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Vivian Aguiar-Buff sits cross-legged and looks directly at the camera in this portrait set against a gray background.
Vivian Aguiar-Buff on Hans Zimmer, DreamWorks, and Her Emmy Win

What do Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, and Gabby’s Dollhouse have in common? Emmy-winning music supervisor Vivian Aguiar-Buff helped shape their sound. In this deep-dive interview, the Music Supervision and Film Scoring instructor reflects on her path from law school dropout to Remote Control Productions, the secrets behind music supervision, and why being part of a creative team means leaving your ego at the door.

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An illustration shows the side profile of a woman's head, and inside her mind we see that she is thinking of how she plays her oboe.
Mental Practice Techniques: A Comprehensive Guide for Musicians

As a musician, not all of your practice will be on your instrument. Some of it will be in your head, and some of it may even be on objects that just look like your instrument. We call this mental practice, and in this excerpt from Barbara LaFitte’s Practicing Techniques for Musicians course, the former principal oboist in the Boston Ballet Orchestra shares tips on how to practice your instrument when you just aren’t able to actually play your instrument.

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A graphic of a circle that is half a vinyl record on top, half Earth on the bottom. The vinyl record on top is steaming and the Earth below is melting. The background is orange and red ombre with speckles.
Songs about Climate Change and the Environment

Earth Day is April 22, and now is a great time to listen to songs about climate change and the environment, to reflect on ways we can lean into our collective responsibility.

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Cindy Blackman Santana photographed by Jimmy Bruch
Drummer Cindy Blackman Santana on Carlos, Lenny, and Visitations from Jazz Greats

Cindy Blackman became Lenny Kravitz’s drummer after a lifetime of jazz drumming. In this wide-ranging interview she discusses being visited by the spirits of the jazz greats she befriended during her time in New York City, and how she and husband Carlos Santana stay in harmony, onstage and off.

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Erin Chase

Erin Chase is a songwriter, fiddler, and vocalist who performs her original folk and blues music throughout New England under the name Erin Bonnie. A Berklee College of Music alum, she has performed and recorded with Boston-based country rock artist Elisa Smith and brings more than a decade of songwriting experience to her work as an artist and educator. For Berklee Online, she wrote and teaches Lyric Writing 2.



An illustration shows a singer in the center of the image, with bubbles surrounding her, representing the different people she could be singing to when she uses the word "you."

Direct Address in Songwriting: Writing Lyrics That Feel Like Conversations

By Erin Chase

Who is a song really talking to? Discover how direct address shapes intimacy, tension, and emotional connection in lyrics in this course excerpt from Lyric Writing 2, featuring examples from Dolly Parton, Billie Eilish, and more.

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