# G.I.T aka Musicians Institute?



## Guitar Nymph (Feb 28, 2010)

Sorry if this has been posted recently, I couldn't seem to find any threads with the search tool.

Has anyone here ever attended, or have any experience with M.I. ?
I'm curious to know what people think of it.

I've been playing for awhile, but I'm interested in taking some formal lessons for a change.

Thanks in advance, if anyone responds


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## stryker1800 (Feb 28, 2010)

i haven't attended myself but my teacher graduated with honors, and let me tell you he certainly is a talented musician as well as teacher. He's also a graduate of UCLA so it's hard to say whether his theory knowledge is a product of GIT or not but if you want to learn how to be wanker, and i mean that in the best way possible, then the guitar institute is a good place to be but may not be good for you based on how far you have come already


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## Guitar Nymph (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks for the response Alex 
So far I'm really leaning towards giving GIT a shot


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## right_to_rage (Mar 3, 2010)

I want to be at GIT in fall 2011, so I might see you there!


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## AvantGuardian (Mar 5, 2010)

I spent two years in the bachelor's degree program at MI from 2003-2005. I left with one year remaining to finish my degree. Its a great place to learn, but like any higher learning institution, you get what you put in. Some guys come in there as real solid players, tighten up their chops, network like crazy, learn how to be a professional in the business and actually go somewhere. Other guys are spoiled kids that are there because they graduated high school and have nowhere to go. They treat it like a year-round summer camp with guitars and drugs on their parents' dime. These guys are kind of annoying, but the school is happy to take their money.

I think I was somewhere in the middle. I learned a lot and gigged quite a bit down there. I came out a pretty well rounded and solid player, but I left early because I found my prospects of making a decent living in the LA music scene to be pretty slim. I moved back to Seattle and was able to pay my way through college teaching lessons and I played in a couple of gigging bands along the way. I even managed to get a couple of jobs doing studio work for pay.

Anyway, if you want to make a serious go out of being a professional musician, there are a lot of connections to be made here. Its a tough business, but the instructors there are all working musicians and they can help you out if you're professional and motivated. I'm glad I went, but the working musician lifestyle just wasn't for me. I wouldn't know that though if I hadn't gone for it. Also, it was probably the most fun two years of my life.


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## scottro202 (Mar 6, 2010)

AvantGuardian said:


> I spent two years in the bachelor's degree program at MI from 2003-2005. I left with one year remaining to finish my degree. Its a great place to learn, but like any higher learning institution, you get what you put in. Some guys come in there as real solid players, tighten up their chops, network like crazy, learn how to be a professional in the business and actually go somewhere. Other guys are spoiled kids that are there because they graduated high school and have nowhere to go. They treat it like a year-round summer camp with guitars and drugs on their parents' dime. These guys are kind of annoying, but the school is happy to take their money.
> 
> I think I was somewhere in the middle. I learned a lot and gigged quite a bit down there. I came out a pretty well rounded and solid player, but I left early because I found my prospects of making a decent living in the LA music scene to be pretty slim. I moved back to Seattle and was able to pay my way through college teaching lessons and I played in a couple of gigging bands along the way. I even managed to get a couple of jobs doing studio work for pay.
> 
> Anyway, if you want to make a serious go out of being a professional musician, there are a lot of connections to be made here. Its a tough business, but the instructors there are all working musicians and they can help you out if you're professional and motivated. I'm glad I went, but the working musician lifestyle just wasn't for me. I wouldn't know that though if I hadn't gone for it. Also, it was probably the most fun two years of my life.



So would you say the best part about GIT was the networking?


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## Guitar Nymph (Mar 6, 2010)

Thanks for your reply Robert.

I was thinking about their one year program to start.
What was also appealing to me about the school was the Musicians referral service.
I'm not sure how much a student can benefit from that, but it seemed like a nice perk.

Hearing that you did come out a more well rounded/solid player is good to hear.
Would you say that the classroom setting is a pretty large group, or smaller and more interactive?

Thanks again


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## AvantGuardian (Mar 6, 2010)

scottro202 said:


> So would you say the best part about GIT was the networking?



If you're trying to make it as a professional guitarist, absolutely. You can learn to play guitar anywhere. You can learn theory/ear training anywhere. You can play in a band anywhere. What makes MI unique is that is right there in LA, where so many opportunities exist, and the staff there are people who are making it in the industry and have connections. Its super competitive, so you need to be a really solid player and really bust your ass to get anywhere, but I did see some of my peers get results. Like I said in my earlier post, I couldn't really cut it down there, but I was able to make a living teaching up here in Seattle while I went to college.


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## AvantGuardian (Mar 6, 2010)

Guitar Nymph said:


> Thanks for your reply Robert.
> 
> I was thinking about their one year program to start.
> What was also appealing to me about the school was the Musicians referral service.
> ...



The musician's referral service is a pretty sweet deal. Its really competitive to get anything there, but a friend of mine who still lives down there has managed to get some teaching gigs from it. Another guy I was friends with got an audition to play bass for a band that was signed to Capitol Records. He got the gig and opened for John Mayer and Sheryl Crow while the label paid for everything. Pretty cool.

The classroom setting varied from class to class. Most of the time though there were probably around 30 students in each class. The good thing though is that you get a one-hour private lesson each week, plus all of the instructors have "open counseling" which is a few hours a week where they sit in a practice room and anyone can come in and ask anything/jam. Obviously these are pretty crowded for the more popular teachers. You are also required to perform in ensemble groups fairly often where you have your playing critiqued.

I hope this is helpful. Granted I left MI about five years ago so it may not be exactly the same, but I doubt its changed too much. Feel free to ask me any other questions. I think I'm one of the only guys on the board here that's gone there.


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## right_to_rage (Mar 7, 2010)

Thats a legitimate standpoint AvantGuardian, it all depends upon your goals and how your passion drives you to work towards them. For me its strictly a financial decision so I'm going to have to get scholarships since its so expensive, but I know that its a logical next step for the type of musician I want to make myself into.


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## DaylightDies67 (Mar 12, 2010)

Great school and great teachers, had the oppurtunity to do G.I.T for a year. Can't agree more with what you put in is what you get out. Whether it be meeting new people and playing with them or trying different styles of music MI is a whole different experience in itself aside from the usual classes and in time becomes a sort of lifestyle since you will be around music most of the time. What I think MI does a really good job of doing is asking oneself if this is really what they want to do and though most of the class I was in backed out after the first semester I know a few people who went all the way and are graduating this month. If it was up to me I'd do it all over again because there's seriously nothing better than a school where all you get to do is play music. But keep in mind if you are serious about this, think about it and what you want to get out of the school because although everythings there, its up to you and how passionate you are about music that determines how far you'll get. Good luck if you decide to go.


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## Thaeon (Mar 14, 2010)

The Academy of Contemporary Music in Oklahoma City is an awesome school. I'm a student there currently and I've been playing for 15 years.

There will be a part time thing starting soon.

The stuff they focus on is as intense as GIT, I've looked at GIT before, and they spend a lot of time focusing on the industry of music as well. Industry stuff is not required for anything at GIT. In order to get an associate's or bachelor's degree at ACM you have to study the industry, which I think is just as important. There's never more than 25 people in a class. And to add to that... It's cheaper by half to take 16 hours at ACM, as well as the cost of living being WAY cheaper in Oklahoma than in L.A. A buddy of mine picked ACM over a scholorship at Berklee if that says anything.

The manager of the Flaming Lips runs the school... He has an open door policy any time he's there and not in a meeting. He's also at our weekly live performance workshops watching all of the students play.


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## Amiro (Mar 14, 2010)

I've heard there's an G.I.T in Japan, now that would be an awesome place to study at


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## guitarist_deth (Jun 30, 2010)

I'm just curious of how can a foreign guitarist apply there, save for a scholarship (which would be a longshot) and paying heaps of money. The scholarship seems like the only viable option for me, but as I said, it's pretty much a fight to the death with the competition. Any info on this ?


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## FWB (Jun 30, 2010)

I don't know for sure, but I'd think they probably take a lot of people since they're a business, and obviously: students = cash. Therefore, the cash will probably be more difficult then getting in.


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## ihave27frets (Sep 3, 2010)

But youre a girl... and well... you know..


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