Francisco Suárez

Instructor Berklee Study AbroadFirst Year Abroad

• Email jsuarez@berklee.edu

In Their Own Words

“As a harmony teacher, I believe it is important for the student to get not just the theory behind chords, scales, and all the technical matter related to the subject, I think it is crucial to get familiar with real music as much as possible, where you can find these concepts applied. In my classes I try to illustrate every harmonic idea with music taken from actual recordings in a variety of styles, be it jazz, rock, pop, and lots of Latin American music as well. I try to bring different musical visions to enrich my students with a broader scope stylistically.”

“In order to help the students with their work, I’ve written lots of supplementary material, mostly done through transcribing. And that leads us to the importance of ear training, another subject I teach at Berklee, and one I feel very passionate about. In class we spend a lot of time listening to and transcribing bass lines and harmonic progressions from records, and fine tuning writing skills to accurately represent on paper the sounds we are listening to. Singing, reading, transcribing, performing, actively listening, and having fun while doing it—that is basically what I strive for in my classes.”