Fraser T. Smith has worked with everyone from Adele to Lily Allen to the Kaiser Chiefs, and most recently with British soul singer Sam Smith. His writing and production work has helped artists top the charts in both the UK and the US. But despite his success, the guitarist-turned-songwriter-turned-producer knows that he will never stop learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was my ambition to go to Berklee [in Boston], but at the time it wasn\u2019t possible so I had to let that one go unfortunately,\u201d the Buckinghamshire, UK native recalls. \u201cWhen I was a little older, I heard about Berklee Online and checked out a prospectus. I thought, \u2018Wow, this certainly fits. There are courses on here that are applicable to me as a songwriter and producer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though he\u2019d been playing guitar and writing songs since his teens, Smith\u2019s career in the music industry didn\u2019t start until he became a touring guitarist with UK pop star Craig David. When he reached his 30s, Smith shifted gears from performance to production. \u201cIt was important for me to feel that I had that sort of grounding in mixing records and lyric writing. I\u2019d always written and produced to some degree but I felt that focusing in for 12 weeks at a time enabled me to hone the craft of being a songwriter and a producer,\u201d he says of his decision to begin studying with Berklee Online. \u201cIt\u2019s truly been pretty fantastic. I can honestly pinpoint each one of the 11 courses I\u2019ve done in having a definite hand in every single track I\u2019ve made, all thanks to Berklee Online.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The courses\u00a0Writing Hit Songs<\/a>,\u00a0Berklee Keyboard Method<\/a>, and\u00a0Mixing and Mastering with Pro Tools<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>directly aided Smith in his work with British megastar Adele. Smith cowrote, produced, and played piano on the track \u201cSet Fire to the Rain.\u201d \u201cThe production course that I did with Stephen Webber helped me understand the vision that Adele was looking for and also with crafting the production of that song,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fraser T. Smith talks about his Berklee experience in this video.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n