What Music Teaches You

In the sixth of a series of videos to feature Berklee faculty and administrators talking about the value of a music education, Berklee Songwriting Department assistant professor Melissa Ferrick discusses the importance of music education as a resource for life—a way to develop skills to not just fall back on, but to ultimately help hold you up. Learn more about Berklee at

In the second of a series of videos to feature Berklee faculty and administrators talking about the value of a music education, String Department chair Melissa Howe discusses how students break the classical mold to learn the skill of improvisation and envision the music of tomorrow. Preparing yourself to make great music is hard work, but Berklee students have fun with it.

In the fifth of a series of videos to feature Berklee faculty and administrators talking about the value of a music education, Berklee Mediterranean Music Institute artistic director Javier Limon discusses how music education is less about popular success than it is about defining music as a way of life. In classes such as his Flamenco ensemble, he focuses on teaching students to apply the component parts of each style to help develop their own personal styles. Learn more at

In the fourth of a series of videos to feature Berklee faculty and administrators talking about the value of a music education, Berklee Music Production and Engineering Department associate professor Susan Rogers discusses how music teaches students "how to think, not what to think." Her work teaching music cognition and psychoacoustics at Berklee stresses scientific inquiry, which she has found to be primary among the skills of her students. Of the firm belief that music serves a function no other medium does, she asserts that the role of the musician in society is one of incalculable value.

In the third of a series of videos to feature Berklee faculty and administrators talking about the value of a music education, Berklee Global Jazz Institute artistic director Danilo Pérez discusses how music teaches students "to harmonize life," traversing otherwise impenetrable borders. The Global Jazz Institute combines academics and real-life experiences to prepare students to be great human beings as well as great artists.

In the first of a series of videos to feature Berklee faculty talking about the value of a music education, Berklee president Roger H. Brown discusses how alumni apply the skills of improvisation and creativity to whatever they choose to do. In a radically changing music industry, they are creating the new music models for the 21st century.