Jose Bernardo
Guitarist, Bassist, Composer
Jose Bernardo is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger. He was born deaf in his left ear and is gradually losing hearing in his right ear as well. Hence the moniker, Half Deaf Guitarist.
He began his formal music education in 1988, at the Pop/Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki, Finland. Prior to attending Berklee, his skills as a multi-instrumentalist were put to good use by the Finnish Navy Band, where he completed his national service. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Songwriting from Berklee College of Music in 2002, and a Master Certificate in Guitar Performance from Berklee’s online extension school in 2014.
In 2001, Jose became a published songwriter when his Boston based indie band, XYgoatZ, released their debut album "I Don't Have a Monkey". Jose's first solo album, "Outside Looking In" was released in 2006.
From 2007 - 2015, Jose was based in Hong Kong where he founded The Weekly Riff webzine. He also taught guitar, ukulele, bass, and music theory at Riff Centre. He also taught at German Swiss International School and Hong Kong International Learning Academy. He also wrote lesson columns for GuitarBench and Ukulele Rhythms magazines.
In June 2015, he returned back to Finland with his family. In April, 2016, Jose launched an Instagram project called @chordsoftheday, where he posts daily chord progressions for educational and inspirational purposes. (Chords of the Day project is still on hiatus.) In June, 2016, Jose began launched this website.
Jose joined Kitarakellari Oy as a webmaster and teacher in 2017. He joined Mentor Collective as a Mentor for Berklee Online in 2018. Jose left Kitarakellari in 2019, and stopped teaching and mentoring in February 2020. He is currently pursuing new goals quietly, while still making music with his friends in a “just-for-fun” weekly jam project.
Jose's Discography (recorded work - excluding demos and unreleased projects)
“I Don’t Have A Monkey” was released in 2001. This release made Jose a published composer and arranger. The CD is currently out of print. It can still be found in some used CD shops in Boston. XYgoatZ is pronounced “zygotes”.
All music by Joanie Pfister and Jose Bernardo except where noted
“Gold Card” by Pfister/Bernardo/Corella
Joanie Pfister - Vocals / Keyboards / Percussion / Songwriter
Carolyn Corella - Bass / Songwriter / Handclaps / "Yes"
Jose Bernardo - Guitar / Percussion / Composer / Songwriter / Arranger
Wes Livingston - Drums
Joel Simches - Producer
(Listen to two songs from this album below. "Gold Card" and "Perfect Day")
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“Outside Looking In” is Jose’s solo debut CD. It was released in 2006, and is available now at CDBaby and iTunes.
All written, arranged, and produced by Jose Bernardo
Except "Stargazer" and "Sunday Morning Sky" written by Jose Bernardo and Eric Ecklund
All instruments performed by Jose Bernardo
Additional guitars performed by Eric Ecklund
Engineered, Mixed, and Mastered by Eric Pfeifer
Artwork by Steve Johnson
Listen to the whole album on Spotify:
Listen to Jose's "Outside Looking In" album on Spotify
Jose is honored to have been involved with Tadashi’s project. Jose contributed guitar to “The Night of Destruction” and “The Spirits Within”. He also contributed bass to “The Spirits Within”
Music 2008 © Tadashi Goto * Artwork 2008 © Ed Unitsky * Released in 2009
CLICK THIS LINK FOR ALBUM DETAILS
Band Members:
Tadashi Goto-All Keys, drum programming
Chris Poland, Ty Tabor -lead guitars
Brett Garsed, Sean Conklin, Marco Ahrens - lead and rhythm guitars
Jose Bernardo - guitars and bass
Tony Levin, Tony Franklin, Matt Bissonette, Joseph Patrick Moore, Randy George - bass
(JOSE'S SOLOS FROM "THE SPIRITS WITHIN" AND "THE NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION" ARE BELOW FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE)
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Listen to the entire album on Spotify:
Jose played on his former student’s, Ollie Bernstein, demo/EP in 2009. The three-song collection is entitled Descension. He contributed bass tracks to “Close Our Eyes” and “The Morning Star”.
“The Morning Star” placed 3rd at 1st Jordan Loder Songwriting Contest.
“I’m very honored to have been part of this project.” -JB
Artwork and music:
2009 © Ollie Bernstein