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Students come to Berklee because they are passionate about music and creativity—and because they seek expert guidance to help them realize their dreams of becoming artists and innovators of tomorrow. First-year students can begin this journey in Boston, or at Berklee’s state-of-the-art campus in the vibrant, culturally rich Mediterranean city of Valencia, Spain.
In Valencia, students will have the opportunity to begin their Berklee experience in a more intimate setting, one that places a strong emphasis on the global music industry and international career paths. Students will complete the same core curriculum taken by entering students on the Boston campus, while also enjoying an immersive cultural experience in one of the most important musical regions of Spain.
During the end of their first semester, students will work with an advisor to declare a major. Upon completion of their first-year studies in Valencia, students will transfer to the Boston campus to continue in their declared major for their degree or diploma and enjoy access to all available academic opportunities, such as minor programs of study or double majors.
Mediterranean Culture and Music
Strong Educational Foundation
Intimate Campus Setting
Berklee’s First Year Abroad program in Valencia, Spain, offers you all the benefits of a Berklee education while also providing a comprehensive and well-supported international experience in a small-campus environment. Just as in your entering year on Berklee’s Boston campus, the First Year Abroad program develops your musicianship and engages you in a coherent liberal arts curriculum that informs your thinking about issues that have shaped our time. At the same time, the First Year Abroad program provides a life-changing international experience to those students who are especially curious about the world around them.
By living in another country during your first college year, you will greatly expand your way of thinking. The program places you in a culturally diverse setting in Valencia, Spain, a city known for its rich history and its musical traditions. The program provides also provides you with the opportunity to interact with people of various backgrounds and perspectives, and to explore your new community through additional cocurricular travel and activities.
Living in residence halls with students from Spain and throughout Europe, you will also learn through the informal processes of dormitory life what it means to be a part of a diverse community. You'll learn to analyze problems on a global scale—an ability that can be difficult to master at any age. A year in Spain offers you the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the country’s people, music, culture and language. But more than this, you'll come to appreciate the diversity of the world in which we live, an appreciation essential in the global society of today.
College students, especially first year students, who study abroad often form a strong sense of community amongst themselves. Overseas, students depend on one another for support as they strive to balance their courses and the intricacies of an unfamiliar nation. Such bonds provide will provide you with a built-in network of close friends to start off your college experience. This is especially true in the small campus environment of Berklee’s Valencia location. These friendships will likely continue as you transition to the Boston campus to complete your undergraduate education and may very well serve you as a lifelong support network.
In addition to the first year learning mastered by all Berklee students, students who complete the First Year Abroad program will:
The process to apply to Berklee’s undergraduate program is the same, regardless if you want to do your first year in Boston or Valencia.
All applicants to the undergraduate program must complete and submit the online application at apply.berklee.edu. To be considered for the First Year Abroad program, simply indicate “yes” to the relevant question within the application, along with an additional personal statement about your interest in the program. Your interest in the program will not impact whether or not you are admitted to Berklee. Please note that you must be over 18 years of age when the program begins.
If you are accepted to the college, we will inform you in your admissions decision as to whether or not you are able to participate in the First Year Abroad program.
The Valencia campus experience offers students access to state-of-the-art recording, technology labs, and classrooms in an intimate academic setting. All students in their first year at Berklee complete a core curriculum in the fall and spring semesters. The below classes are typical for most degree students.
Students may receive advanced placement through a variety of methods including U.S. Advanced Placement exams, Berklee entering student proficiency assessments, and/or transfer credit. For those students, an appropriate schedule will be built from core music theory, performance, liberal arts, and major courses to advance students on their educational path. Students interested in pursuing a diploma should contact admissions@berklee.edu to learn more. Links to all of Berklee’s courses and more information about the curriculum can be found here.
Private instruction courses are assigned based on instrument and level.
Ensembles are assigned based on instrument and style interest.
This course is a study of popular music. This study begins with the aural analysis of contemporary songs, including bass motion, chord function, and aspects of the rhythm section. It leads to understanding the bass line, harmony, and rhythmic structure of these songs and creation of original pieces in major key and Aeolian mode (natural minor). Keyboard exercises, written homework assignments, and laptop computer drills provide extensive practice in musical and notational elements. Students learn to read and write major and natural minor scales in all keys and learn triads and seventh chords diatonic to those scales. The course provides exposure to chromatic variations on major key harmony: the principles of secondary dominants and modal interchange are studied in limited situations to add color and variety to diatonic harmony. These activities will decode the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language of most of contemporary popular music and set the stage for a detailed study of more complex and chromatic music in Harmony 2, 3, and 4.
Students develop basic ear training skills through performance and dictation. They study melodies, intervals, harmony, and solfege in major keys, as well as basic rhythms in the most common meters.
This course introduces the fundamentals of music technology geared to the needs of today's professional musician. One of the most significant challenges facing musicians today is mastering the skills required to continually adapt to a changing technology base. Musicians today must understand and be prepared for the fact that this technology base is moving more rapidly than it can be assimilated. The course topics will give an overview of all aspects of the current technology with the primary goal of enabling students to make intelligent decisions in evaluating future technological needs.
The Artistry, Creativity, and Inquiry Seminar provides an introduction to the life of the creative and curious mind. In this course, students explore their own creative process, reflect on their life choice as a musician, and examine the role of the artist in society. Students learn how to ask questions and find answers about topics and issues that affect the choices they make personally, professionally, and creatively at Berklee and beyond college. Students also evaluate their abilities and interests in order to develop college and career goals, and to begin the process of selecting a major. In addition, students begin maintaining their Berklee College of Music electronic portfolio. Taught by faculty who also serve as students' first semester advisors, this course provides a creative and reflective atmosphere that encourages students to participate actively in their own learning. Students engage in discussion, getting to know the faculty member and each other.
In this course, students explore the writing process as a tool of thinking and a mode of exploration. Students develop academic writing and expository prose techniques for creating clear and coherent papers. The course covers a wide range of skills necessary for college-level work including sentence-level issues, theses, paragraph structure, organization, form, and style. A focus will be placed on writing styles appropriate to audience and purpose. In addition, the process of writing and revision will be emphasized during the course. Students develop critical thinking skills and learn to evaluate, utilize, and cite primary and secondary printed and electronic sources. Students begin to cultivate a strong, individual, and creative voice by developing oral communication skills for a variety of settings.
Private instruction courses are assigned based on instrument and level.
Ensembles are assigned based on instrument and style interest.
This course is a study of the musical concepts of melody, rhythm, harmony, and form as applied to the principles and techniques of writing and arranging for the rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, basic percussion). Students also study lead-lines for solo instruments, two horns (trumpet plus alto or tenor saxophone), and/or voice. Students focus on the conceptual process of combining individual components to create a musically satisfying arrangement. Students explore of the use and integration of MIDI technology and sequencing as they relate to rhythm section and lead-line writing. Students also study various contemporary musical styles and the musical concepts that comprise them, including writing from the "bottom up" (groove-driven) and "top down" (working with a melody in a lead instrument or voice). Students complete writing assignments that incorporate combinations of acoustic, electronic, and MIDI instruments.
This course is a continued exploration of major key harmony, particularly secondary and extended dominant relationships. Additionally, students continue to study melodic construction and motif development. Students learn principles of linear harmonic continuity and guide tone lines; minor key harmony; subdominant minor; blues theory and chord progressions. Students also learn melodic rhythm, form, and melody/harmony relationship.
Students further develop basic ear training skills through performance and dictation and study melodies, intervals, harmony, and solfege in minor keys, as well as more advanced rhythms, meters, conducting patterns, and notation.
Functional tonal harmony analyzed and composed in various musical textures. Emphasis on voice leading, melodic writing, and figured bass.
Students Choose One Literature Course
Literature: Lorca and Hemingway
Federico García Lorca and Ernest Hemingway are two of the most internationally recognized literary and cultural figures of the 20th century. That is, not only are they viewed with great interest and even division and controversy in their birth countries of Spain and the United States respectively, but they continue to cast a long shadow across the globe and especially over the Atlantic. Furthermore, not only did each of these two compelling figures leave a deep footprint in the other´s country, but they were also influenced and greatly inspired by the socio-cultural patrimony of the other´s homeland. By studying and analyzing Lorca in America and Hemingway in Spain students will explore an inter-cultural journey that reaches the core of how many Spaniards view America and how many Americans view Spain to this day.
Literature: Music and Words
In this course, students explore different themes and genres within the field of literature, examining critical and creative thinking through literary analysis. Students apply the skills of synthesis, interpretation, and evaluation in writing and speaking about fiction, drama, poetry, creative nonfiction, and literary criticism. Students also explore concepts related to aesthetics such as beauty, rhythm, and sound; and concepts of literary analysis such as plot, point of view, character, tone, and style. Students complete analytical and creative writing assignments.
Students have the option to choose one additional two-credit class from the list below.
Students have the option to explore one two-credit course from the list below during the spring semester.
An overview of business and legal issues of special concern to musicians and songwriters, with special emphasis on copyright law, recording and music publishing agreements, and relationships between artists and other parties, including managers, producers, and investors.
An in-depth study of the nature of human and electronic communication. Students write and edit a variety of business documents including cover letters, memos, reports, and proposals, among others, as well as practice extemporaneous speaking, presenting to a group, planning and running meetings, and supervising teams.
Live Sound and Stage Craft teaches students the ins and outs of setting up and operating sound reinforcement systems. Students develop knowledge of signal flow, mixing board operation, microphone choice and placement as well as strategies to avoid feedback. Weekly hands-on guided set up and operation of sound reinforcement systems help illustrate concepts and allow students to learn through the power of experience. This includes mixing from the stage while performing, mixing for other musicians for and from the FOH (front of house) position, as well as monitors. In addition, students acquire effective set up and stage management skills as well as the common communication protocol with other musicians and technicians in live sound reinforcement situations. Finally, implementation of adapted practices and systems for problematic spaces or venues is also explored. Students will also gain experience with basic lighting and video stagecraft systems.
This course explores topics in electronic production and live performance techniques related to modern electronic dance music production, sound design, arrangement, and performance. Students will generate content and create their own music while learning how to use Ableton Live Suite. Students will learn to analyze electronic music, and explore techniques for remixing, performing, and creating electronic music.
This is an 'in-the-box' project-based virtual production course. Students learn to produce short sound-alikes of fragments of contemporary hit records employing sequencing and virtual instruments. They also learn to produce a full acoustic band cover using virtual instruments and one live instrument and/or vocalist. Additionally they learn to produce short musical creations by chopping and editing audio, incorporating tempo mapping, elastic audio, Melodyne, looping, beat detective, and other manipulation tools. Students also learn the skills needed to edit and arrange music to picture.
This course provides an introduction to the art and technology of creating music videos. Students learn the challenges and possibilities of representing music visually through the art of filmmaking. They explore the fundamental tools and techniques of music video production by reviewing and analyzing groundbreaking music videos. They also apply those techniques in the hands-on production of personal music videos.
An introduction to live electronic music performance and DJ skills, beginning with the use of the turntable as a musical instrument. Students will explore the culture and aesthetics of Hip-hop, turntablism, club DJs, radio, and mash-up DJs, and will master the following techniques: cueing, mixing, beat matching, beat extending, mash-ups, blending, and scratching (basic, scribble, laser, uzi, stab, cut, transformer, crab, chirp and flare). Students will create their own live mixes and present them as midterm and final performances.
This online course focuses on developing critical listening skills with particular emphasis on analyzing recording and mix techniques in the context of the popular music mix. Topics include: acoustics of the critical listening environment; mix elements such as balances, panning, EQ, reverb, compression, delay and time-based effects; instrument identification; stylistic comparisons of recording and mix techniques. Listening analysis examples and concepts are reinforced through weekly critical listening assignments. A set of weekly audio ear training drills are also part of the class.
This course represents a step-by-step approach to the essential elements of effective records. Using in-class evaluation of demos, masters and commercial recordings, it takes students through an in-depth analysis and appraisal of the emotional effectiveness of recordings, with consideration for: artist identity, vision and intention; melody, lyrics and song form; arrangement, performance, and mixing. Several in-class presentations of student analysis projects are required.
A lab workshop specially designed to improve performers' understanding and mastery of different rhythmic concepts and their application on their instrument into various musical contexts. The students will learn percussion and speaking rhythms, which they will later apply on their own instrument. The course material will be based on different rhythmic approaches based on techniques applied in different cultures around the world, including: African, Indian, and Latin rhythmic systems and vocabulary. The workshop environment will be used to give the students practical examples of rhythmic concepts using prepared literature, specific compositions, audio tracks, and video material. They will practice performing these rhythms both individually and as a group.
This course will examine the various tonalities, meters and compositional structures that characterize the various music styles from the Mediterranean region. This is a survey course focused on the folk music from the Mediterranean with a spotlight on how melody is the defining and dominant feature of the music. Students will explore modal systems with limited harmonic progression and tonalities not always consistent with western tonal systems and metric forms. The influence of religious music, the differing ethnic traditions, and the sociocultural differences of the principal music sources will be reviewed and studied. Listening, performing, songwriting, and sight singing are the main activities of this course.
This class is designed to offer fundamentals of movement and dance for musicians. Each session includes a brief warm up followed by a dance combination and/or work on body awareness, coordination, use of time and space, development of internal pulse, and stage presence, etc. No prior dance experience is necessary. The class may be repeated for additional credit.
A lab focusing on rhythmic techniques and song styles of Brazilian music and their related percussion instruments. Development of performance skills through study of audio and video recordings as well as supervised ensemble playing. Note: ILPH-357 may be taken instead of this course.
For non-piano principals. Comping, harmonic continuity. Triads, seventh chords, melody, and accompaniment. Standard song forms, blues.
Optional course availability subject to change.
First Year Abroad students are required to stay in the Galileo Galilei student residence in Valencia. Living together as a cohort of students provides a safe and comfortable environment while abroad.
The Galileo Galilei student residence is located on the Valencia Polytechnic University campus. There is a choice of a single room with private bath or a double room with private bath (shared by the two roommates). Once accepted, students will be asked to indicate their room type and roommate preference. The student residence is coed, but the shared rooms are not.
Students who will live with a parent/guardian in Valencia, or are age 24 or older, are exempt from the housing requirement.
See housing costs in the tuition section.
Students have access to the following complimentary services and facilities:
The Galileo Galilei residence offers students an array of additional services for a fee. These services may be purchased once in Valencia and payment is made directly to the residence hall. Visit the Galileo reception desk for more information. Services include:
| Meal Plans (per month) One meal per day (breakfast) Two meals per day (breakfast and lunch or dinner) Three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) | - €60.00 €180.00 €300.00 |
| Individual Meals Breakfast Lunch or dinner | - €3.00 €6.00 |
| Laundry Service (per month) Includes laundry once a week up to 6 kilos, ironing included. | €60.50 |
| Self-Service Laundry | €4.00 (wash) €2.00 (dry) |
| Small Fridge in room (per month) | €11.00 |
| 19" Television in room (per month) | €11.00 |
| Kitchen Dishes | Free (€25.00 penalty if not returned) |
Visit the Galileo Galilei website (in Spanish) to see the facilities.
The Berklee campus is located approximately two miles from the student residence. Most students either bike, walk, or take public transportation to campus. There will also be a private shuttle bus First Year Abroad students may use to get to and from the residence and campus.
Valencia is well known for its musical richness, and has no shortage of venues to support live music indoors and out. Some local favorites have quickly become student favorites, such as Jimmy Glass Jazz Bar, Loco Club, Upper Club, and Ubik Cafe. Check out this British Airways Highlife magazine article by a Berklee alumna or the New York Times’s article “The Newest Sounds of Valencia,” highlighting Berklee’s presence in Valencia.
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía - Anexo Sur
Avenida Profesor Lopez Piñero, 1
46013 Valencia (Spain)
+34 963 332 802
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