Dedicated to my love, Lourdes

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 8
Preface 9

Berklee College of Music

What is Berklee? 11
What it offers 12
What you will find 13
How to study at Berklee College of Music 14

Audition & Interview

How it works 22
Audition testimonies 24

Prepared Piece
Style 33
Structure 34
Length of the piece 43
The thing about Vai, Malmsteen, Satriani, etc songs 45
Cultural pieces 46
Arrange other 46
Print your prepared piece 47
Record your piece 47
So, what should I play? 48
Prepare a second piece 49
About the audition 49
Schedule 50
Ear Training
Introduction 51
Where do I start? 51
Call & Response: How to prepare for it 53
Practice time: Ear Master Pro 57
Instrument Call & Response: How to practice it 58
Practice time: Instrument Call & Response 60
Solfege and Call & Response 60
Practice time: Solfege 62
Chords 62
Practice time: Chords 63
About the audition 63

Sight Reading
Introduction 65
Sight Reading: How to prepare for it 66
What to read 68
How to read 70
Practice time: Melodic reading 71
If you cannot find any book 72
Chords 74
Chords: How to practice them 78
Practice Time: Chords 81
About the audition 83
Improvisation
Introduction 86
Your Prepared Piece and Improvisation Section 86
Improvisation: where to start 87
And, how do I improvise? 91
The Understanding section 92
The Listening section 94
The Practicing section 94
Chords 96
Practice time: Improvisation 96
About the audition 97

The interview
Preparing for the Interview 99

Preparation and Tips

Mental Preparation 101
Tips for the Big Day! 104

 About the Author 108

 Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the following people for making this

book possible:

 My parents who always supported me in every aspect of

my musical career. Thank you Mom and Dad for making
my Berklee dream come true.
 My girlfriend Lourdes Quinzano for her constant
support, help and motivation during the book-writing
process.
 Linda M. Hurst from Columbia, Tennessee for her never-
ending-help in the book and my Berklee Trip.
 Mauro José Vigliotti for the Cover Design, the book
website design and his friendship.
 Alvaro Quinteros for sharing all his musical knowledge
with me and preparing me for the Berklee Audition
 Sara Isabel López, who took the time to proofread the
book.
 Gonzalo Herrera for the Cover Photo.
 Francisco Bulacio, the Cover Model.
 Jhonatan Szpekman, who lent me his guitar for the cover
photo.
 My brothers, Gonzalo and Ramiro, and my sisters,
Romina and Julieta, for all their support.
 Preface

I auditioned for Berklee on December 6, 2008. After

exploring the magical city of Boston for a few days, I went to
Columbia, Tennessee to visit an old friend of Mom. I found
Tennessee to be a very nice place, calm and relaxing; I had a lot of

decided to upload a new video to YouTube. I grabbed the camera,

played the original song I chose for my Berklee Audition, and just a
few days later I found myself answering questions about the audition
process and helping people all over the internet get ready for it. I

wonderful. By the end of April 2009, after I had received my

acceptance letter from Berklee College of Music and my YouTube
video had gotten very popular; I began receiving messages from
people who wanted to know how I had prepared for the audition,
what books I had used, etc. That is when I realized that many

Berklee audition experience, my musical training, all the questions

and comments on my YouTube videos, and pulled them together in
a book to help applicants around the world be ready for the audition;
A Successful Guide for a Guitar Audition at the

This guide is the result of years of formal music training. It

has been developed combining my formal studies, my study routine
for the audition and my audition experience, with all the comments
and questions that people sent me and the audition guidelines from
www.berklee.edu.

This book attempts to guide the reader through the required

steps to accomplish a guitar audition at Berklee College of Music. It
must not be read in one sitting; during the study process, the reader
should always carry the book.
 About the Author

Matias Rengel is a musician from Tucuman, Argentina. He

has been accepted to Berklee College of Music and received a
scholarship based on both the Audition & Interview process and the
Berklee Writing and Composition Scholarship.

He has been a Music Teacher since 2004, offering lessons on

Guitar Techniques, Harmony, Arrangement, Composition, Ear
training, Sight Reading, Solfege and Improvisation. He has recently
become a World Teacher by accepting students from all over the
world via webcam. As an accepted student to Berklee College of
Music, he has offered Full Preparation for a Guitar Audition.

He has toured and recorded with his own groups, where he

enjoyed writing and performing his original compositions; ranging
in style from Jazz, Funk, Blues, and Fusion, to Rock, Reggae,
Progressive Rock, Latin Music and Electronic, among many others.

Thanks to the Internet, and websites like YouTube and

MySpace, he was able to share every detail of his Berklee Experience
with the world; helping many other musicians by constantly
answering questions about Berklee and the audition process.

He has been a Full-Time Musician for a long time, available

as a Teacher, Session Guitarist, Composer, Arranger and Band
Member.