{"id":18222,"date":"2022-07-05T09:56:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T14:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?p=18222"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:13:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T21:13:57","slug":"seba-stephens-age-10-earns-a-professional-certificate-from-berklee-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/seba-stephens-age-10-earns-a-professional-certificate-from-berklee-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Seba Stephens (Age 10) Earns a Professional Certificate from Berklee Online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Dedicated Study and Homeschooling Enabled a Young Musician to Earn a Berklee Certificate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seba Stephens is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, and piano, but there will always be a soft spot in his heart for the drums. It\u2019s the first instrument that he learned how to play, and it\u2019s the instrument he used to earn a General Music Studies professional certificate<\/a> from Berklee Online, becoming the youngest student on record to do so. Did we mention he\u2019s only 10 years old?
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\u201cIf I was on an island, surrounded by water and everything, I would definitely pick a drum set if that was the only thing I could bring,\u201d he says.
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When Seba was in third grade, he asked his parents Everett and Mariela Stephens, if they could homeschool him so that he could attend Berklee Online. In addition to earning a Berklee credential, he performed in Broadway\u2019s School of Rock the Musical<\/em> and in Wes Anderson\u2019s next film. 
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Seba center stage in Broadway’s School of Rock the Musical.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everett Stephens shares what it\u2019s been like to have a son who took to music so young and so fast, and why Berklee Online was the solution for keeping him challenged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How It All Started
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It all began when Everett and Mariela asked Seba what he wanted for his third birthday, to which toddler Seba replied, \u201cTambores!\u201d The Stephens raised Seba speaking Spanish and this meant he wanted to play the drums. After taking multiple trips to Guitar Center to let Seba bang around on the display instruments in his pull-up diapers, they knew he was serious. Everett and Mariela got him his first junior kit, which cost about $300. 
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\u201cYou should have seen his face,\u201d says Everett. \u201cHe didn\u2019t stop playing. Ever. Morning, noon, and night. He was chasing something we couldn\u2019t see, but it was in his blood.\u201d
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Seba and his family live in Memphis, Tennessee, and there\u2019s no denying that growing up surrounded by the city\u2019s rich music history has rubbed off on him. He grew up listening to blues greats like B.B. King, Bobby \u201cBlue\u201d Bland, Albert King, Koko Taylor, and Muddy Waters, but his big-time hero was Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police. 
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\u201cStewart Copeland and The Police were the reasons I was hooked on drumming,\u201d says Seba. \u201cThe Police songs are full of so much cool drumming and styles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seba getting drum advice from his hero, Stewart Copeland, on Elvis Presley\u2019s couch in Memphis when he was four.
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There was one moment when Everett realized that Seba was on a different trajectory than most kids his age. When Seba was three-and-a-half, Everett and Mariela heard a huge crashing noise and screaming coming from their drum practice room\/home office. They walked in to discover the junior drum kit kicked over and Seba in tears. When Everett asked Seba what was wrong he said: \u201cDaddy, I can\u2019t get the tone I need from these drums!\u201d 
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\u201cI\u2019m not a musician, but knew his ears were demonstrating something special, given the level of frustration around tone,\u201d says Everett. \u201cThis was all rooted in the fact Seba was trying to sound like Stewart Copeland, and his $300 junior kit wasn\u2019t getting the job done.\u201d
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They replaced the junior kit with a TAMA drum kit similar to Copeland\u2019s and enrolled Seba in drum lessons, but a few months later his teacher said that he was advancing too quickly and there wasn\u2019t a program that they offered that could meet his ability. 
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\u201cRather than absolutely pushing him, we actually pulled back a bit at this point to simply let him start exploring music more in a broader context,\u201d says Everett. \u201cHe was anxious to start his own band, but he was four, and I jokingly told Seba he needed to at least be in kindergarten before he started his own band.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seba playing drums with his band The Becomers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once he reached kindergarten, he did in fact start his own band, The Becomers. Everett says he was practicing a minimum of 40 hours a week on drums, bass, piano, and vocals, with some guitar and saxophone thrown in the mix. When Seba was in first grade, he received his first paycheck from a local gig at a brewery.
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In Comes Berklee
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In the search for a solution that would meet Seba\u2019s voracious appetite for music, Everett discovered Berklee\u2019s Summer Programs<\/a> in 2020. He was able to enroll Seba with an age waiver (usually students need to be at least 14 years old). Shortly thereafter the pandemic hit and the Summer Program transitioned online. Seba studied rock bass with Steve Bailey and Victor Wooten, practicing four to six hours per day, six days a week just to keep up. After Seba completed the Summer Program, Everett assumed that Seba would need a break; instead he asked if they could homeschool him so that he could take more courses with Berklee Online. 
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\u201cI was in shock,\u201d says Everett. \u201cHere\u2019s my very socially engaged little musician asking us to withdraw from third grade in order to attend Berklee Online. I pushed back, mostly to gauge his response and commitment to that proposal. He never wavered or relented.\u201d
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The Stephens family made some significant life and career changes to accommodate homeschooling Seba, but they have no regrets. 
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\u201cWe realized two things: Seba had the talent and drive, and Berklee was willing to give him a chance. We had to make this happen, and it\u2019s proven to be the best educational decision we\u2019ve ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seba enrolled in Funk\/R&B Drums<\/a><\/em> with Jim Payne, Rock Drums<\/a><\/em> with Rod Morgenstein, and Afro-Cuban Drums<\/a><\/em> with Mark Walker.
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\u201cThat was one of the most challenging so far,\u201d says Seba about the Afro-Cuban Drums<\/em> course. \u201cOh my gosh. That one was so fun. I learned so much from that.\u201d
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A post shared by Sebastian Stephens (@sebajams)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>