y Tecnologia (EMMAT) in Bogotá, Colombia. Established in 2007, EMMAT began humbly with a few dozen students in its frst semester. But by spring 2013, 180 students were enrolled. Over the past six years, more than 1,000 students, averaging from 15 to 25 years old, have studied there. Some 20 EMMAT alumni have continued their education at Berklee and 100 have pursued further studies and professional careers in far-fung locations including America's top music cities, plus Spain, England, Germany, Australia, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, and more. The success of EMMAT is the result of a lot of hard work by Alejandro Cajiao '05, fellow Colombian alumni, and others to create a school unlike any other in their country. "Many music schools here teach only classical or Colombian folkloric music styles," Cajiao says. "A few music departments at the universities have a small jazz department. We're different from the others because we start out teaching much of the Berklee core curriculum, plus courses on Colombian styles. After our students take those, they can concentrate on composition, music production, or performance." Founding EMMAT wasn't Cajiao's idea. After earning his Berklee degree in flm scoring, Cajiao moved to Los Angeles to fnd work. When pieces weren't readily falling into place, he pondered returning to Colombia and opening a production studio with his friend Alejandro Morales. The two Alejandros also discussed Morales's cousin, Maria Jose Gerry Diamond '89 Mark Small Piano Instruction Reboot Like many music professionals, pianist Gerry Diamond '89 left Berklee determined to make his mark on the world as a performer. He wanted to establish himself as a piano-playing singer/songwriter. "After a couple years of gigging and [doing] intermittent jingle work, I found that I needed to prop up my income a bit," Diamond says. "Teaching piano was a natural extension of my skill set." But his educational efforts became more than just an additional revenue stream. Diamond soon discovered that he had a real passion for teaching piano. "At frst, I really just viewed teaching piano as steady, part-time work," he says. "However, I quickly found that introducing students to the world of music was incredibly energizing for me in a way I hadn't anticipated." Diamond now operates a booming practice at Family Piano Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's assembled a staff of 17 instructors to teach some 400 students. He also employs a full-time manager to run the business so that he has time to teach as well as to develop and market his own curriculum. Diamond cites his curriculum as a key to the popularity of his academy. Once word spread through the local community that Diamond's students were writing their own music as well as playing others', his business blossomed. Early on, Diamond vowed to bring the "aha" moments he experienced in his Berklee harmony, ear training, and songwriting classes to his own piano students. Sifting through available curricula, he concluded that a methodology geared toward young students had yet to be written. "I was determined to share the basic theory knowledge I learned at Berklee," Diamond says. "But I became frustrated with the lack of beginner and intermediate piano curricula in the marketplace that included this essential information. So I started by writing supplemental material for my students to help them to begin exploring arranging, improvising, and songwriting. By 1995 this supplemental material had grown into the frst fve-volume edition of my Diamond Piano Method." Three factors distinguish Diamond's method from others. Because he is a songwriter rather than a classical pianist, he has geared the curriculum to connect with the pop sensibilities of his students in a way that other methods don't. Diamond's method also introduces students to movabledo solfêge with a continued emphasis on transposition as a launching pad to chord analysis, arranging, improvisation, and music writing. The third and most recent addition to the curriculum uses technology to enhance the connections between the students and teachers. "We launched an online practice support system last year at www.diamondpiano. com," he says. "More than 1,000 video and audio fles corresponding to the songs in the curriculum are available to our students 24/7. There are fun theory games, self-checking tests, built-in incentives, and 'best practice' teacher forums. It offers a real connection with their teacher that students can utilize during the six days of the week on which they don't have a lesson." From the left: Alejandro Cajiao '05, Maria Morales '01 (aka Majo), Pablo Schlesinger '98, and Matteo de los Rios '05. Fall2013 29