Right-handed clarinet fingering chart. Click for larger.

Left-handed saxophone fingering chart.

Clearly, the time has come to update these sad old charts, and the Fingering Diagram Builder makes it fast, easy, and, dare I say it?—fun. I’ll show you how it’s done, using three particularly cool features (if I do say so myself) of the FDB. We will take a look at the FDB’s custom styles, custom keywork presets, and Dropbox integration.

Custom styles

For now, my plan is just to create enough diagrams to replace the ones in these old fingering charts—just the fingerings I figure Kirk must have used. But I don’t think Rahsaan would want me limiting myself to just those fingerings in the future. I’d better set up this project in such a way that I can come back later with new one-handed fingerings I’ve discovered, and add them to the charts with a minimum of fuss.

The problem is that, what with the FDB’s highly customizable diagrams, I may not remember tomorrow whether the ones I made today have lines that are “medium” or “thick” or “heavy,” or whether I sized them “small” or “tiny,” or whether I was saving the diagrams as .PNG files for onscreen use or .TIF files for better printed results. The FDB does, of course, remember my current settings between sessions all on its own, but I like to work on several projects at once (Rahsaan would approve, I think) and I’ll use the FDB’s “custom styles”  to keep each project’s configuraton a click away. Here’s how:

1. First I will set up things just the way I want them. Currently, settings that can be saved as part of a custom style are: diagram size, line thickness, color, file naming procedure (let the FDB name them automatically, or specify each filename myself), file format, save-to location (my computer or my Dropbox), and, if I’m using Dropbox, which folder to save the files in.
2. Once everything is just right, I’ll click over to the “Custom styles” tab in the FDB’s menu to review my choices, and select which ones I want to save.
   
   As you can see, I’ve set the diagrams to be small, heavy-lined, colored in gray, .PNG-formatted, and saved to Dropbox in a folder called “kirkismyhero.” I have un-checked the box for “File naming,” since I don’t want the FDB to remember that for my purposes on this project—I’ll just go ahead and use whichever system I’m already using that day.
3. I’ll type in a name (“kirk project”) for my custom style, and click the “Save current settings” button (or press Enter).
   
   I’m done—that’s all there is to it. In the future, whenever I want to create more diagrams like the ones I’m making today, I can just go to the “Custom styles” tab and click on “kirk project.”
   

The Keywork details tab and custom keywork presets

Okay, now it’s time to get down to business. I need to create diagrams showing only the saxophone keys pressed with fingers of the left hand, and only the keys of the clarinet’s upper joint (which, in this case, will be played with the right hand).

The saxophone diagram already has three built-in presets: one for a “standard” saxophone, one for a baritone with a low A key, and one for a soprano with a high G key. I’m going to add a custom preset, which shows only the keys I need. Tricky, right? Nope.

1. I’ll start with the saxophone, by making sure I’ve chosen the saxophone diagram from the dropdown list near the top of the menu.
   
2. Then I’ll click over to the “Keywork” tab, and from there click the “Keywork details” tab. This is where I can pick which keys I want visible.
   
   By default, on the saxophone’s “standard” preset, the only keys set to appear all the time are the main keys belonging to the index, middle, and ring fingers, plus a little horizontal separator between the hands. You can find each of these in the “Keywork details” list, marked as “always.” (There are other keys marked as “always,” but they are in little indented groups, and the group’s setting overrides the individual key.) I can hide those keys by marking them as either “as needed” or “never.” “As needed” means they will still show when I hover the mouse over the diagram (they are always visible in gray on touch-screen iDevices), but they won’t be part of finished diagrams unless I click on them. “Never” means they won’t appear even when I hover. I’ll set them to “as needed” just in case for some reason I want to use one of those keys later on. The keys I need to set to “as needed” are: Separator, Right first finger, Right second finger, and Right third finger.
   
   Now the diagram looks like this:
   
   And when I hover, I can see all the “as needed” keys:
   
3. Now I just need to click over to the “Custom presets” tab, enter a name for the preset, and save it.
   
   When I want to use this preset in the future, I can choose it from the “Custom presets” tab, or from the presets dropdown list near the top of the menu. This preset will only show up when I have the saxophone diagram selected.
   

And the saxophone preset is ready to go. Another few clicks and the clarinet preset is ready, too.

Dropbox integration

Now I’m ready to start cranking out some diagrams, but I will need a good place to keep them organized. Sometimes I work on stuff from my laptop at home, other times I work on stuff on my desktop computer at work, and sometimes I even work a little from my smartphone. Dropbox provides a great way to have all of my current projects at hand on whatever device I’m using, with zero fuss, for free. I’ve already created my account, but if you still need to create yours then head on over to Dropbox.com, get yourself situated, and then come on back.

With my Dropbox account set up, I’m ready to get going.

1. First I’ll click over to the “File options” tab. Under “Save images to,” I’ll click Dropbox, and when the sign-in form appears, I’ll enter the email address and password associated with my Dropbox account and click “Sign in.”
   
   Momentarily, I should be notified that I am “Signed into Dropbox as Bret Pimentel.” Unless your name also happens to be Bret Pimentel, this small detail may differ when you try it yourself.
2. Since I might like to get some feedback from friends on my fingering diagrams, I will check the “Use public folder” box.
   
3. Now I can just create and save as many diagrams as I want. Since they are being saved to Dropbox, they are immediately available on all my computers. And since I chose to use a Dropbox public folder, the FDB gives me a link each time I save a diagram, that I can copy and paste into an email or Tweet or whatever so that other people can see what I’m working on.
   

All done

Here are the finished fingering charts:

New and improved right-handed clarinet fingering chart. Click for larger.

New and improved left-handed saxophone fingering chart.

 Let me know what you’re making with the Fingering Diagram Builder!

Related posts:

1. Fingering diagram builder, version 0.2
2. Fingering Diagram Builder, version 0.4
3. Fingering diagram builder, version 0.3

Visualize. If possible, spend time in the performance space before performance day. If not, imagine up a good representation of what the space is likely to look and “feel” like. Mentally walk through the entire performance, from your arrival at the venue to your departure. Include every detail you can, no matter how mundane. In your mind’s eye, see yourself entering the stage, taking a tuning note, making a reed adjustment, waiting for the audience to fall silent. Audiate the whole performance the way you want it to sound. Hear the last note reverberating in the hall, then see yourself taking a bow and leaving the stage.

I find this valuable because everything feels familiar on the night of the performance. Even if I get some of the details wrong or leave something out, I can deal with those things as minor glitches in an otherwise controlled experience, rather than seeing them as part of a flood of unanticipated events. It also gives me a chance to think through any logistical issues; I take notes and make a to-do list while I do this exercise.

Warm up intelligently. I like to keep practicing to a minimum on performance day when possible. It’s not likely that I will make significant improvements in my preparation at that point, and I want my mind clear and body rested. If I have an evening recital, I typically do a leisurely warmup in the morning and make semi-final reed decisions. I focus the warmup on tone production and tension-free technique.

I practice the performance repertoire as little as possible on recital day. If there are difficult technical passages that I am worried about, I make a point of not trying to play them up to tempo, but instead run through them in a very slow and controlled way, focusing on tone and expression. That keeps my final practicing positive and constructive, rather than causing me stress about potential failures.

Have a good, normal day. I don’t want to depend on recital day rituals or superstitions, but I do want to be in a good mood. I don’t eat a special breakfast, but I eat something that is a favorite among my typical breakfasts. I don’t wear new clothes, but I wear something that I feel good in. I don’t take the day off work, but I do carve out a non-working lunch hour. Small, ordinary pleasures are the order of the day.

I find that if I make too big a deal of performance day, I overthink and attach unwarranted weight to the event. Keeping things good but normal makes performing less stressful.

I would be curious to hear your advice for performance preparation (besides the hours of practice). Please share in the comments section if you feel inclined.

Related posts:

1. Recital 11/3/2008
2. New sound clips: Faculty woodwinds recital, Aug. 30, 2011
3. Faculty woodwinds recital, Aug. 31, 2010

Simple major triads aren’t common in most “modern” (post-1940) jazz. But in the rare cases that they do appear, they are indicated with a single note name:

C major

The letter “C” above the staff is the chord symbol. The notes shown on the staff here are the corresponding pitch classes, stacked in root position in the thirds familiar to students of classical theory, though a jazz musician, composer, or arranger would rarely voice a chord in this way.

Almost always, there should some variety of seventh specified, using the numeral 7 (and when it isn’t specified, it is often implied). By convention, using the 7 alone with a note name indicates the lowered seventh:

C seventh

When a major seventh is intended, it must be specified. Most of the time, when a jazz musician thinks of a “major” chord, this is the chord he or she means, since it is more colorful and stylistically characteristic than the plain triad. A triangle symbol has become common, and is preferable because it is unambiguous and easy to read. Several other symbols are common, however, such as a capital M or some abbreviation of the word “major.” (These persist likely in part because they can be typed using symbols available on a standard computer keyboard.)

C major seventh

The major sixth chord is encountered on occasion, which contains a major sixth scale degree rather than a seventh; jazz musicians will often treat this as interchangeable with the major seventh chord when improvising melodies or accompaniments.

Minor chords are best indicated with a minus sign, and almost always include a lowered or minor seventh. Lowercase m or an abbreviation of “minor” are also fairly common, but, especially in handwritten scores, can be easily confused for major chords.

C minor seventh

Half-diminished chords are expressed in two common ways. The slashed-circle is preferable due to its concision, but the minor-seventh-flat-fifth notation is perhaps equally ubiquitous.

C half-diminished

Diminished (or “fully diminished”) chords also have two common symbols, one using a circle (preferable), and one using an abbreviation of “diminished.”

C diminished

It is worth noting that jazz composers and arrangers tend to prefer legibility over pedantry, and in many cases will use enharmonics to avoid double-flats and the like.

So-called suspended chords, which use the fourth scale degree rather than the third, are commonly referred to as “sus” chords, due to the abbreviation commonly used in their chord symbols:

C suspended

Note that the term “suspended” is used here to describe the quality of the chord, but in jazz music the term does not necessarily indicate the chord’s function—that is to say, the “suspension” may not resolve as expected. Similarly, seventh chords (with the seventh lowered, remember) are sometimes referred to as “dominant” chords, even if they do not serve a dominant (nor secondary dominant) function.

In addition to the basic chord types listed so far, chords can also be extended and/or altered. Chord extensions include the 9th, 11th, and 13th scale degrees (any other scale degrees would be repetitions of notes already present in the chord). These scale degrees can be added individually to a chord symbol with the word “add,” but this happens only rarely. More often, the extensions are assumed to include all those of a lower number: for example, a C¹³ chord implies the presence of the 11th and 9th. The 11th scale degree is a special case in major chords, since it is the same pitch class as the 4th scale degree and is unacceptably dissonant in typical situations. It is almost always altered by raising by a half-step, and in the case of a major-quality 13th chord, the implied 11th scale degree is always assumed to be raised unless indicated otherwise.

Extended chords

Accidentals are used to create alterations, with sharps and flats loosely interpreted to mean altering the indicated note by a half-step, even if that involves (for example) adding a natural rather than a flat or sharp. In some cases, parentheses around the alterations are helpful for clarifying whether the accidental belongs to the root note (for example, a C-sharp chord with a natural ninth versus a C chord with a sharp ninth). Notes that can be altered include the fifth (flat or sharp), ninth (flat or sharp), eleventh (sharp), and thirteenth (flat); any other alteration would cause a change in the chord’s basic type. Some copyists prefer a plus sign over a sharp for alterations, particularly in the case of the raised fifth—this eliminates some of the confusion about using the sharp-fifth notation in a key where the fifth scale degree ordinarily has a flat, but also introduces a number of other ambiguities.

Altered chords

Slash chords may be made up of any chord combined with any single specified “bass” note. The bass note may be played by the bass instrument(s) of an ensemble, or in the lowest position in a chord-playing instrument’s voicing (particularly if that instrument is being played unaccompanied). The bass note may or may not exist in the “upper” chord.

C-slash-D

Related posts:

1. A jazz improvisation curriculum: Junior high through college
2. Dvorák’s “New World” and jazz music: Heirs to a common heritage
3. University/conservatory degree programs in woodwind doubling, part II: jazz

Check them out in this video:

For more about the Doublers Collective:

• visit their website
• follow them on Twitter
• “like” them on Facebook
• hear Monica talk about the group in a TWiP podcast interview
• donate to their commissioning/recording/performing project on IndieGoGo

Related posts:

1. Follow the woodwind doublers list on Twitter
2. Jazz opportunities for woodwind players: learn the saxophone
3. University/conservatory degree programs in woodwind doubling, part II: jazz

Some of you politely made suggestions on how the survey could be better:

• There’s a big gap between “casual dabbler” and “semi-pro”. I suggest an additional category: “serious amateur” or something like that.
• It would be good to have a skill level between casual dabbler and music major (something along the lines of “good amateur”). As the poll currently is, it suggests that I play recorder to the same standard as sax. I would consider my recorder and flute playing better than “not at all” but my sax and clarinet playing not to be at the level of “music major”, hence they all closest to “casual dabbler”. I guess it’s too late to change the poll now, but I thought I’d offer my opinion anyway :).
• maybe ask music arranging abilities. Small ensemble writing for different woodwinds is necessary in my working fields.
• Not sure what your intent is with this data, but I do think that there are some fields that would be nice to have/know of (of course maybe for the next time you do this)…  For example,
  -”what do you consider your strongest/primary instrument”,
  -consider having three columns in the instruments section like:  own/play/don’t own
• Didn’t know how to answer some of the questions because I’m still a high school student

I think these are all good suggestions, and ones that I would probably take if I could do the survey over. (At this point I have no specific plan for future surveys, but haven’t ruled the idea out, either.)

Some other comments made me think of other questions I wish I had asked. A number of respondents took the opportunity to share some goals and ambitions (everything from getting a first paying gig to making it in the Broadway pit orchestras), which were fun and inspiring to read, and some shared accomplishments of which they are particularly proud (gigs, graduations, retirements, etc.). Others noted the non-woodwind instruments that they also play: piano, guitar, trumpet, valve trombone, tuba, percussion, and concertina were among those reported.

Many of you were kind enough to leave personal notes, or to offer compliments to me about my website, the survey itself, or other things. In particular, people seem to enjoy my list of woodwind doubles in musical theater and my fingering diagram builder. I very much appreciate all the kind words and support, and I can’t thank you enough for your survey participation, emails, RSS subscribes and Twitter follows, and just for stopping by to visit.

I was honored but surprised that several people referred to my website in their comments as a woodwind doubling “community.” While I flatter myself shamelessly that bretpimentel.com is the premier destination for woodwind doublers on the internet, I’ve resisted the idea of starting up discussion forums or other similarly open ways for site visitors to express themselves. If you’re interested in something more like that, check out some of my links to woodwind- or doubling-related forums. I personally skim those forums fairly regularly but post only occasionally. They can be great resources and are run by great people but be aware that their strength and their weakness is that anyone can share an opinion. I encourage you to check the forums out, and to maintain a healthy skepticism about unsourced information that you find there. My website is also full of errors and ill-informed opinions, but they are all my own.

A bunch of awesome people made general offers to help. I very much appreciate the enthusiastic support. Here are a few ways you can help out around here, if you’re so inclined:

• Leave relevant comments on blog posts that interest you. Brilliance and pithiness are optional but welcome.
• Subscribe via RSS or email, or follow me on Twitter. Those things help by persuading me that someone out there might actually be reading what I have to say.
• Share favorite blog posts and stuff via Facebook, Twitter, email, or whatever. A number of new visitors landed here thanks to the efforts of those of you who shared links to the survey. The more, the merrier.
• Contribute information to the shows list, the blogroll, the lists of woodwind players’ websites, and anything else that seems to be incomplete or inaccurate.
• If it feels right to do so, donate an amount of your choosing to help defray the costs of hosting the website. The costs, luckily, aren’t huge so far, so even the cost of a cheap clarinet reed or two makes you a major contributor and my BFF.
• Just drop me a note and let me know what you like, what you don’t like, or what you would like to see on this site. Or just say hello, or ask a question. I try always to respond to comments and questions. Sometimes people email me questions and the answers turn into blog posts.

Thanks once again for your participation in the survey, and I hope you’ve found the results as interesting as I have. I’ll wrap this up with one final survey comment, which I think sums things up nicely:

Life is too short to play only one instrument

Q. What is/are your best woodwind doubling tip(s)?

Your answers covered a lot of ground, but a few main themes showed up in many of your responses:

A little explanation:

• Practice (quantity, quality): No surprise here—a large number of you mentioned the need for consistent, organized, focused, and/or extensive practicing.
• Each instrument is different: A number of respondents pointed out that each instrument must be studied and played on its own terms, without depending on skills to transfer from one to the other. (It’s worth noting that a few of you saw the other side of this issue: that similarities between the instruments can perhaps be leveraged for more efficient improvement.)
• Get good instruction
• Work on fundamentals
• Practice switching: Several of you suggested practicing the actual act of switching quickly between instruments.
• Get quality gear
• Flute-specific advice: Some of you offered advice about the flute, mostly about the particular challenges of maintaining a good flute embouchure on limited practice time.
• Get experience: A few of you mentioned university or community groups as good ways to log some hours of experience on secondary instruments.

Here’s the full list of woodwind doubling tips. If you missed out on the survey, you’re welcome to add your own tips in the comments section.

• Practice, especially changing from one to another and getting used to quick changes. And don’t be shy
• If you’re serious about an instrument, any instrument, it’s worth it to get a good one
• Read up and/or take lessons.
  Play a lot.
  Always have a critical ear on yourself.
  Do the community-type gig to get experience on a new instrument.
• Listen to as many professionals play as possible.
• Be able to partition off your brain into different instruments so that it’s like booting a computer with different operating systems. Each is its own separate entity but can access the other’s information.
• Take a moment to stop, breathe, and mentally switch gears from one instrument to another. If you rush into your next instrument in practice or performance, you may make silly mistakes with fingering or embouchure. Ensure that you truly understand the exact idea of the embouchure you want, as well as how you want your tone to sound. TAKE LESSONS from talented musicians of each instrument.
• Do lots of scales and embouchure exercices, to become comfortable with the different fingerings and the change of embouchure.
• Find a rotation in your practice routine to balance the needs of each instrument.
  Use moderate setups (close to medium facings, medium strength reeds).
  Find enough practice time to stay current on flute.
• treat each instrument as it’s own beast with it’s own set of problems and challenges. Respect the instrument you are playing at the time and play it as if it were the only instrument you played.
• This is more of a general tip than geared toward woodwind doublers, however a typcial doubler should apply this to all of his/her doubles. Playing pretty with a gorgeous tone is only part of what you need to learn. It’s all about what the MD, Contractor, Leader, Bossman, etc. wants to hear out of you. If they want to hear you play out of tune (for example to mimic a child learning to play an instrument on stage while you’re in a pit), hopefully you’ll be able to do that.
  On a similar topic- practice different styles on all your doubles, and know some key players in those styles… That way you don’t look too baffled if someone says play more like Braxton you have an idea of what they are looking for (or you could walk out at that point).
• Play in tune, show up early
• spend 90% of practice time on fundamentals of tone production and finger/toungue technique
• Be disciplined in your practice time, and make sure to give each instrument attention, even you only have a short practice session.
• LONG TONES -start with the flute – go to clarinet – then end with the saxophone
• Remember that any practicing improvement on ONE instrument is improvement on ALL.
• Practise!
• Practice… Practice… doubling instruments means DOUBLE the practice time.
• Tip no.1: Get a good teacher on all of the instruments is a good tip. I did this and it helped me with playing each of the instruments to a reasonable standard. This didn’t actually help though to learn how to actually double. I think I’ve learned more about how to double from two sources: 1. The internet and the many sites and blogs 2. From actually ‘practicing’ doubling in the woodshed.
  Tip no.2: Persistence. This is the best tip because the road to doubling can be fraught with frustration.
  Tip no.3: Practice
  Tip no.4: Practice etc.
• Practice needs to be practical and fast – I always play all scales as soon as I can on a new instrument to get familiar with all key signatures, I also do a lot of play-along CDs to recreate the feeling of playing in an ensemble (tuning, band doesn’t wait for you, embouchure strengthening).
• Be sure to get top quality instruments, especially the ones that are not the strongest of your instruments. A bad instrument will make a good player sound bad.
• Gotta love the reed!
• Find fun material to help you with your doubles
• Buy the best equipment you can afford. Practice long tones and lyrical etudes as much or more than technical etudes. And, give up your social life because you’re going to be practicing 24/7 for the rest of your life! :)
• still coming to terms with it however planning and schedule are probably important to keep on top of everything… a little like watering a vegetable garden, some things need more water.
• Find similar mouthpiece setups!! Don’t try to double using wildly different embrochures…
• Stop looking at yourself as a primary vs. secondary instrumentalist. Take your secondary instruments seriously enough that you can comfortably call them your primary instrument when necessary.
• Learn your doubles as if it’s your primary instrument. Jump through the same hoops as one would if it’s your primary instrument, and take each instrument seriously. And LONG TONES!
• 1) Be flexible — all setups (i.e. mouthpiece/reed/ligature combinations) are not the same on any given day. You have to be willing to use a plastic reed if the clarinet is going to sit out in the pit and play 2 notes at the end of the gig.
  2) Don’t be a gear snob. There are a lot of cats who sound fabulous on their cheap/ugly horns.
• Study each instrument with an expert on that instrument, so that you learn how to play each instrument correctly. I studied with a doubler, and I believe I learned some things incorrectly on flute, especially.
• Practice tons! Buy great equipment that doesn’t limit you.
• Pracitce practice practice!
• Warm-up on flute, first! Always!
• before you start even the basics, save up the money, and try to get a “beginner lesson” from a university educator if at all possible. Videotape your face and hands while they set your playing position.
• Practise.
• Be able to read not only normal notation, but transpose to concert and other transposed pitches on sight.
• Practice both instruments, but always spend more time on your primary instrument.
• (As learned from Bret Pimentel’s website) This of each instrument as you’re playing it as though it is your primary. i.e. even though I’m a saxophone major, I still practice clarinet thoroughly instead of just trying to get through the parts I have on a gig.
• Play more than one in any given practice session. This helps not only to keep the chops up, but keeps the switching fresh in the brain.
• Practise
• its all about the sound and intonation
• Take lessons and play in professional, college ensembles
• get cases/gig bags with shoulder straps
• Do it!
• - Have a reed supplier for doubles, or keep a good supply of singles.
  - Never over-exaggerate your skill to get a gig. You’ll be found out quickly.
  - Teaching others is the best way to figure out your own issues.
• Go to grad school with Bret. ;P
• Practice going from one instrument to another and back again. Spending time switching axes is so important so you can adjust to the new instrument instantly.
• Practice your main instrument, and practice your doubles when required for gig.
  Make sure non primary instruments are in top condition.
  Look into synthetic reeds – specially on secondary instruments – much easier when sitting in a pit and swapping instruments.
• Practice, and TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. Do not pick up the flute (or whatever), learn all the fingerings, then think you’re done. Take lessons, study REAL repertoire (sonatas, concerti, orchestral excerpts, etc) and treat every instrument with the respect it deserves.
• Practice, just practice!
• Focus on the flute (and piccolo). That tends to be one of the weaker instruments for many doublers (in terms of good sound and control)
• Start early! And play in as many different situations as you can on as many different instruments.
  By 10th grade I already had in my arsenal flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone (and trumpet!) so by the time I got to college, I already had a comfort level on all these instruments and could play in all sort of ensembles and groups early on.
  By the time I had graduated high school I had already played 4 musicals in and out of school – 3 of them were doubling books (including one with single/double reeds and flute)
  AND PLAY DOUBLE REEDS. (and auxiliary like piccolo, bass clarinet, etc.)
  I have gotten gigs over other people so many times because of my extensive double reed and auxiliary work.
• Plan your practice time well, and DON’T agree to do more than one family of woodwinds during a major concert, like a Wind Ensemble or Orchestra. It will be painful.
• practice the way you play. if you play pits, switch instruments during practice every few minutes. if you mostly play bands, practice instruments in isolation.
• Each instrument has its own personality, and your job is to learn each one. For example, even though you finger them the same, soprano, alto, and tenor sax are completely different instruments. And A clarinet is a completely different voice from Bb.
• Don’t try to move too quickly when learning new instruments. You may have the technique to play advanced literature within a few months, but your embouchure will take much longer to develop. Allow your teacher to set the pace of the lessons.
• more long tones!
• understand and respect the differences betweent the instruments
• Try to develop an excellent concept of the sound you’d like to produce with your instrument.
• Experience on one instrument transfers and adds to the others so that your total knowledge becomes greater than the sum of the parts.
• Approach each instrument as a separate entity.
• Keep playing, if you stop playing even one of them for a few days you lose so much time and practice.
• start early, and just suck it up and do it all. learn double-reeds, if you can.
• I’m thinking synthetic reeds may be the way to go for some instruments, especially for larger reeds that wrinkle when they aren’t being played – like bass clarinet, tenor sax, bari sax, etc.
• Learn each instrument from the ground up—don’t skip any steps.
• Treat each instrument separately and as such play it in a totally different way – don’t try to impose characteristics of one instrument onto another.
• If you want to work in musical theater, invest in a wind synthesizer and become proficient on it. Most theaters will only hire a fraction of the musicians that any given show calls for, and if you can add additional voicing from books that wouldn’t be covered otherwise, it will greatly increase your marketability.
• try to remain aware of the differences between every instrument … don’t think of the bass clarinet as “just a big clarinet” or the bari sax as an alto which plays an octave lower
• Treat instrument as a separate thing. The clarinet is not a saxophone with funny fingerings. The flute is not a saxophone you blow into funnily.
• Practice. There is no shortcut.
• Join an ensemble as soon as possible on any secondary instruments, even an informal one, because it helps you stay motivated to practice and get better.
• Always be willing to study and learn!
• play your primary instrument to an exceptional level, then add others.
  Plays in as many situations/gigs as possible.
  learn to be able to sightread anything
• if you can only pick up one horn, grab your flute—your lose your flute sound quicker than the reed instruments.
• Approach every horn on its own. And take lessons!!!
• consistant practice on all of your doubles.
• Play at least one double from each family every day you practice. Even if it’s only 15 minutes, consistency over time is key.
• Forget what the “experts” say about piccolo when working in the “Pit”.
  Shows with sax,clarinet,flute,pic and others, require a larger opening of the appeture(hole) when blowing into the instrument. Role “in” ever so slightly, and do not make the embouchure too small. You’ll find with constant “switches” that your pic. sound will be more constant.(I know this is against the usual rules of instuction,but playing show IS a different “animal”. Also,use softer reeds than you think you’ll need.
  Why kill yourself when you must play multiple instruments over a long period.
• Treat each instrument as its own. Play the flute like a flutist, not like a saxophonist who plays flute, etc. This will give you that distinct sound that you need to make it in the professional world.
• Practice, practice, practice. And: avoid tightening the embouchure. Stay flexible.
• As with anything, practice, practice, practice. Find the cross-over skills and use them but don’t get so ****y thinking because you have succeeded at one instrument, you will automatically succeed at all.
• My bests tip are to prioritize, organize, and manage time very wisely. A woodwind specialist needs to be able to manage their time like crazy just to be able to rightfully call themselves a woodwind specialist. Also, practice time must always be efficient and very focused. There should be several goals for each practice session so there is direction to practice time. We absolutely cannot afford to lose time as woodwind specialists!
• Practice instrument changes. Be aware of what your embouchure is doing with each instrument you play. The first show I played sax in, after getting the music, I laid out my instruments (fl, cl, sax) to practice. As I went through the music, I put down the sax, picked up my flute and not a sound came out. I had to analyze what my lips were doing so that my flute tone didn’t suffer. Choreograph the instrument changes. Sometimes there is not enough time to carefully put down one instrument to pick up another.
• Have a ball being a generalist, but be prepared to accept the fact that you probably will never reach the level of refinement on one instrument as a specialist.
• I’m mostly self-taught, and I wouldn’t recommend that, honestly. I’m going to start taking lessons and I would recommend everyone do the same, if only for a little while, when learning a new instrument.
• Start on clarinet ;)
• If you want to get to the “hirable” point on a given instrument, put in a lot of time up front (hours a day). Then after many months, when you get to and maintain a professional level, you can practice it more moderately to leave room for your other areas. But still practice to maintain what you can do.
• Find a way to keep your horns available to you all day. As a saxophonist / bassoonist, I find my flute and clarinet doubles require more attention. Because of this, I set up those instruments that are a challenge by me and pick them up here and there all day. 5 minutes here and there can do a lot for improving one’s ability to pick up a double on the fly and play it competently.
• Practice both instruments as if they’re your primary. You obviously learned one before the other – but don’t make it so obvious that the person sitting next to assumes you’re a doubler.
• Leave them on a stand so that you pick them up every day.
• practice transitions between the instruments (even from one saxophone to another) so you can get fully into the mindset of the target instrument and completely out when you are done, instead of having an amalgam of techniques that interfere with each other.
• sticky notes are great to mark your switches!
• practice long tones. Alot!
• Don’t play flute, picc, and sax right after one another!
• Have patience with yourself on the secondary instrument.
• Sometimes it is necessary to concentrate on one instrument and put others aside, sometimes it is important to play more than one in a practice session to get used to switching. Accept there needs to be flexibility in practice routines depending on circumstance, and even sometimes mood.
• Get a cart for the heavy doubles, and always practice your weakest instrument most!
• Practice a lot, take lessons, listen, study. Don’t be afraid to try to find parallels between instruments.
• Don’t think of yourself as a doubler…when you are holding a flute, you are a flute player etc…
• It’s not enough to just practice the different woodwinds. In my experience, you really have to practice going from any one woodind family to another. This is essential in performing for musicals or even some big bands. I have found this especially useful in going from clarinet or sax to flute or picc. However, I’ve found that going from oboe to flute actually seems to boost my flute chops.
• Develop an effective practice routine (especially important where time is an issue), zone in on range extremeties (they can easily get neglected). Listen to top performers who are specialists in their instrument, keep being inspired.
• Watch out when you hook up the bassoon that you don’t poke the reed halfway through your upper or lower lip. (I make this statement on the basis of bitter experience.)
• Mention your doubling abilities even if you’re only demonstrating one instrument for a gig/audition/etc.
• If at all possible, own as many different instruments as you can. So many gigs I have gotten largely because I was the only one that had the requisite instrument(s). That being said, they aren’t much use if you can’t play them well, also.
• If you hear it/feel it, keep at it – don’t give up.
• practice…long tones!!!
• Listen to people who play really well, ask a lot of questions
• Get the best instruments you can afford and keep them in excellent working order
• Clean all your reeds and mouthpieces in an ultrasonic cleaner every night.
• practice
• You must practice regularly on all of the instruments! I find that I have major embouchure and wind strength issues if I have only been playing on one for a while and not the others.
• Go for mastery. Mastery is being to able to calmly and with no physical strain be able to express what one needs to express—it’s not about how fast or high or how many tunes or orchestral excerpts you can play; that’s expertise, which you won’t achieve on every instrument. The world is full of experts…be a master.
• study all instruments with a good teacher
• Be prepared. Spend a couple extra bucks to get a black silk type swab for the clarinet, have cigarette paper or something similar on hand in case tone wholes get clogged with water,. I like to find time to listen and also play along with a CD of a show whenever possible, I find it’s good for my ear, and also helps in tempos, pauses, etc. Of course, super players probably don’t find it necessary. But, it helps be feel both more acquanted and prepared. Finally, this also helps in preparing for fast switching of instruments, which is often important to notate in the score. Oftentimes, it is important to have a saxophone attached to my neckstrap at the onset of a song even though it may begin on clarinet. It makes the later switch to sax that much easier. Obviously, if there’s plenty of time, that isn’t necessary, but it pays to know what is required.
• Study each instrument from a person who plays only that instrument. An example, study flute from a professional flute player. Not another doubler.
• Don’t overdo it, just work piece by piece on improving. Think about how you want to sound. Conceptualisation is very important.
• Practice a lot, take lessons, and get to know people that contract shows
• practise all instruments
• Play each instrument as if it were a unique person; just as we treat each person differently according to their personalities, quirks, likes, and dislikes, so must we with instruments. Although many skills do transfer, do not assume that they do; practice on each instrument!
• When you are done practicing, practice some more.
• practice, practice, practice
• Buy decent gear, study with specialists.
• Buy nice instruments and start learning on nice instruments. Learning on a bad horn just makes the learning process all the worse, and it’s easier to pick up bad habits that way.
• You simply have to put in your time
• Start learning as many instruments as early as possible. Don’t rule out any instruments.
• Have your horns out every day. Play one to the others throughout the day, whenever possible. Study each double with the finest teacher of that instrument you can find.
• Good pitch, good tone, perfect technique. Play every instrument like it’s your primary.
• practice x 3
• Watch the lips.
• find great teachers for every instrument
• The hardest part of doubling is the transitions. For example, after playing an extended sax passage, having to pick up the flute and play a nice lyrical passage in the midrange of the flute. (Playing any of the wooden reed woodwind causes your lips to swell slightly which can throw off the best flute embouchure.) Play flute for a bit, find your center and your best tone. Then play the sax passage. Before just picking up the flute, think about how everything felt when you first found your good sound. Then play and see how long it takes before you feel that you’re back to your original good sound. Repeat trying to shorten the time it takes to get to the good sound, with no or almost no degredation in sound quality being the ideal.
  This works about the same from flute to reeds or reed to reeds because the embouchures are different from each. Moving from passage to passage start out by taking the time to make sure that the embouchure is set. Clarinet and Sax are the hardest since they have similar qualities.
• Practice as many instruments as you can. If you have less time to practice, the more of it you have to spend on fundamentals.
• 1) Treat each new double as if you’ve never played before. Every instrument has it’s own technique/history/embouchure etc.
  2) If you buy a new horn to double on, make sure it’s an informed decision and purchase the best horn you can afford. No need to struggle with something less-than-adequate.
  3) It’s fine to study with a professional doubler initially – they can be invaluable with helping with the transition to the new horn and pitfalls of doubling, however you NEED to study with a professional specialist. For example, you want to double on flute, eventually you need to go out and get a high quality flute instructor.
  4) Find somewhere to play your doubles. For me, I got my clarinet chops together playing a bunch of community/semi-pro musicals, but community concert bands are another great place to get some chops together.
• During practice switching instruments. I’ve found that embouchure changes for C flute to Alto flute to be as demanding as Sax to Flute.
• start flute before age 40, unless you find a gorgeous young teacher
• Finding the parallels between the instruments, so the differences can be the ones you practice.
• For me it is always best to have one primary instrument, and always keep working on the others when you have time.
• Practice
• To have a really good stand for the instruments to be on. Sometimes its tempting to leave e.g. a saxophone across your lap – but this has led to many a broken reed/dodgy shoulder!
• Start playing instruments early. Because I started sax, oboe clarinet and bassoon early enough, when I play them they all sound like my first instrument. I can tell when I hear other doublers that they aren’t oboe players. You can’t tell that with my playing. i haven’t really learned flute yet, but I’ve learned the proper embouchure and can get a good clear tone.

Coming up next:

Some additional comments from the survey, and a few of my thoughts.

Related posts:

1. Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 2: instruments
2. Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 5: challenges
3. Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 6: benefits

Q. What is the greatest benefit of being a woodwind doubler?

Here’s my own breakdown of the most common types of answers. Many answers fit into more than one category.

• More gigs: Unsurprisingly, this was a factor for over half of the respondents. However, many if not most indicated some non-monetary motivation:
• Variety
• Fun/satisfaction
• Artistic expression: A number of respondents mentioned the ability to access a variety of tone colors as a motivating factor.
• Cross-training: Several respondents indicated that playing one instrument improves their skills at another.
• Challenge

Here is the complete list of responses, with only very minor editing, in random order.

• versatility
• More gigs!
• Working
• Being able to play all the great classical rep for the winds! (and then there’s that whole getting-paid-to-play-shows thing, too :P)
• Diverse gigs – a chance to do something different on each gig. I’m also more marketable because I can do more things.
• making more gigs
  more repertoire
  being crazy :-)
• More opportunities to play, and a greater palette of tone colors available for my own gratification. Each instrument has it’s own character and traditions, and I feel that I am a better player overall for having had some experience with those traditions. Also, I have been able to talk more intelligently with clarinetists who are trying to learn the saxophone about the differences between the two.
• Mainly economic.
  If playing with any bands ie: bigbands, there is an expectation you will own and be able to play the doubles ie: flute / clarinet.
  Show work certainly requires you to own and be able to play the doubles to a reasonable standard.
  The other benefit for me is I just enjoy the opportunity to play on different instruments and to play their respective repertoire.
• I am offered more gigs than if I could only perform on one woodwind. All the different teaching styles I’ve encountered from all my lessons helps as well.
• I can play more types of music and get more gigs.
• More markettable
• the literature you try to amass in the study of a specific instrument, can be played on other instruments…
• More work opportunities
• A private studio of 55 students, and two adjunct teaching positions in two different instruments at two schools! This simply would not happen on one instrument!
• Versatility. I can play my clarinet in marching band, my oboe in concert band, my saxophone in jazz band, and all 3 ( plus possible E-flat clarinet & recorders) in pit orchestra. I’m also exposed to a rich solo history (specifically in classical repertoire) on each instrument.
• The greatest benefit is being hirable in networks where your type is a rarity. As someone who hangs out in jazz/rock/commercial circles, I am asked to play flute and clarinet because, as a sax player, I am the only woodwind player that some people know. I can then capitalize on my abilities in those circles.
• I have more opportunities to play. Last year when I was 14 I was admitted to [summer camp] on saxophone. Going to camp there helped me with all my instruments. I often get asked to fill in on bassoon in orchestras I don’t normally play in. In All-District competitions, I always audition on both oboe and sax. Sometimes I get first on oboe, other times on sax, but I always get in this way and I get the extra audition experience. Also, when I practice one instrument I improve on the others. Finally, I get asked to play in musicals. The other reed players are the sax players from the top US military bands, so meeting and playing with them is a great opportunity.
• being able to play whatever gig comes along. Extra money. More fun. A bit more prestige
• more versatility
• Not limited to one sound or role. A bassoonist is very different than a flautist. Having the ability to switch between the two affords a greater understanding and respect for the music I’m playing.
• Versatility. Transferring skills or concepts between instruments.
• Musical value and expanse of knowledge.
• The more instruments, the more marketable.
• More work, more varieties of personal expression
• We’re in high demand for orchestra pits.
• The ability to connect with students better, because I’ve been through the same struggles as they have.
• You mean beyond all the sex, drugs and rock and roll? Or the health benefits of lugging bari/tenor/bass cl/clar to a gig (uphill, both ways)? Beyond the facts that if one wants to play in pits or big bands, then one must double, in which case the benefit is getting the gig, I’m not sure if there are any real benefits. By playing various winds, I suppose one gains a greater appreciation of the tuning and technical issues of the other instruments when playing in an ensemble. Beyond the basic issues of playing an instrument (intonation and technical facility) are the stylistic issues. This presumably makes one a better musician in the sense that they are more attuned to what is happening around them, though I’m not sure that doubling has much to do with this.
• Additional work additional fun
• enhanced employment oppurtunities
• Gives you more opportunities for playing.
• Having the ability to focus on a different instrument if I get tired of another.
• Being able to perform many different styles, as well as teach privately the instruments as well.
• I love the variety and tonal colors.
• Being valuable in a variety of musical venues. It’s not just advantageous to be a “doubler”,but being able to play well a variety of “styles” of music well.
• The challenge and feeling of accomplishment (and invincibility!) is the greatest benefit!
• More work.
• Varied musical experiences.
• flexibility for theater productions
• More opportunity for gigs in pit orchestras or jazz ensembles that others wouldn’t necessarily get with only playing a single instrument, being able to pick up a secondary instrument to read a piece I love it.
• Flexibility
• Fun!
• Other than personal satisfaction (which in my book goes a long way), being a bit more employable for certain kinds of gigs is a plus. If you know how to “work” each of the instruments you bring, you essentially have a huge variety of sounds that you can bring to the table at a gig.
• The greatest benefit is never being bored. I also love the challenge of doing so many things at a high level.
• Opportunities to play in different styles – many more classical opportunities on clarinet and more jazz opportunities on sax. If I played only one instrument I would be limiting my opportunities to mainly playing in the style for which that instrument is most widely known.
• more employment opportunities, obviously. Secondary is an appreciation of the challenges other wind instruments present
• having the oppurtunity to play in pitts and more opportunities to be accepted in an orchestra
• Diversity, and the art of being to change the color and mood of a piece in a short amount of time.
• 1) More gigs
  2) More fun. Playing multiple instruments changes it up :o)
  3) If applicable, doubling fees means more money in your pocket.
• Get called for shows and gigs that require doubles.
• Versatility! I have professional relationships with several theatres that know I can cover any woodwind book that doesn’t involve double reeds.
• the joy
• Playing musicals!
• Having an instrument suitable for more modern, small jams and informal atmospheres, but also being able to play in orchestras, period ensembles, and the more typical classical music scene. So it really opens up more opportunities.
• Filling the niche that no one else in the area can
• having work
• I enjoy the challenge of trying to be proficient on all my instruments.
• Being more marketable and having more work opportunities.
• In a Jazz setting, adds color changes to the sax section sound. Flute has opened up more challenging parts in Flute choir and concert band.
• flexibility in gigs and opportunity for gigs
• The performance opportunities as a doubler have been wonderful. As a classical saxophone major, there were not very many performance opportunities in my undergraduate career. Being the only proficient oboist and one of two proficient bassoonists in my university allowed me to pick up several jobs around school, especially in musical theater.
• huge variety of playing opportunities.
• Being able to have musical experience on more than one instrument.
• More than twice the fun fun and more opportunities to play.
  Playing your secondary instruments can be beneficial in fixing problems in technique with your primary instrument, eg: evenness of runs or clumsy fingering patterns.
• Being able to fill in where needed. Oboes and clarinets frequently share the parts. That’s why I started playing oboe in the first place after 40 years of playing clarinet.
• Being able to play a diverse amount of ethnic music styles (although primarily Balkan).
• Playing in pit orchestras!
• Hypothetical future employability.
• More opportunities for work in general.
• It’s fun!
• My work is doubled, and I fill a niche that most double-reeders of one side or another wouldn’t dare attempt.
• Being a woodwind doubler opens up many more musical opportunities (gigs) than sticking to a single instrument.
• More gigs the more you can cover.
• Gigs. And more teaching opportunity. It’s a moral thing with teaching; you shouldnt teach a kid clarinet or flute if you can’t play them WELL yourself. But gigs.
• people pay well for good doublers
• I get hired/asked to do a lot of different things and participate in many genres. For instance, I can play Baroque music on bassoon because clarinet was not invented during that era. Also, I can teach all of these instruments with confidence, which will help me in the long run.
• Opportunites to play and the range of sounds for recording and performance
• Fun, Fun, Fun!
• flexability of playing different horns in different siutations.
• Not much out here
• A higher understanding of greater genres of musical styles – more opportunities to perform and make transfers between instrumental families.
• Getting musical theatre gigs.
• What you learn on one instrument often transfers positively to another.
• More opportunities to play music!
• The ability to add varying tone colors and sounds to an arrangement or composition, without the need for additional players.
• got me more teaching jobs
  sometimes it fun breaking up the practice session on the double
• Skills enforced on one instrument such as the importance of abs support for oboe have a direct and very important impact on playing second instrument.
• gigs!!!
• More work
• jazz clarinetists are not plentiful, and I’m a good one
• get to play a variety of music
• flexibilty as to various musical styles/genres
• The diversity of being able to play all styles of music and the availability to work with multiple ensembles (Orchestral/wind ensemble sub lists to musical pit work).
• Great daily challenge. Great fellow musician’s acknowledgement of the mastery of many horns. Conductors, orchestrators, composers interest and asking advice on the variour horns.
• Getting to play all my instruments, switching between them all seems to not make me as tired as the same amount of time on just one instrument does.
• Fights my musical instrument Attention Deficit Disorder by keeping the mind fresh. Always a challenege
• More gigs
• Employability and new perspectives on each instrument from the perspective of each of the others.
• More work! And getting to play in shows, which is my favourite thing, and having more fun and always learning new things.
• I get more gigs and get to play a greater variety of musical styles.
• Having the range to select the specific instrument capable of delivering the ideal tone or feeling for a particular piece or performance.
• Ability to join in different types of music. If they’re playing jazz, I can play my saxophone. If they’re playing chamber music with strings, I can whip out my flute.
• learning skills and acquiring knowledge on my non-primary instruments that are applicable to my primary instrument that I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered on the primary instrument.
• Being versatile. Not having to pick one instrument as my favorite!
• it gives you a fuller understanding of all instruments and music in general, for i am also a percussionist and it has greatly helped my percussion playing, and playing percussion has helped my sax/clarinet doubling
• more opportunities to do different types of gigs!
• Lots of fun sounds to make, more opportunities to play
• Gigs = $$
• -more teaching options (in private schools I can teach more hours, because I can teach different instruments)
  -when someone asks me to play in e.g. a church service and the music they give me is not fit for my main instrument, I suggest to play it on another one
  -people tend to ask me if they need a flutist, in stead of a profesional who ask more money
• Being able to cover whatever is needed when doing a show. More shows are open to me, since I am able to play multiple instruments. Even in symphony, I find the need to double from time to time.
• The ability to cover a woodwind book in a pit orchestra, maybe not perfectly on every instrument, and maybe transposing a few things (oboe) for another instrument, but having a ton of fun in the process.
• Having all those varied sounds at my disposal, and there is always at least one that fits the mood i’m in. Great for offering diversity in ensembles etc.
• I get the moneys doing musicals!! …clarinet is fun!!
• exposure to the music of all the doubles
• Flexibility. If you can get the people to acknowledge you on your principal instrument and not just dismiss you as a “doubler”, you will get called to play the “orchestral” shows as well as the “doubling” shows. Also, if you come from a smaller town, you can get them to hire you to help breathe a little life and color into the perfunctory piano and percussion. Adding someone who can pull stuff out of the score and play these lines on flute, these lines on clarinet, this pretty little solo line on oboe, etc makes it a good incentive to hire you.
• I love doing musical theater. I have many more opportunities to play than I did when I just played flute.
• Versatility as a freelancer. (A huge bonus is the ability to play test at a high level as a woodwind repair technician)
• So much more fun!! Many more opportunities are available and there is such a wide variety of skills to master.
• The greatest benefit of being a woodwind doubler is the opportunity to study a much larger collection of literature than a person would usually be able to play on one instrument. It is also quite nice to be able to play the literature of the baroque, classical, and romantic periods on their original instruments, rather than as a saxophone transcription.
• Being able to actively teach all of the instruments – I’m getting my PhD in Music Education, and I’ve been doing a lot of work with unergrads, so being able to teach them the basics has been my greatest benefit (especially as I don’t play anything except bassoon in ensembles much anymore).
• Experience of playing many types of music.
• Ability to fill in any woodwind section where necessary.
• Lots of variety
• More gigs, more fun. If it’s my gig, I can show up with any horn(s) I want, depending on my mood. It keeps everything fun.
• Being able to perform in many musical theater venues, and having the chance to meet new people with every show.
• live is never boaring
• marketability/employment
• lots of gigs!
• With out question there are far more gigs available to doublers than single instrument players, particularly in the theater and pop/jazz realms. But even as a competent player on one (or two, or three…) of the horns, you also have the opportunities out there for ‘singler’ (heh, I just made that up) jobs in orchestras or chamber groups or anything really…and potentially on various woodwinds.
• The fun of painting with more than one color
• More job opportunities and more opportunities to be able to play
• Versatility – you get more gigs
• Having multiple voices to express my inner muse.
• I believe that there are certain aspects about each instrument that apply to others. In that way, playing many instruments might be able to help you learn things about other instruments and better yourself as an overall musician.
• Being able to go from a jazz sax lick to an oboe solo into some clarinet runs. Just a joy to going from one instrument to another.
• Increased employment
• Work
• Being able to play a variety of styles!
• Being versatile and also getting a chance to change what you’re playing.
• Variety of tonal colors available to me.
• being able to work more styles of music
• You get to play some fantastic music with other great players and continue the legacy of the American musical theater.
• More work
• Marketability.
• I think it’s a fantastic asset to be able to play multiple instruments as it opens up possibilities for jobs, and can even offer lessons on multiple instruments. Each one provides its own unique challenges and its just nice to be able to work those out and grow as a musician.
• There are greatly expanded opportunities to perform and teach.
• getting called for (low paying) musical theater gigs
• variety of musical opportunities
• Versatility and adaptability.
• I have a great job as a military musician.
• More gigs!
• the knowledge that I can competently play several instruments. (I have yet to see the multiplications to pay scale, that will come as I get better at my doubles)
• More music = Happier me!
• it’s a lot of fun! I especially enjoy playing a piece of music with an instrument that captures the mood of the piece.
• I find the variety compliments learning across instruments, rather than hinders
• Flexibilty
• Teaching ensembles, being employable as a teacher on more than one instrument (=more time in one place, more likely to get a job), playing in community ensembles and not necessarily being the best player in the room (due to being on a second instrument)
• Flexibility with music, ability to express oneself so many different ways.
• Each instrument benefits the others. Playing one will solidify concepts on another.
• The fun of it.
• having options
• I like the variety of music and playing styles of clarinet and saxophone. I also enjoy the challenge of shifting from instrument to instrument- within reason of course. On the other hand, I enjoy it when I don’t have to pack up 4 instruments at the end of a show.
  2 to 3 will do!

Coming up next

Your best woodwind doubling tips!

Q: What is your greatest challenge as a woodwind doubler?

I categorized the answers as best I could, with many of your responses falling into multiple categories. Here are some of the most common issues raised:

By far, the most common issue reported was finding the time to practice multiple instruments—I’ll reveal that this was my own answer, as well.

Flute-specific problems were also frequently mentioned, with oboe, clarinet, and bassoon appearing lower on the list (the saxophone got only a mention or two). I do think that the flute as a double has some particular challenges, but, as we know, it’s also one of the most common doubles. It would be interesting to assemble a group of doublers who play all five major woodwinds at a somewhat equal level, and take a poll to see which instrument they think is the biggest challenge.

11% of respondents to this question mentioned embouchure issues. That made it the third-most-frequent response category, but still not an overwhelming number. I’m pleased to see this number come in fairly low, as it has been something of a soapbox topic for me that playing multiple instruments, done right, doesn’t ruin your embouchure. (To be clear, the 11% number includes those who mentioned any kind of embouchure issue, not necessarily actual embouchure ruination.)

A number of people mentioned the problem of making fast switches between instruments in performance. Almost as many specifically mentioned the problem of trying to play instruments at a sufficiently high level; this idea may be implicit in many additional responses.

A few mentioned the problem of establishing a reputation as a competent/professional musician on more than one instrument, and overcoming the doubler/dabbler stereotype. I think this is a real problem—how many times have you been asked, “But what’s your main instrument?”

And now, in random order, all the responses, mostly unedited.

• Pricey.
• flexibilty as to various musical styles
• Finding time to maintain skill levels across the various families of instruments.
• Letting go of the ego long enough on a “double” to allow my skills to take over rather than my doubts!
  Pitch on the 3rd octave of the flute, oboe reeds, jazz improvisation.
• Switching to flute
• 1. Having time to practice both of my primary instruments. I am a high school student( age 15) and have tons of homework.
  2. Convincing the directors at my youth orchestra that I am a serious oboe player. Even though I am the best oboe player in the orchestra (I am going to [music camp] this summer), they can’t get over the fact that I can also play alto sax very well and bassoon. They wouldn’t let me play the sax solo in Pictures at an Exhibition even though I was better than the player they found.
• Finding a gig.
• Putting up with the old-school jazz guys who think they’re amazing but play the flute (clar/oboe/god forbid, bassoon) like drunk high school kids.
• Unability to find a degree that supports multiple instruments.
• Purchasing the professional quality instruments I double on.
• Some touring broadway show books such as West Side Story bk 4, Young Frankenstein bk3, Spamalot bk2, Legally Blonde bk2, Producers bk4
• Finding musicians interested in collaborating in my preferred style (jazz).
• Being good enough on all nstruments .
• As someone that started on saxophone, I find the following issues most challenging as a woodwind doubler:
  - Conserving my air and limiting my voicing while playing clarinet in order to avoid the occasional ‘scoop’
  - Making sure that my lower lip is rolled out, and that my aperture is not too small while playing flute
  - Oboe reed making
• Greatest challenge is shifting mindset (and lipset!) between the two instruments
• The oboe. It’s really frustrating.
• Oboe…..Oboe Reeds….or just Oboe in general
• Getting to, and maintaining, a reasonable standard of playing on all instruments
• As a double-reed specialist. staying on top of making quality reeds for both instruments. One week it’s principal oboe on Marriage of Figaro, and I have to be making oboe reeds, but then the very next week is bassoon on Rite of Spring and I have to be prepared for that also.
• Trying to sound like every instrument in my arsenal could be my primary.
• remembering the name/location of keys in the low part of clarinet. Proper playing above high C on Clarinet. Extreme upper range on sax. Switching from oboe/English Horn to Flute. Quick switches to piccolo from any instrument.
• Keeping all my instruments in shape and getting around to working on all of them.
• Finding time to hold down a day job and keep a regular practice routine on this many instruments.
• The greatest challenge is budgeting time. Each time doing one thing takes time away from something else, so you have to prioritize what is the most important. This is especially hard when balancing jazz and classical music or composition as well.
• Finding time to actually play all those instruments…much less keep up on them!
• Remembering the alternative fingers across the instruments i.e. F# is not the same on Flute and Clarinet etc
• Keeping up with everything that goes into each instrument. Like I’m strong with flute and saxophone, but my clarinet skills could definitely be stronger.
• Quite honestly, the expense.
  Even with a ‘day job’ and a steady amount of theater gigs, it is really difficult to have all the equipment I need (reeds, horns, etc), and in good working order. I’ve had to sell two of my horns and ‘downgrade’ so I could afford to pay rent or buy other equipment. It is heartbreaking at times.
  Also, it has caused me to turn away a few gigs for just oboe/English horn because I don’t own and English horn – despite the fact I studied oboe primarily in college, and spent the last two years of my degree playing English horn extensively (and almost exclusively)
• Divided attention. With limited time, can I really develop meaningful skills on more than one instrument? (I play piano too).
• EMBROUCHURE DIFFERENCES
• practice time
• Finding time to keep at least functional chops on multiple horns(and not incur the wrath of family/significant other).
• practice time
• sometimes changing out instruments during musicals
• Keeping a soloist level on all instruments.
• My greatest challenge is finding the time to practice all of my woodwinds. I am interested in so many things that I overbook myself and eventually have to go into “survival mode” with practicing for just the next gig(s)/lesson(s). I often wish that I could play just one family of instruments (for example, just clarinets), but then I realize that I wouldn’t be able to do as much cool stuff—like play in the sax section of a jazz ensemble.
• Fingerings! I have moments where I just forget what instrument I’m playing and try to use flute fingerings.
• More stuff to schlep around and possibly forget
• playing the clarinet. I came from flute to reeds, so the saxophone seemed natural. The clarinet is harder for me, especially the higher it goes.
• fingerings!
• getting a good flute sound
• Stupid Clarinet fingerings below the break
• Practicing everything.
• Finding the time to practice them all every day.
• intonation
  bassoon fingering
• Getting a good flute tone and playing low notes are difficult after having played a single reed instrument, especially clarinet.
• Oboe to pic in a musical
• Clarinet fingerings & flute embouchure!
• Maintaining my proficiency during the “off-season.”
• I’m having difficulty finding the time or even the drive to learn to play the flute. I’ve done a few shows with minimal amount , but I prefer a very tiny amount, as I don’t feel strong enough yet. Ideal would be playing a 2nd flute part.
• Buying/transporting quality instruments, embouchure changes, and clef changes.
• Raising the standard of my doubles to that of my primary instrument.
• Keeping up with all the instruments; not letting my attention on any one fall to a less-than-professional level.
• Embouchure and breath control
• Finding gigs that high school students can participate in, in my area.
• finding the time… to try and finish all the doubles practice before 12 noon and then realise i have to practice tenor saxophone
• Occasional symphonic gigs
• Finding the time to devote to each instrument.
• dealing with double reeds
• Generally, instrument switches, even within families (bass clarinet to soprano clarinet) has always been problematic for me. If I have several bars to make the mental adjustment I’m fine, however being able to pick up a cold instrument and play it well and compensate for the time it’s been sitting cooling off is difficult.
  I would have to say that of my doubles, flute is my toughest double.
• Having reeds that play at a moment’s notice (without having to go the synthetic route)
• Distributing my limited practice time among the doubles. Also, I am at the mercy of my unit (Army) whether I have access to double-reed instruments on which to practice. Sometimes they are available, other times not.
• Juggling gigs.
• Time to keep ALL the instruments at a level I wish to be at (i.e a professional level). Preferably need 10 minutes warm up to adapt to change of instrument where possible.
• Getting time on my new instruments (flute and clarinet).
• Finding time to practice them all.
• The mechanical condition of my flute. It’s a real drag to play it sometimes because it feels so bad. I don’t have enough time between gigs to take it into the shop for the amount of work it needs.
• Keeping skills at a high level
• None – it’s all fun
• Keeping everything (insts and reeds) in working order, having everything feel comfortable enough that I can pick it up on a moments notice and play
• Continuing to improve on everything—it’s agonizingly slow. Also, being taken seriously by the “jazz cats” who turn into neurotic crybabies whenever they see a clarinet double in a big band book.
  Oh yeah… it’s also expensive.
• Keeping my “doubles” sounding presentable!
• Time management.
• Forcing myself to work on the basics for each instrument to play each of them at the highest level possible.
• Vibrato between instruments.
• Being prepared to play any of them on a gig on short notice.
• Affording all of the instruments needed.
  getting time to practice all the instruments
• finding the time to practice everything, i still have to concentrate on highschool
• Affording the equipment, always looking to expand but restricted by finances, having the time to keep all of them up.
• Keeping all my many doubles in shape for any possible requirement.
• Finding enough money to buy the horns!! …also, finding subs for musicals is hard in my area….lots of single instrumentalists…not a lot of doublers.
• Changing quickly between instruments and keeping good tone and intonation across all ranges of all instruments.
• playing the flute like a flutist
• 3rd octave flute fingerings and embouchure. The hard work to get flute to the same level as saxophone. (Not there yet!)
• Maintaining a high standard on all 3 “main” doubling instruments is very challenging, given my lack of available practice time. Embouchure changes, some quite drastic, are also difficult to manage.
• Anything on clarinet!
• Transitioning between instruments – I also play french horn, percussion and electric bass.
• Being recognized as a true doubler, not just a clarinet player who can play the flute as well.
• The cost to buy and maintain quality instruments. Oh and finding time to practice everything.
• Splitting practice time between instruments. Also owning and maintenance of good equipment.
• not as many classical gigs as I’d like
• reeds
• playing the flute
• Unable to practice with the limited time I have.
• getting the gig
• Trying to deal with bassoon parts
• to perform all woodwind parts of “peter and the wolf” from Prokoviev
• Maintaining proficiency on the instruments I don’t consider “primary” especially since I don’t own many of the ones I have been asked to double on.
• finding time to practice!
• Time. Because with more doubles means more practicing, I have to have a really clear and efficient practice routine in order to accomplish everything I want to.
• So far, my greatest challenge is managing the time and consistency in doubling. With several performances and work-related things taking up my time, it is difficult to maintain a great practice schedule for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone. Also, I find myself currently slipping into bad habits of inconsistency in my embouchure due to a lack of focus and a lack of truly feeling comfortable with doubling at the collegiate level. I have noticed great improvements in consistency when I stop and think before I play and become a flute player for the moment, instead of a saxophone player playing flute.
• Keeping the secondary and ‘tertiary’ instrument up to par when there are few gigs on them.
• Instrumentally, learning to get good at flute to the capacity of my other woodwinds. Economically, the fact that, as a bassoon doubler, many musicals will cut funding for lower chairs, rather than hire a full reed section.
• Getting jobs with the right instrumentation
• working on tone
• Lip swelling
• Getting a professional sound on all the instruments.
• Maintenance of all instruments. Also, quick changing. I hate going from any reed instrument to flute, and have difficulty doing it well.
• Keeping up with reed purchases and instrument maintenance for all the instruments.
• For people to understand that playing many instruments does not make me less good at any of them.
• Equality in dexterity on the less familiar.
• time to work on double, frustration of being less proficient on the double
• Convincing people that I play more than the instrument I majored in during college and finding time to practice all that I would like to.
• Keeping up with maintainence and keeping enough good reeds in working order.
• Balancing reed making with practice time between 3 “primary” instruments and 2 “secondary” instruments, let alone multiple adjunct positions and a bunch of students!
• Being asked to play oboe in public. Retaining a decent flute embouchure for when it’s needed, but only picking up the instrument once a week for a few minutes.
• I find it difficult to shift embouchures quickly, maintain a good sound on all instruments, and sight-read in registers with noticeably different fingerings.
• Rotation of practice time.
• Getting enough space to set up instruments in a comfortable configuration. Having time to swop instruments. Adjusting embouchure for some of the more extreme changes eg baritone sax to piccolo!!
• quick embouchure changes
• The embouchure change. By this point in my career I can read all the different cleffs and the fingerings are fine. However, my stamina on the bassoon is no where near as good as on the clarinet, simply because the two embouchures are completely different.
• Coming from a background of clarinet as my primary instrument and learning to create an effective and natural vibrato on the flute and saxophone
• Having enough time to keep up with everything. Sometimes you just have to work on what’s coming next and let some of the other stuff slide for a bit.
• Moving from a double reed or flute embouchure to a saxophone or clarinet embouchure. Also, getting enough practice time on each instrument.
• Consistent quick changes and sounding well. Leaders not understanding of the writing challenges given to doublers.
• Allocating practice time.
• keeping all horns up to speed and being able to go out on a moments notice on any instrument.
• Practicing both instruments enough. It’s tempting to practice each instrument less when you play more instruments, but this inevitably means that you don’t end up playing them as well as you otherwise would.
• Having enough time to keep the skills on all the instruments up to an acceptable level.
• Buying so many high-quality instruments and keeping up on them; becoming known as a doubler and not just a clarinetist.
• Maintaining the standard. And affording instruments, there’s always another one to buy, right?
• REEDS!
• Trying to add other instruments into the mix.
• Cold instruments after long intervals of not being played.
• Practice time
• Carrying cases/stands and keeping in practice.
• Keeping instruments warm.
• Remembering all of the little difference between each one. I teach woodwind methods, so keeping all of that straight in my mind is paramount.
• Finding work that doesn’t go outside of my doubling range.
• Finding time to practice with a 2 year old!
• Keeping up all the doubles!
• The ever increasing “quick-change” in the scored music for pit orchestra.
  Being given less and less time to “set” myself for a change in instruments.
• To be able to change from one instrument to another without having it result in a bad sound. For example, when I change from clarinet to flute my sound tends to be too closed, because I forget to loosen my lip tension.
• swapping between instruments
• Keeping it all up to marketable standards.
• sight reading
• Maintaining my chops on all instruments in my “arsenal” — day job (music educator teaching bowed string instruments to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders) helps create this challenge.
• Getting regular practice time on each instrument.
• Lack of time to practice everything.
• Maintaining Flute/Picc chops. Anything involving the double reeds.
• Keeping up on doubles. Life is finite.
• mouthpieces , reeds and instruments
• Keeping in practice on everything. Also keeping up enough practice on the clarinet, my main instrument. And keeping everything in repair, reeds etc.
• Remaining proficient on more than one instrument.
• Embouchure strength and not ruining ability on the primary instrument
• keeping up with my other instruments.
• Trying to pratice all of the instruments as it takes longer to practice multiple instruments
• Switching instantly and adjusting to embouchure.
• My biggest challenge and goal is having whatever instrument I’m playing feel as comfortable as my “primary” horn, even if I don’t consider it to be.
• finding time to practice everything
• practicing all the various instruments
• maintaining flute embouchure while playing reeds a lot.
• finding/making time to practice

Employment

Q. Which of these do you play?

Q. How often do you improvise (such as jazz improvisation) on gigs?

Q. What is your main source of income?

Q. Which types of paid woodwind doubling gigs have you done in the past?

Original wording of the answers:

• school/community theater
• large-scale tour of a musical (as traveling orchestra member)
• large-scale tour of a musical (as local hire)
• Broadway show or other major-city musical production (as permanent orchestra member)
• Broadway show or other major-city musical production (as sub)
• orchestral, opera, or similar
• studio recording (as leader or permanent group member)
• studio recording (as hired gun)
• television/radio/broadcast (live)
• television/radio/broadcast (pre-recorded)
• jazz big band
• jazz small group or solo
• rock/pop group
• cruise ship
• other

Q. Which of the following teaching situations are part of your income?

Q. What kind of competition is there for woodwind doubling gigs in your area?

Q. On average, how frequently do you have woodwind doubling gigs?

Original wording of the answers:

• every week or more
• every month or more
• every three months or more
• every six months or more
• less than once every six months

Q. How has woodwind doubling affected your employability?

Q. Which of these have resulted from your woodwind doubling?

More survey results to come…

Education and training

Q: Which of these have been part of your education on woodwind instruments?

Out of 187 total respondents, every one answered this question. The complete wording of the possible responses was as follows:

• school band/orchestra program (high school or younger)
• private lessons outside of school
• summer camps, workshops, or other formal programs outside of school
• university band/orchestra program
• university/conservatory bachelors degree with concentration(s) in multiple woodwinds
• university/conservatory bachelors degree with single-instrument or other music concentration
• university/conservatory masters degree with concentration(s) in multiple woodwinds
• university/conservatory masters degree with single-instrument or other music concentration
• university/conservatory doctoral degree with concentration(s) in multiple woodwinds
• university/conservatory doctoral degree with single-instrument or other music concentration
• other university/conservatory music degree or certification
• self-taught on one or more instruments

The biggest surprise to me was the number claiming bachelors degrees in multiple woodwinds. I assume that many of these must be double majors or other oddities, since there are very few true bachelors degree programs in multiple woodwinds available.

Q: How did you get involved in woodwind doubling?

I wanted the responses to this question to be free-form, since I anticipated a wide variety of answers. Most of the answers, however, fell into some broad categories. Below is a chart of the most common answers, based on my own loose interpretation of them. Many of the answers represented more than one category.

A little explanation:

• Interest: Many respondents indicated that plain and simple interest in multiple instruments was a factor in their choice to start doubling.
• Jazz, musical theater, concert band/orchestra, marching band: Many respondents listed jazz playing, especially big band playing, as a primary reason for doubling. Some of these were saxophonists who branched out to double on flute and/or clarinet, but some were non-saxophonists who took up the saxophone for jazz-playing opportunities. A large number mentioned musical theater as a motivator. Some also picked up a secondary instrument (or more) because of a desire to play in a concert band, orchestra, or marching band in which they couldn’t play their primary instrument.
• Employability: I’ve only counted those answers that mentioned employability or gigs explicitly, although this factor is probably implicit in a majority of the responses.
• Ensemble need: Some respondents learned to play additional instruments due to needs of ensembles in which they were already members (“My school band needed a bassoonist…”).

I’m including all the responses below. They are unedited except that I have removed names of people and some places and institutions (my edits are in [square brackets]). The order is random since I couldn’t come up with a reasonable way of organizing them; I found them to be an interesting read anyway.

• required at my university.
• I have a reputation, and I don’t let people down.
• necessity
• My woodwind teacher who also doubled started me doubling on clarinet, flute and saxophone at the age of 12.
• Someone who knew me as a sax player found out I could play clarinet
• urged to by professors while playing in [university] lab bands (jazz big band)
• Self taught flute and clarinet, then oboe, sax and bassoon. Started playing in shows at age of 12. Went on from there. Now mostly concentrate on oboe, english horn, oboe d’amore and contra bassoon.
• I was offered a gig involving more than my primary instrument.
• Picked up my friend’s sax one day to check for a leaky pad
• In high school I played mostly saxophones, and come musical time I wanted to play in the pit. I sat playing tenor and clarinet while an oboist had sat next to me for the entire show to play about 4 songs and a few incidental parts. I figured out then, I’d like to be able to cover entire books by myself. Picked up flute over the next few years with a private teacher, and would basically cover a lot of the low reed books, and did that well enough that I got called to do more than just my own school.
  Since then I’ve played a variety of community musicals, helped with school musicals. I now also play in a variety of groups that appreciate the change in sound by putting down the sax and playing flute.
• During High School, I played bassoon in concert band and saxophone in marching and jazz.
• Just happened…played clarinet in the school band, and sax in the jazz band…
• I playked in my community theater, and soon realized that the clarinet was almost always required. (in my first show, Guys and Dolls, I had to transpose some of the bass clarinet parts to tenor sax). So I bought a clarinet , even though I hadn’t played in over 30 years, got a good teacher and have played in about16 shows since. I now also play bass clarinet.
• High school musicals
• I really wanted to play pit in high school and needed to double to do so.
• Played saxophone and clarinet from almost the same time—in HS played both in ensembles. At the Conservatory, played both in classical and jazz ensembles and giged on flute—became serious about flute in my late 20s.
• the first show i did was guys and dolls when i was 16 on tenor and clarinet.
• I wanted to play in my school’s musicals, and to be able to cover my book indepentently and competently. I also really wanted to pursue the oboe, which I have brought up to about the same skill level as my primary instrument, the clarinet
• Started out on Clarinet and dropped it when I began clarinet. Picked up the clarinet many 6 or so years later and began dabbling with it.
• It started out in junior high for me a friend wanted to learn how to play flute and I wanted to learn how to play oboe. The next thing I knew I was playing clarinet in high school and picked up saxophone in my first year of undergraduate study and I continue to do so today. I think it started as feeling like I hit a brick wall in my primary instrumental work and needed something to get my drive back again or a challenge really to prove I could play another.
• Big Bands when I was in High School. The need for a strong player on multiple instruments (also in High School)
• In grade school, I found myself more interested in other woodwind instruments, so I began to teach myself to keep myself entertained.
• Jazz band in high school.
• I’ve always wanted to play multiple instruments but never had the resources. I am in a position now to do so and have spent the last ten years indulging myself.
• When there was some instrument I wanted to learn as a kid, I annoyed those in charge until they let me try.
• Wanted to play more than one instrument
• From my private music teacher growing up – she suggested that I add and ‘switch’ instruments along the way.
• Love to blow.
• Boredom through high school actually. I started my musical career as a violinist throughout middle (and high-) school. Got to high school and decided I wanted to learn another instrument after already having learned all the string instruments. The oboe chose me, and from there I learned a new instrument each year.
• Had some teachers who were doublers.
• after playing saxes for a few years, I decided to take up clarinet playing so that I could play in an orchestra. There have been various times when I have played both in the same gig, mainly in the pit orchestra of school productions and when big band parts call for something other than sax.
• Started on clarinet. In HS, bought a saxophone from someone who was upgrading.
• My youth orchestra needed a bass clarinetist, so I learnt it, and then I wanted to play saxophone in my high school’s sax ensemble, so I taught myself.
• I couldn’t play bassoon in marching band during high school and didn’t want to play percussion, so I learned the saxophone. As I started doing jazz band in high school, I needed to learn clarinet for some pieces.
• Father’s advice at first (he was also a doubler (violin/reeds). Paid my way through school playing in an R&B band, and in folkie coffee houses.
• My band had too many flutes for graduation, so he put me on alto saxophone. After that I learned oboe and have played mostly oboe and some flute.
• I was fortunate enough to get a lot of pit orchestra work in undergrad. That inspired me to take secondary lessons and eventually a second degree. It just seemed appropriate to continue in the same direction.
• high school marching band, dance band gigs
• As an over-achieving band geek in high school.
• through the army, and contacts from fellow musicians
• It was suggested that I would be more likely to get a teaching job if I played clarinet. Once I started on that, I tried saxophone, then thought I’d give oboe a go, then moved to bassoon.
• My band teacher asked me in 7th grade if I’d be interested in playing saxophone in the jazz band the following year after I had demonstrated my ability on flute. I picked up saxophone over the summer and joined the following year. I had to KEEP adding to my arsenal and the following summer picked up clarinet (and trumpet) and the rest is history.
• Big Band section playing and pit work
• taught myself bassoon to be in the pitt orchestra for our high schools production of into the woods and alto saxophone to be in the schools jazz band
• At Interlochen Music Camp in the mid 1950s as a student. For a scholarship, they offered Bass Clarinet & Contra in the Band for a partial tuition.
• Started on clarinet in 5th grade, added alto sax in 7th to play in jazz ensemble. Pretty much dropped clarinet in 9th, but took serious sax lessons from one of the great doublers in town. He got me back playing clarinet and flute. Learned bassoon in college as part of doubling program.
• Wanted to play with my kids, who were string players. Couldn’t do that with a sax, so I took up the flute.
• My teacher insisted
• I never liked quitting things, so after I took flute lessons for a few years, I started playing oboe, too. Then, I realized when I started playing in high school musicals that there were more options for shows if I played MORE instruments. Thus, the obsession was born.
• I started on sax in 4th grade and eventually picked up clarinet in high school because it seemed like a good thing to do. My first doubling gig was “Bye Bye, Birdie” my sophomore year. I then learned about how valuable it is to know at least sax/clar/flute, so I picked up flute. The other woodwinds naturally followed after that.
• Needed wife the clarinetist to play sax so agreed to learn clarinet. She has made way more progress than I have.
• I started on clarinet (actually piano before that). A local musician who worked with my father on his day gig, but a bug in his ear that I should learn to play saxophone when I was in 8th grade. I picked tenor, but later on I missed out on some jobs because I didn’t have an alto, so that’s when I realized that more instruments meant I could play more jobs.
• I began playing my second family of instruments (saxophones) in order to join Jazz Band in middle school, and later extended to bass clarinet and flute in order to be able to perform as many musicals as I could.
• I was given a bass clarinet part to play in orchestra in graduate school, so I had to learn! Thankfully I love playing auxiliaries!
• My primary saxophone teacher was a woodwind player.
• I was called to do a show by someone who had casual knowledge of my playing.
• After 3 years of playing saxophone, a clarinet player was needed in my church orchestra, and the director let me borrow his clarinet and taught me a little bit. I got interested enough that I kept playing it. Eventually I had to learn flute in college as a jazz saxophone player.
• My private teacher had a flute class in the summer that I took. I didn’t know any better — he just said that we were going to learn flute, so I followed directions!
• I started alto sax in 3rd grade and really liked it. I’d heard my uncle playing English horn and I wanted to play that too, so i started oboe in 4th grade. I tried clarinet in 4th grade too, but my fingers were too short to reach the keys. in 6th grade, i was so bored with the middle school band that I didn’t want to play either the oboe or sax parts in it. so I volunteered to play bassoon just to entertain myself.
• self interest
• College teachers who were all pros explained how important it was to double.
• Interest in playing saxophone after long period of clarinet playing – mainly to explore jazz styles more
• playing my first show as a senior in HS
• Around 7th grade I wanted to switch from clarinet to obe. My band director asked if I wouldn;t rather play the bassoon – I said “sure, what’s a bassoon?” So I stared playing it in 7th grade. In my sophmore yeard of High School, I wanted to play something other than clarinet, so I pick up bari sax for marching and jazz band.
• Job requiremet
• I began playing the clarinet when I was in sixth grade, and decided I wanted to play everything else, too, after my grandmother bought me a Time Life set of classical music tapes, so the next year in 7th grade, when I moved to a school district with a GREAT music program and owned double reeds, I took out an oboe and a bassoon, bought a flute, and started learning everything. Sax, ironically, came last (and is still the instrument I care about the least.)
• For teaching
• i wanted to play more instruments
• I played saxophone in band in high school and wanted to get involved in the orchestra. Because of the lack of saxophone parts in orchestral literature, I picked up bassoon so I could participate.
• When I started flute, my friend was playing clarinet so while practicing we would sometimes switch instruments. That got me hooked. I started staying after school and trying all the instruments that were available. I picked up sax the next year for jazz band. Played my first musical “Two by Two” a year or two after that where I had to double flute, piccolo, and clarinet. (I also played several brass instruments well…euphonium, trombone, and french horn. Didn’t continue with anything but woodwinds and french horn after high school though.)
• There was a need for more clarinets in the band program where I am at. So, I filled the need.
• I went back to school to study jazz saxophone. My instructor(s) all told me I needed to play all the flutes/clarinets in order to get work. So I took a flute lesson for two semesters to get started there (self taught since then), and I bought a clarinet (on which I’ve never had a lesson). Things went downhill from there (ha ha) and I now own/play all 4 major saxes, clarinet/bass clarinet, flute/piccolo, and now an oboe. I am now enrolled in a masters program called Woodwind Performance & Pedagogy, which will require sax/flute/clarinet/oboe/bassoon study. I’m just finishing my first term on oboe. Great axe. Fun to play.
• spur of the moment decision to add a saxophone and then flute when I decided that I wanted to work towards becoming a woodwind teacher.
• I played around with different instruments in high school but I really became serious about doubling in college when I transferred to a new university and the sax prof wouldn’t let me in as a saxophone major. So I decided to be a flute major instead. After college, my first professional gigs were in musical theatre and thus it begun.
• In high school, to prepare for a degree in jazz saxophone, I was told I should learn flute and clarinet as well.
• It really started with wanting to become a band director. I figured I could teach the reeds better if I learned at least one other. Then I joined the Navy band program when I was 20. I already doubled on sax and flute, but my recruiter told me all the flute billets had been filled. If I wanted to enlist as a musician, I would have to audition on clarinet. She was wrong, but I picked up a clarinet anyway and after 3 months of practice I was able to pass an audition. While in the Navy, I picked up bassoon to help fill out the reed section and oboe came sometime later when I was told I could pick up more gigs in [city].
• I started playing some other woodwinds just for fun in middle school and high school and really enjoyed it, so I continued playing and studying the various instruments.
• High school jazz band needed an alto sax player ASAP, so I picked it up in a week or two. Flute was self-taught, and has been a long, slow process.
• Liked bass clarinet in middle school, then bassoon. It was all downhill after that…
• Introduced by a friend from a Jazz band to a local show that needed a Tenor sax/clarinet doubler.
• General insterest
• I started playing doubles in high school because I knew I would need them for jazz band in college. When I was in college, I knew I would need doubles to put food on the table working as a professional musician.
• Highschool musical theatre, jazz band doubling.
• Musical shows
• I started branching out from sax in high school, and played musicals that required doubling. In college I played oboe in the concert band, sax in the jazz band, and flute in the marching band. Once I graduated from college, I started working at local theaters.
• In high school, I decided I wanted to play in the jazz band, so I started playing the tenor sax, then I started playing in pit orchestras, which I loved and had a ‘small’ goal of being able to play a whole book myself, so I started trying to learn the clarinet.
• Musicals and jazz band in high school
• Flute part in a jazz band chart in high school.
• I played alto saxophone in middle school and when I got to high school we needed more bassoonists so I volunteered. In the jazz bands I switched to larger saxophones and needed to learn some clarinet.
• First double was the bassoon, which I took up in high school. Clarinet and flute were added because of personal interest.
• My college instructor started giving me his jobs as he started slowing down
• I began bassoon lessons during the second year of my master’s degree program because I wanted to be eligible to apply for double reeds teaching positions in academia after completion of my doctorate.
• I first became involved when I wanted to be heard in my high school pep band. The obvious solution was to play baritone sax instead of clarinet. I also wanted to play jazz, which meant I needed to play more saxophone. Throughout my undergrad, I added more horns to the mix. I was a clarinet major who played sax, then added flute, bassoon, and oboe. My private sax teacher is also a woodwind specialist and he has been a huge role model for me. I just love all the woodwinds, so it’s hard for me to even imagine giving up one.
• Playing and conducting musicals!
• Started playing “pit” shows in High School.
• Music Education degree
• I was bored in HS music class.
• I thought all reed players were suppose to double…?
• I switched from clarinet to saxophone my freshman year in high school (mainly because the sax players got more attention than clarinet players), but always enjoyed the clarinet as much as sax. also back when I was in high school, the ‘in’ thing was to play soprano sax and flute.
• Necessity
• My very first private teacher encouraged me to learn the flute and clarinet.
• My dream as a child was to play flute, but 4 out of 5 girls from my solfege class in the music school wanted to learn flute and because I was stubborn, I chose the clarinet. When I started having doubts about the clarinet at the age of 15, I started with flute lessons (which eventually I liked less, but it made me realise again how much I love clarinet). I started playing saxophone when we had one laying around in the rehearsal room of my town’s wind band, and soprano and alto recorder when I started to teach formal music education in a school which uses the Kodaly system (part of the lessons is playing recorder and Orff-instruments). In the future I would like to perfect my flute and saxophone playing, buy a saxophone and an Eb-clarinet, and therefore become a semi-profesional woodwind doubler (unfortunately in Europe we don’t have degrees for doubling).
• As a saxophone player I wanted to become more marketable.
• Started playing bass clarinet (instead of oboe) for marching band in HS, switched to tenor sax and then bari. Focused on oboe for college but after it seemed like people wanted me to play additional things all the time, so I complied.
• Big band rehearsals started to have music written for multiple instruments. I had to play them to stay afloat
• Played with many bands and found it a requirement. The other reason was I was just interested in doing it.
• I had a reed book for a show thrust into my hands and it included clarinet, bass clarinet, and some baritone sax. I had two months to get up to speed on the sax.
• Love clarinet and love playing in shows – The clarinet is the backbone of the reed parts but you need more to be usefull and in demand.
• Simply decided to act on a life-long passion and began playing 19 years ago as an adult.
• [Teacher] at [university] inspired me to take doubling seriously and provided me with a solid foundation for all the woodwinds via his methods class. Even though I was not required to take it as part of my performance degree, I felt that was one of the most valuable courses I could have taken.
• I played clarinet, my brother played sax, I took some time to learn how to play, followed by the flute and bassoon while in high school.
• By pure chance – played in a show as a teenage, noticed how the parts had lots of instruments, started learning the flute for fun.
• my grandfather was a studio musician/woodwind player
• I started playing bassoon, self taught in high school, then played in community band. Later I took a single reeds course designed to gain basic facility on sax/clarinet in order to teach it. Shortly after that I started playing musicals which was a sort of full-immersion learning experience.
• Sax in big band to flute and clarinet. I played oboe in HS, but didn’t touch one for over 30 years until my wife dragged me into a symphonic band.
• I began on clarinet, and my first major teacher (a [university] doubler himself) told me my hands were to big. He switched me to bassoon. It went all down the drain from there. ;)
• Played oboe for show that had barely any oboe at all! (Throughly Modern Millie – Reed 3)
  Inspired me to learn tenor, clarinet, and soprano. Then my adventures started from there.
• Jazz band required some clarinet in addition to saxophone. So I picked up the clarinet after a few years hiatus
• playing with rock bands
• Playing shows.
• Through education and having to teach other instruments. When I was in undergrad, though my major was musicology, I was involved in a lot of teaching, which required me to get comfortable on the entire set.
• When studying with [instructor], he made it clear that if I wanted to eat as a woodwind player, I should start working on my doubles right away.
• Picked up the oboe one day and haven’t stoped
• HS band teacher was seeking oboe players and I (a flute player) was adventurous. I love the sound of oboe and have returned to it as an adult.
• playing in stage band and band in jr. hi and hi school
• While working on a Clarinet Performance Undergraduate degree, I learned to play a modicum of Saxophone one afternoon to sub for a Saxophone player at a dance gig that same evening (paid $15, a not inconsiderable amount of $ to a poor college student in late 1960s). Later I was chosen to play Bassoon, and in 6 weeks learned to play well enoiugh to be invited to play in local semi-professional Orchestra (Brahms 3rd Symphony was my Baptism by fire), and picked up Flute when my Woodwind Doubler/Clarinet Professor took a year sabbatical to finish his Doctorate in WW Doubling ([university]) as a Flute teacher was hired to teach at the small college I was attending. I then took oboe lessons as a secondary elective during Master Degree study.
• Jazz Band
• out of need for money….
• The need for doubling in musical theater books.
• My first double was clarinet. My teacher suggested that I should learn a transcription of a romantic era clarinet sonata in our saxophone lessons. I decided to learn it on clarinet in addition to saxophone as a challenge to myself. I also began to learn flute and oboe out of necessity as a middle school band director, and continued to practice these instruments in graduate school.
• My private teacher in college emphasized the importance of professional sax players to be able to double.
• School wanted a sax player, then picked up sister’s old flute. Then school wanted piccolo player. Found out there were shows where people actually played them all and kept at it.
• Productions in college that used my ability to play multiple instruments.
• I was always drawn to it.
  In highschool, I played tenor and bari sax in the jazz band. I randomly picked up clarinet when a concert band I played in had no clarinets so I learned it on the fly. I also had to play alto sax and tenor sax in band class because we had no saxes but me.
  In university, I showed up with the mission to get really serious about doubling and learn all I could. I studied with several of the top professional doublers in the city and played 9 instruments in 15 ensembles during my 4 year degree. I enjoy doubling and I want to play professional music theatre/big band etc. so I made that my “thing” in university.
• My high school and college teachers encouraged me to take up the saxophone and flute to perform in jazz ensembles and pit orchestras.
• Church orchestra needed an oboist. I jumped at the opportunity.
• at first it was to play clarinet as “straight” only and sax as “jazz” only in H.S. After graduation and finding out I enjoyed pits, I picked up more instruments to get more pit gigs.
• My band teacher in high school asked when I was still in middle school if I wanted to play bassoon along with clarinet, to which I eagerly agreed. Then a couple years later he convinced me to take up tenor sax for jazz band.
• listening to Benny Goodman at age 11 – started on sax, soon added clarinet
• Through my band director, he wanted me in his symphonic band and then his jazz band; to be his lead alto.
• I really wanted to play in my middle school jazz band when I started playing the saxophone, and the director made a comment that the best big band saxophonists also play clarinet and flute. I think he was trying to encourage some of the (too many) saxophonists to switch to clarinet, which there weren’t enough of in the band program. But, I took it to heart, and within the year took up flute and clarinet just as seriously as saxophone. My sister played oboe, and I did not want to compete with her, so I didn’t take that up until much later, when she quit playing.
• Started playing flute when my younger sister did. Played for fun and then in college played one Sondheim show doubling flute/clarinet. Clarinet has been primary. Started adding sax (alto and soprano) about 5 years ago when we needed a tarogato sound for an ethnic performance. I play mainly Balkan music so alto sax is a great double.
  I also play whistles and a tiny amount of duduk.
• I started clarinet in sixth grade; in ninth grade, my band director handed me an alto sax so I could play in the school “dance band” – a big band which had to be, according to official school policy, all male except for the singer! I started fiddling with flute in college so I could try to play the flute doubles in the stage band bari sax book (and to try to wheeze and sputter through “Color My World” with the rock band I was playing keyboards and tenor with!). Then, in the Air Force, I took up bassoon with the help of a very capable doubler in the band whose principal instrument was bassoon, and I actually took over the bassoon slot in the band when he was discharged. (I still couldn’t play anywhere near as well as he did, but it was a terrific experience!) The ethnic woodwinds came much later, when my brother-in-law gave me a pennywhistle (a Mel Bay!) for Christmas and then my cousin brought me a Xun back from China. And so it goes…most recent additions: a quena and quenacho, courtesy of the same cousin and his South American trip!
• Initially played brass (trumpet/flugelhorn) until I split my lip in high school. Took up the flute (self taught) while waiting for the lip to heal and never left it. Continued brass (plus the woodwinds) for awhile but decided to focus exclusively on woodwinds about 10 years ago (after 35+ years of brass playing).
• Professional gigging. 20+ years in the USAF bands.
• broadway professors
• I realized that I could play other instruments well enough to cover the multi-woodwind parts in local high school musicals. I then began to develop these skills more until I felt that I was able to market myself as a doubler.
• It arose out of necessity.
• Seemed like a good idea
• jazz band in high school
• I was made section leader of clarinet for marching band, and I was a saxophone player. I bought a clarinet and decided to learn. As performances with strange instrumentation would come up, I decided to give each instrument a shot. My teachers thought I showed some sort of natural talent for picking up new instruments and maintaining proficiency on them, and pushed me in that direction. I also fell in love with the unique challenges of doubling.
• Through adult community banda when opportunities arise
• I played clarinet/bass clarinet in Junior High, and the jazz band director asked me to be a part of the jazz ensemble on baritone saxophone the next year in school – which lead me to take lessons on saxophone and jazz over the summer, both classical and improvisation. This would be my second family of instruments. Then, in high school, my band director suggested I learn bassoon, and had me study with one of the NY area’s greatest lower woodwind doublers. Finally, I began to dabble in flute in college and am working hard to get good enough to become more fluent in flute performance.
• friends
  opportunities to play
• My goal has been to teach both bassoon and oboe at the college level, to give students opportunities I did not have (at a small school, my bassoon teacher was a clarinetist). It has been extremely satisfying performing at a high level on both horns, and only occassionally terrifying!
• private teacher in high school got me started on flute and clarinet

Coming soon…

More results on the way, including your reports on your local gig scene, your biggest doubling challenges, and your best doubling tips.