BY: AL GENTILE
Music students are a particular breed. Deeply passionate about their art, naturally inclined to face challenges, and possessing unique and insular talents that need their own particular outlet. And while most music students have the guts to face the difficulties ahead, so few enter the process knowing where to start, where they want to take their music career, and where they might end up.
In 2013, Henry Godfrey was one of those students. He discovered his love for drumming and percussion early in life, and when he found out his high school music program didn’t offer a concentration in his chosen instrument he sought out private instruction to develop his craft. Before he graduated, he already knew he wanted to be a musician. As he dove into jazz, he knew he’d found his schtick.
“That made me realize this could be a real thing,” Godfrey said.
And Godfrey had the talent. Before graduating high school, he was already starting to play around the Rockville, MD area (just outside of Washington, D.C.), and the music bug that was taking hold formed into a passion — one so strong he knew music school was the next step.
Filling the Gap in Guidance with Music Career Consulting
But like many future music students, he and his family, who did not have a deep musical background, were stuck.
“We didn’t really know what to look for, and what the next steps were when I realized I wanted to be a professional musician,” Godfrey said.
His own music instructors in school and private lessons had some knowledge about the surrounding area, but beyond that were not prepared to guide Godfrey to what he would eventually become; a professional drummer in jazz and funk and other styles, leader and composer for a big jazz band, a collegiate-level music educator, and a lifelong performer and music lover living out the dreams he’d worked so hard for.
Worried about where he would be able to focus all this potential, Godfrey began to look for ways to tackle his future educational journey. He knew he needed expert guidance to develop his career goals along with coaching from music insiders to begin building his professional network. Luck struck when, through a family friend, Godfrey was introduced to Inside Music Schools’ Steve Lipman.
Laying the Groundwork for a Music Career
“I remember being impressed with how much he knew about the D.C. area music scene and music academia,” Godfrey said. “He’s from New England, but he knew people all over the place. [He] is very well connected, and knows people all over the country and all over the world.”
When Godfrey began working with IMS, he was struck by Lipman’s interesting take on how to frame his future. Instead of asking straightforward questions like “Where would you like to go?” or “What kind of musical culture would you want to find yourself in?” Godfrey was tasked with developing an understanding of what he wanted his life to be like in the first four years of school, then five years after that, and then ten years after that. With Lipman’s guidance, this personalized and unique approach opened his thoughts up to exploring career goals and building actionable plans to reach them.
Godfrey knew he wanted to be able to play gigs in the city he was studying in, and that he wanted to be able to spend a healthy amount of time and energy recording while still in school. This deeper understanding of his wants and needs helped steer him away from assumptions that he should only be applying to top-tier schools.
“I didn’t need to apply to only the top ten conservatories in the country,” Godfrey said. “I learned I should apply to schools of varying levels of prestige even if your dream and plan is to go to a highly prestigious school.”
Honing Audition Skills & Repertoire
One major point that Godfrey needed to develop was his auditioning skills. Through Lipman’s guidance, he was able to start creating an audition repertoire while also managing a plan to satisfy the varying audition requirements of the schools which he decided to apply.
After some work, Godfrey found there were instances where he could save time by using the same pieces at different schools, and develop new material once he understood what certain schools were looking for.
“I spent quite a bit of time at first languishing over how there was going to be so many different audition materials for the different schools I applied to, and that I was going to have so much work ahead of me,” Godfrey said. “Steve helped me break it down month by month and helped me to figure out how to organize the application process. Steve knew exactly what the auditioner would be looking for in a drummer.”
Lipman was also able to give Godfrey honest and crucial input on his auditioning skills, including emphasizing the importance of research beforehand. Those lessons stick with Godfrey to this day.
“When it came to how I would carry myself with auditions, Steve was very good with helping me find ways to stay calm and collected,” Godfrey said. “He got me to focus more on groove and time and having good ears.”
Through the whole process, Godfrey developed an appreciation for auditioning. While so many students fear auditioning, he knew this experience would help him in the future as he began his professional career playing music.
Choosing the Right School
Godfrey’s music school journey had him applying to incredible institutions such as George Mason University and Shenandoah University’s conservatory program.
Ultimately, Godfrey found that Berklee College of Music’s undergraduate and graduate programs in Jazz Composition were the best fit for him. He found himself in a city with a bustling music scene with plenty of opportunities to play gigs in and around Boston. He could also take advantage of high-quality recording facilities.
After receiving his Bachelor’s, Henry earned a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and studied George Russell’s The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, with a certification to teach the concept.
But perhaps most importantly, he found a community of musicians and educators who made him feel accepted and part of something larger, and that made him better.
Discovering and Building a Community
Since embarking on his professional career as a drummer and composer, Godfrey has slowly found a wider community of musicians which, he says, is part of what made the life he has today possible.
“The best part of it is the wider community of musicians supporting each other,” Godfrey said. “It’s not just the band you play in, but people [in the scene] know each other and help each other out.”
Right from the beginning of working with Inside Music Schools, Godfrey leveraged the connections he made through Steve Lipman, along with the personalized lessons he learned about enhancing his communication skills, to start building his own music career network. He is emphatic that all budding musicians and music students must strive to develop this community. And through all the hard work, it’s the community who will continue to support you and make it all worth it.
“The music community really supports each other in every city I’ve ever been to,” Godfrey said. “To any of the young folks who dream of being a musician, it takes time and a lot of work. Sometimes it can be frustrating waiting for the time when doors start opening. If you just stick with it, you’ll find people who want to work with you, and once that happens there’s really a great life to be had working as a musician.”
Begin and Build a Music Career with Confidence
Inside Music Schools has been there every step of the way as Henry Godfrey fulfilled his dream of becoming a professional musician — from admissions consulting to career consultation as well. Over the past 15 years, we’ve helped hundreds of parents and students navigate the college and graduate music school admissions process to find the right schools and help them get accepted into the ideal school for them. In the process, we extend our spectacular network of professionals to help students like Henry begin and build a successful music career. Talk with us today to see how we can work together to make your dream a reality.
Al Gentile
Al has crafted prose on music big and small for nearly 10 years, as well as in the spheres of music education, advertising and in the newsroom. He’s also a lifelong guitar player and songwriter, performing with several bands throughout the Boston area for the past 20 years. In his off time, Al is dedicated to his record collection and his growing plant family.