Three years and two months ago (as of this writing) I sent an email to my teacher, Christopher Berg, with the idea of doing a virtual doctorate. It was the fall of the COVID pandemic. The world had gone crazy and my path to studying full-time at the University of South Carolina with Christopher was becoming more of a pipe dream. However, the dream and desire still have life in me and I am looking to press on with “earning” another guitar degree without the financial costs. Even greater is the desire to help others in their journey to making music on this beautiful instrument.

The Seeds of a Doctoral Guitar Degree

The following excerpt is from the email that I sent Christopher giving an overview of my plans:

“On another note, I am working on an imaginary doctorate. I know that statement sounds interesting. I need not explain my entire story to you, but I figured I could take the requirements for the program at USC and meet them without actually earning the degree. From your Guide to Applied Levels (2009), I am formulating a path. I have many shortcomings, of course, that still need to be addressed. I may not give myself enough credit, but I lack the depth of repertoire to proceed with earning a doctorate. You have said this from the beginning. 

Part of this is also to find a way to fund the possibility of a doctorate. I am attempting to solicit crowdfunding through Patreon. I feel that this journey and the lessons I learn might be insightful enough to observers to volunteer funding. This, in turn, will help alleviate the need to teach 30+ hours a week and replace some of it with musical and academic study. I will never stop teaching but would like to put focus elsewhere.”

Failed Support and Christpher’s Response

The Patreon idea never gained any traction. There are many reasons for its failure. I could blame others or the pandemic, but the success or failure falls squarely on my shoulders. I know, however, that the idea did have its merits. Christopher replied with the following concerning my virtual doctorate:

“About your virtual doctorate: yes, this idea is very interesting! I’ve attached an updated version (2019) of the “Guide to the Applied Levels” for you, in case it’s helpful. As you know, it’s not a strict syllabus (except for the early undergraduate years), but a representation of what students have played on their degree recitals at the various levels. So, every piece has been performed and it’s not some idea disconnected from reality, such as, “All students have to play all 12 Villa-Lobos etudes.” That’s just lazy thinking. And as we may have discussed, one can still see on syllabi that undergraduates have to play all 20 of the Segovia/Sor studies. A former student was a GA at conservatory several years ago and her job was to ensure that the undergraduates could make through these pieces. They were never studied as music and no exploration of technique. It was just ticking a box. She told me that most of the students there had hand problems because they hadn’t been prepared for this. 

As we may have discussed, I encourage variety in repertoire selection (whether I select a piece, which is almost always the case for undergraduates, or the student selects something) as students progress and there have hardly ever been times when two students are playing the same piece. (Bach is sometimes an exception.)

I hope the idea of crowd-funding is fruitful. I just wish school wasn’t so expensive. The reasons for this are very complex, but they start with systemic evisceration of Johnson’s Education Act of 1965. It is dreadful.”

Time Moves On, But the Guitar Degree Still Calls

It has now been 3 years. After taking part-time work and sacrificing my playing, the studio is sustainable again, and I am eager to reach the goal that I did not attain. The cost of attending a university is still out of my reach. And, Christopher Berg has since retired from teaching. I desired to study under his direction for a doctorate, therefore, I will not pursue this education from a university. We still converse through email but have not met for a lesson in some time. Hopefully, there will be such a time in the future.

This blog and my video content will be used to record my journey and show my progress. After my failed attempt at previous sharing, I am unsure if anyone is interested. I hope that it will inspire some and possibly help others in their journey.

The Roadmap

The “Guide to the Applied Levels (2019)” is available below for you to download and see the direction I intend to head. Though I am more advanced than the MUSC 101 description in basic skills, I intend to demonstrate through video footage my competency in these areas. I am not sure whether there would be interest in seeing my practice or just viewing the final products. Therefore, the first videos will demonstrate my ability to accomplish the requirement of 80 BPM when playing the major and harmonic minor open-position scales. The other requirements are more difficult to demonstrate due to a lack of objective criteria.

Beyond the criteria for solo performance lie other requirements for a doctoral student. Below is an excerpt from the University of South Carolina website listing the requirements:

“In addition, degree candidates must complete a dissertation or dissertation requirement, as follows: those in conducting or performance must present four full recitals and submit a research document; candidates in composition must complete a dissertation consisting of a musical work of major proportions and a research document; and candidates in piano pedagogy must complete a written dissertation or present two recitals and complete a written treatise. The final doctoral requirement is the successful oral defense of the dissertation or dissertation requirement.”

Source: https://academicbulletins.sc.edu/graduate/music/music-performance-dma/#requirementstext

I have highlighted the requirement for a D.M.A. in performance. How am I to accomplish these five requirements remains unseen. That’s, of course, if I can get that far. The four recitals consist of a solo recital, a lecture recital, a concerto recital, and a chamber recital. The research document will need extra guidance.

A Side Note

Along with this project, I am typesetting a series of Sor’s studies grouped by skill level. This series has been under development for some time and I am almost ready to publish the first volume. I bring this to your attention only because a good portion of the applied sequence uses these studies. I am working towards playing through every piece included in Sor’s studies from Opuses 6, 29, 31, 35, 44, and 60 (these are in numerical order).

Wrap-Up

Whether fate will allow me to finish this long-standing goal of a “virtual doctorate” has yet to be seen. Feeding and caring for my family always comes before my goals and dreams. This time may be different. I can only hope that my willingness to keep teaching and playing when most others have quit will be enough to sustain me.

Support My Guitar Coffee Habit

I hesitate to ask for financial support but will include on each post a form for donations. It takes a lot of work and coffee for me to learn the guitar at a high level. Any contribution would be appreciated. Most of all, I hope that you will find time in your own life to pause and make music on your own.

Chadwick Becks

I have two degrees in guitar performance and was privileged to study under Aaron Shearer, Tom Kikta, David Skantar, Ken Karsh, Tim Bedner, and currently Christopher Berg. Outside my editorial work on this blog, I teach full-time across many genres including classical, jazz, blues, rock, funk, and metal.