BIMM Berlin And Sony Launch Groundbreaking Dave Grohl Competition
We’re honoured to announce BIMM Berlin’s role in a groundbreaking competition devised by Foo Fighters frontman, Nirvana drummer and legendary rock genius… Dave Grohl.
BIMM Berlin and Sony Music have joined forces as part of Dave Grohl’s initiative ‘Play’ to launch a pioneering competition for young musicians throughout Germany. You could have the chance to participate in the ‘Play by Dave Grohl’ Music Camp in Berlin on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th November 2018 and be in the running to win a one-year scholarship to BIMM Berlin worth 7,450 euros*, Thomann music equipment vouchers and more. Hotel accommodation for the weekend in Berlin is also included.
‘Play’ is a 23-minute instrumental song composed by Dave Grohl on which he plays all seven instruments on the track, all live. In 2018, Grohl made a recording of the piece, playing the entire song seven times, each time on a different instrument. Beginning with the recording of the drum track purely from memory, with no sheet music or guide tracks, he then followed with the guitar parts, then bass, then keyboards, and every other element. This one-man-band recording session meant that if Grohl made even a slight mistake, he would be forced to start again from the very beginning.
The recording process of ‘Play’ was filmed and made into a two-part mini-documentary, directed by Grohl with help from his Sound City/Sonic Highways collaborator Mark Monroe, and released in August 2018. The aim of the ambitious project was to celebrate the joy of playing music, acknowledge the ‘rewards and challenges of dedicating one’s life to playing and mastering a musical instrument’, and to promote music education. In Grohl’s words: “Like any kid, the reward is just to ‘play’.”
The success of the pioneering performance piece inspired Grohl to further highlight the positive influence that music can have in the lives of young people… and the idea for the Dave Grohl Music Camp in Berlin was born.
The camp will see a group of young musicians learn to play the individual parts of Dave Grohl’s 23-minute track ‘Play’ and perform it together, live, as a band. A camera crew will be in attendance across the whole weekend and the end result will be turned into a video documentary and clip of the song, which will be shared across the Foo Fighters’ social media accounts to encourage kids to make music and learn to play instruments. The Dave Grohl Music Camp band parts will be made up of two guitarists, one bass player, one keyboardist, one drummer and one percussionist.
How to apply
Applying to take part is easy – simply submit a performance video online. Anyone keen to join in should be between 14 and 22 years old and already have a confident set of skills in playing their instrument. The successful young people will each receive a personal music teacher from BIMM Berlin at the camp to help them learn their ‘Play’ part, and the workshop will be led by BIMM Hamburg tutor, Rick McPhail of German chart-toppers Tocotronic. Each participant will be given a Thomann voucher and will be in with a chance to win the grand prize of a BIMM scholarship. Instruments at the camp will be provided by some of the world’s best music brand partners, including Gibson (electric and bass guitars), Pearl (drums), Harman Kardon (amps) and more.
To apply for your chance to attend the ‘Play by Dave Grohl Music Camp’ in Berlin, upload a video of you playing your instrument on the camp’s website before 11.59pm on Wednesday 31st October 2018.
To find out more about studying music at BIMM Berlin or BIMM Hamburg, order a prospectus, book to attend one of our Open Days, or contact our Admissions Team on +49 303 11 99 186 or by email at [email protected]
