October 12 is Hug-a-Bassist Day, a little-known but much-needed celebration that honors those who lay down the low end. Celebrate by hugging a bassist, obviously, but also by getting to know Berklee Online’s four bass instructors—each as essential as the four strings on a standard bass guitar.

Lori Landay’s new four-week Digital Storytelling course will guide students through the narrative process, from forming an initial concept and storyboarding, to filming and postproduction.

The author of Berklee Online’s Advanced Jazz Piano course says growing up in Kentucky and singing in the church helped him develop an emphasis on teaching students that the best way to understand music is not just to study it, but to dance, clap, and sing to it.

Steve Zimmerman has been Berklee Online’s Director of User Experience for more than 15 years. Before that he was a founding member of Boston shoegaze legends Drop Nineteens, a band he is happily reuniting with for a tour next month after a decades-long hiatus.

Grammy-winning producer, pianist, and songwriter Matt Rollings shares what it takes to be a successful session musician, including what to charge and when to say yes or no to a project. He also shares how his recording career took off after he said yes to a young Lyle Lovett. 

Ken “Pooch” Van Druten has worked as front of house engineer and production master behind Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, Iron Maiden, KISS, Guns N’ Roses, Linkin Park, and many more. In this course excerpt he details exactly what a an average day (and night) on the job is like. Spoiler: It’s anything but average!

Toby Francis wrote his Berklee Online sound engineering course between front-of-house gigs for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this extensive discussion he shares tales that were a little too gritty for the course.

Andrea Stolpe has won the 2022 Exemplary Teaching Award from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. This award honors a professional, continuing, or online education faculty member for outstanding teaching.

Berklee Online course authors Brad Hatfield and Gaye Tolan Hatfield have earned a 2022 Daytime Emmy Award, along with Lydia Harrell, Jeff Meegan, and RC Cates, for “Outstanding Original Song.” The winning track is titled “Grateful For It All” and appeared on the soap opera “The Young and the Restless.”