Here are handouts from the lecture I gave at the 2010 Biennial Conference of the North American Saxophone Alliance. The lecture was entitled, “Woodwind Doubling for the 21st-century Saxophonist: Increasing Versatility without Sacrificing Virtuosity.”
Thanks to all who participated in my 2021 woodwind doubling survey, and to those who helped spread the word. I’m releasing the results in installments, so be sure to use my social media links, RSS feeds, etc. to keep up.
I got 284 responses, an improvement over 2011’s 187. The numbers for each of these questions don’t necessarily add up to exactly that number, since not everybody responded to every question.
Based on feedback from the 2011 survey, this year I added the option “Strong amateur.” I also provided an option for respondents to affirmatively state that they play an instrument “Not at all,” but the “Not at all” data shown here also includes those who didn’t provide an answer for that instrument.
| 2021 Data | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flute | Oboe | Clarinet | Bassoon | Saxophone | Any folk, ethnic, or historical woodwind(s) | Any woodwind-style electronic instrument(s) | |
| Not at all | 26 (9%) | 126 (45%) | 14 (5%) | 151 (53%) | 7 (2%) | 149 (53%) | 219 (77%) |
| Casual dabbler | 43 (15%) | 47 (17%) | 24 (9%) | 39 (21%) | 8 (3%) | 59 (21%) | 27 (10%) |
| Strong amateur | 64 (23%) | 45 (16%) | 53 (19%) | 30 (12%) | 53 (19%) | 33 (12%) | 14 (5%) |
| Semi-pro or college music major | 79 (28%) | 31 (11%) | 90 (32%) | 29 (10%) | 90 (32%) | 29 (10%) | 14 (5%) |
| Professional | 70 (25%) | 32 (11%) | 100 (36%) | 34 (9%) | 123 (44%) | 13 (5%) | 9 (3%) |
| 2011 Data | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flute | Oboe | Clarinet | Bassoon | Saxophone | Any folk, ethnic, or historical woodwind(s) | Any woodwind-style electronic instrument(s) | |
| Casual dabbler | 42 | 49 | 39 | 28 | 28 | 58 | 16 |
| Semi-pro or college music major | 68 | 32 | 68 | 27 | 59 | 11 | 5 |
| Professional | 48 | 18 | 69 | 22 | 92 | 13 | 16 |
| 2021 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| piccolo | 174 | 62% |
| flute | 252 | 90% |
| alto flute | 85 | 30% |
| other member(s) of the modern flute family | 32 | 11% |
| oboe | 126 | 45% |
| English horn | 61 | 22% |
| other member(s) of the oboe family | 8 | 3% |
| E-flat clarinet | 84 | 30% |
| B-flat clarinet | 247 | 88% |
| A clarinet | 89 | 32% |
| bass clarinet | 143 | 51% |
| other member(s) of the clarinet family | 44 | 16% |
| bassoon | 85 | 30% |
| contrabassoon | 7 | 2% |
| soprano saxophone | 161 | 57% |
| alto saxophone | 240 | 85% |
| tenor saxophone | 197 | 70% |
| baritone saxophone | 124 | 44% |
| other member(s) of the saxophone family | 29 | 10% |
| recorder(s) | 169 | 60% |
| pennywhistle(s) | 95 | 34% |
| bamboo, wooden, or similar sideblown flute(s) | 60 | 21% |
| other folk, ethnic, or historical woodwind(s) | 60 | 21% |
| electronic wind instrument(s) | 36 | 13% |
| 2011 Data | |
|---|---|
| piccolo | 97 |
| flute | 161 |
| alto flute | 35 |
| other member(s) of the modern flute family | 17 |
| oboe | 75 |
| English horn | 24 |
| other member(s) of the oboe family | 4 |
| E-flat clarinet | 47 |
| B-flat clarinet | 171 |
| A clarinet | 61 |
| bass clarinet | 84 |
| other member(s) of the clarinet family | 26 |
| bassoon | 51 |
| contrabassoon | 3 |
| soprano saxophone | 106 |
| alto saxophone | 160 |
| tenor saxophone | 138 |
| baritone saxophone | 81 |
| other member(s) of the saxophone family | 26 |
| recorder(s) | 106 |
| pennywhistle(s) | 75 |
| bamboo, wooden, or similar sideblown flute(s) | 53 |
| other folk, ethnic, or historical woodwind(s) | 32 |
| electronic wind instrument(s) | 24 |
| other | 34 |
A number or respondents selected, for example, flute and piccolo as primary instruments, or all four major saxophones. I’m guessing that boosts the results here for some auxiliary instruments; there probably aren’t many doublers who would really consider piccolo their (single) primary instrument.
| piccolo | 15 | 6% |
| flute | 46 | 16% |
| alto flute | 8 | 3% |
| other member(s) of the modern flute family | 3 | 1% |
| oboe | 36 | 13% |
| English horn | 12 | 4% |
| other member(s) of the oboe family | 1 | 0% |
| E-flat clarinet | 15 | 5% |
| B-flat clarinet | 95 | 34% |
| A clarinet | 28 | 10% |
| bass clarinet | 40 | 14% |
| other member(s) of the clarinet family | 6 | 2% |
| bassoon | 36 | 13% |
| contrabassoon | 6 | 2% |
| soprano saxophone | 41 | 15% |
| alto saxophone | 102 | 36% |
| tenor saxophone | 73 | 26% |
| baritone saxophone | 49 | 17% |
| other member(s) of the saxophone family | 4 | 1% |
| recorder(s) | 2 | 1% |
| pennywhistle(s) | 0 | 0% |
| bamboo | 2 | 1% |
| other folk | 1 | 0% |
| electronic wind instrument(s) | 3 | 1% |
| piccolo | 2 | 2% |
| flute | 1 | 1% |
| alto flute | 2 | 2% |
| other member(s) of the modern flute family | 0 | 0% |
| oboe | 4 | 4% |
| English horn | 6 | 6% |
| other member(s) of the oboe family | 1 | 1% |
| E-flat clarinet | 0 | 0% |
| B-flat clarinet | 1 | 1% |
| A clarinet | 0 | 0% |
| bass clarinet | 6 | 6% |
| other member(s) of the clarinet family | 0 | 0% |
| bassoon | 3 | 3% |
| contrabassoon | 7 | 7% |
| soprano saxophone | 2 | 2% |
| alto saxophone | 1 | 1% |
| tenor saxophone | 3 | 3% |
| baritone saxophone | 7 | 7% |
| other member(s) of the saxophone family | 2 | 2% |
| recorder(s) | 0 | 0% |
| pennywhistle(s) | 0 | 0% |
| bamboo | 0 | 0% |
| other folk | 0 | 0% |
| electronic wind instrument(s) | 0 | 0% |
For this question, many of you typed your own answers. Some of you wanted to provide more detail, such as which instrument(s) you consider your primary, some wanted to include non-woodwind instruments, and some wanted to use (essentially) some other synonym for woodwind doubler. In these and a few other cases, I felt that those answers did ultimately fit into one of these two categories, so I’ve shoehorned them in. A few others wanted to identify by some other career/hobby choice entirely, or wanted to say something like “it depends,” and I’ve omitted those so as not to muddy the original intent of the question.
| 2021 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| as a woodwind doubler | 192 | 69% |
| as an instrumentalist on one specific instrument (or family of instruments, such as the saxophones) | 85 | 31% |
| 2011 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| as a woodwind doubler | 120 | 64% |
| as an instrumentalist on one specific instrument (or family of instruments, such as the saxophones) | 67 | 36% |
| 2021 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| One instrument is a “primary” instrument, and one or more are secondary instruments. For example, you play the flute well, and the clarinet at a noticeably lesser ability level. | 113 | 40% |
| Two or more instruments are “primary” instruments, but others are secondary. For example, you play the flute and the clarinet about equally well. | 128 | 45% |
| You consider all the instruments you play to be at/near the same level. | 41 | 15% |
| 2011 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| One instrument is a “primary” instrument, and one or more are secondary instruments. For example, you play the flute well, and the clarinet at a noticeably lesser ability level. | 85 | 46% |
| Two or more instruments are “primary” instruments, but others are secondary. For example, you play the flute and the clarinet about equally well. | 101 | 54% |
A few of you provided additional specifics/details, but I’ve folded those answers into the larger categories. In 2011, this was a free-form answer, and I tried to sort them into categories.
| 2021 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time (such as for practicing) | 186 | 67% |
| Money (such as for equipment purchases) | 162 | 58% |
| Career development (such as finding gigs, establishing a reputation…) | 117 | 42% |
| Logistics (such as storage or transportation of instruments) | 36 | 13% |
| Pushback (such as from teachers or others who think you should not double) | 48 | 17% |
| Skill/talent/ability (such as particular difficulty with a specific instrument or technique) | 86 | 31% |
| None | 22 | 8% |
| 2011 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | 49 | 30% |
| Flute | 19 | 12% |
| Embouchure | 18 | 11% |
| Fast switches | 17 | 10% |
| Maintaining high level | 16 | 10% |
| Cost | 15 | 9% |
| Reeds | 13 | 8% |
| Oboe | 8 | 5% |
| Clarinet | 7 | 4% |
| Instrument maintenance | 6 | 4% |
| Establishing reputation | 5 | 3% |
| Bassoon | 5 | 3% |
In 2011, this was a free-form answer, and I tried to sort them into categories.
| 2021 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| More gigs | 214 | 77% |
| Greater variety in music-making | 226 | 81% |
| Fun/satisfaction | 242 | 87% |
| Having more voices/tone colors available | 183 | 66% |
| Feeling challenged (in an enjoyable, productive, or otherwise positive way) | 227 | 81% |
| Cross-training effect (playing one instrument improves your skills at another) | 183 | 66% |
| None | 2 | 1% |
| 2011 Data | ||
|---|---|---|
| More gigs | 83 | 52% |
| Variety | 46 | 29% |
| Fun/satisfaction | 32 | 20% |
| Artistic expression | 15 | 9% |
| Cross-training | 12 | 7% |
| Challenge | 8 | 5% |
These are presented with only very minor edits, in random order. (Inclusion here doesn’t necessarily indicate that I agree, though I mostly do.) See 2011 results here.
| Sax tone is all about opening the throat and getting an appropriate level of pressure on the mouthpiece |
| Make connections between similarities/differences from instrument family to instrument family. |
| Start with the flute first in your practice sessions. If you don’t your lips will have no sensitivity after starting on the other instruments. |
| Practice any woodwind instrument as if it is your primary. Walk the same path every other Xist (flautist, clarinetist, etc) has. |
| Practice daily. Even if it’s just for 15 minutes, practicing my doubles daily has been the best process in my experience. |
| Do not limit yourself! Have one primary but also a couple secondary instruments. You will make yourself more marketable! |
| Find ways to connect your knowledge to other instruments, but still treat each instrument as its own separate voice (e.g. be a piccolo player, not a clarinetist who is playing piccolo) |
| Practice and listen |
| Train on each individual instrument on as regular a basis as possible. |
| Finding great teachers for each instrument you play |
| Consistent practice |
| It’s all about tone quality. And reeds. |
| Passion and love of the possibilities and not just versatility for gigging is a must. Acquiring equipment that is easy to get back into and consistent has been key for me to be able to for example: not play bass clarinet for 6 months and still be confident that I could say yes to a gig and get myself together in 1 week. |
| Learn what the differences in playing styles between different instruments are, and why they come about. Knowing the context helps a lot in code-switching between instruments. |
| Let clarinet be the foundation of your doubling |
| take lessons with someone who has doubling experience. Practicing and familiarize yourself with all genres of music styles. practice playing multiple instruments back to back. |
| Learn what skills are transferable across which woodwinds and apply them appropriately. For example, a lot of dexterity technique applies to many woodwinds, however, not all fingering patterns or standard fingerings are the same. Also, voicing and overtones apply to all woodwinds, but you don’t voice all woodwinds the same way. |
| Practice – practice – practice |
| Focus on fundamental on all horns |
| If a particular instrument is inspiring you right now, use that inspiration and really work to improve on that instrument. |
| Practice every instrument regularly |
| Focus on each instrument now and then |
| Practice sight reading, especially with swing/jazz rhythms. Keep on top of your reed situation. Try to design practice to “even out” your strength on each “family”. |
| Practice each instrument as though it is a primary study – learn the known repertoire, study the history and the players, know the etude etc |
| Have a goal to play all of the woodwind doubles at a very high level. |
| Don’t be afraid to take on a challenge, especially on an instrument that is not your best |
| Get a teacher for every instrument if possible- not one teacher for all of them. |
| Long tones and scales with a drone/tuner |
| Play flute every day, learn to make your double reeds |
| Never be reluctant to schlep doubles you might need. |
| Practice baby practice!! |
| Voicing exactly as you describe. Learn on a quality instrument otherwise a lousy one will hold you back. |
| Visit each instrument as its own thing when practicing. Use the same musical expression tools on your secondary instruments. Have patients when progress isn’t noticable. |
| Find similarities between the instruments you already know how to play, and the instrument you are learning to double on. Ask your musician friends for tips or little known “secrets” that you may not know of a non-primary instrument. |
| Open your teeth and jaw as much as possible and practical. |
| Let others help you, the pit is a team and if one run is too hard and another person has it and it’s easy on their instrument. Let them do it. The audience may very well not know the difference. Or if you have a solo passage. Don’t overplay. You’re not the soloist the person on stage is. Overall. Let others help you |
| Sometimes you have to go back to basics if it isn’t an instrument you’ve playing in a while and run scales or some some practice books. |
| Finding similarities between each instrument to begin learning, then going to extremes to find the differences. |
| Compare and Contrast each instrument – determine what transfers and what are specific to each instrument |
| practice the same things on any instruments. |
| Learn clarinets first, then saxophones. Common tip: Eb sax (like baritone sax) can read C bass clef (such as tuba, trombone, bassoon, and string bass music) as Eb treble clef without having to transpose. Less common tip: Once you’re comfortable with that, you can do the same with Bb clarinets (like bass clarinet) by using saxophone fingerings on the clarinet (exception being above the break, but it’s easy to get once you play it a bit). So using this you can read the bass clef parts of bassoon music on bass clarinet without having to transpose, and if the bassoon music goes into tenor clef you can read it as regular Bb treble because it works the same as reading C bass clef on an Eb sax. Blamo, you’re reading bassoon parts on bass clarinet and didn’t have to transpose or learn any new clefs. |
| That they’re not all that different at the end of the day. The concept of blowing into a tube with holes in it is the same across all woodwind instruments. |
| Compile a quick (approx. 5 minutes) gig warmup for each instrument type (flute, clarinet, etc.) that you play. You will rarely have time for a thorough warm up on each instrument on doubling gigs so you need something that lets you hit a number of fundamentals in a short amount of time. |
| be inspired by great models on each instrument |
| Learn your doubles. Get more bread |
| Practice, then practice some more |
| Really focus and learn the fundamentals for each instrument. I didn’t know I was playing oboe wrong until I took a lesson because I just figured everything would be similar to bassoon when I first picked it up. |
| Don’t ever stop practicing. Keep a schedule. |
| At different times, each instrument you play becomes your main voice— do so with love and a deep investigation of the traditions of each. |
| Be adaptable/flexible and if it works don’t question it. Just because a certain way of doing something is not the standard approach does not mean it is wrong. |
| Listening is key! |
| Know who to tell what you play. To many people, I am an orchestral clarinetist. Some have no idea that I play jazz saxophone. To some, I am a flutist. Many know I do all three at a high level. But some may judge you. |
| Whatever you are playing at the moment is, at least for the moment, your primary instrument. Treat it as such, with your full attention and consideration. |
| Be an excellent sight reader. Know your scales. Work on sound production. |
| Do what is comfortable for you. |
| Aim for consistent mouthpiece styles. ie: a consistent ratio of sizing (small tip, long facing, etc)… don’t try to sound like David Sanborn and Harold Wright at the same time. |
| Choose instruments that you like to play so that you’ll want to practice and improve on them! |
| breath support |
| Play everything you enjoy playing |
| Treat each one as your main one while you practice. |
| Get good stands, get to know the instruments you’re playing quickly |
| seek teachers for each specific instrument |
| Start with clarinet and maintain your skill on it. |
| Take things slow! Now even slower. Be mindful. |
| Listen to many. Develop your own sound. |
| Practise changing from one instrument to another as well as just practising the individual horns |
| Practice all at the same time. |
| Good instrument stands are essential! Also a stand shelf has been really helpful for me to hold reeds and a water cup, other equipment and accessories. |
| Sax and oboe have a ton in common in terms of using the reed or mouthpiece alone to train ways to avoid tension, and clarinet feels like the opposite in many ways, but at least it’s different enough that differentiation is straightforward. |
| It`s okay to start each instrument as a beginner. |
| Always be flexible |
| Just play and have fun, and the instruments will learn themselves |
| Use synthetic reeds for gigs you need to double on. Little to no warm-up/Reed wetting required when one instrument sits for a while before use. |
| Treat each instrument as a new primary and get a proper teacher for each new primary. Play in ensembles on your doublers. |
| They’re not the same |
| Long tones and scales are key |
| Everything comes back to air |
| Sound is everything. Learn flexibility on every instrument. Every instrument deserves individual attention, even harmony instruments amongst families. |
| Identify the connections between each instrument (fingerings, technique, etc.) and use that to help you succeed. |
| Use a calendar, try your hardest to view other woodwind doublers in the area as friends instead of competition. Play duets with them and try to learn as much as you can from other doublers and single woodwind musicians as well. Classical musicians, listen to jazz saxophonists and really try to replicate their tone and inflection even if you claim it’s not for you. Jazz musicians, listen to classical woodwind players as most rep for doublers requires classical tone and technique. Have fun! |
| consider the side range you enjoy the most and stick more on that end (high or low reeds) |
| Take lessons with teachers who only play the one instrument, but also study with some doublers who have a good understanding of the similarities & differences between instruments. Record yourself often, and listen to recordings of top performers on your doubles to form a good sound concept. Time, intonation, interpretive choices, and ensemble balance are all-important no matter what instrument is in/on your face. |
| If you’re struggling with switching to another instrument, find someone who is extremely proficient on it and pick their brains as much as possible, or even take lessons if you can. It helps if they’re a doubler too. |
| 1) Study to have a classical foundation for every double. It’s the best way to have solid tone and technique. 2) Be kind to those you work with and low-maintenance for those you work for. 3) Don’t seriously study secondary instruments until you are competent on your primary instrument. Once you hit a semi-professional or pro level on one instrument, you will have a bar to reach for with your secondaries. |
| Try to draw connections where possible. |
| I think one should only double if they are genuinely interested in it and enjoy challenges. I’ve met too many people who double primarily with the goal of making more money, and it almost never worked out as well for them in the long run as it did for the ones who actually loved playing all of the instruments. |
| Flute is nothing like single reeds – not even the fingerings. |
| Turn all instruments into your “primary”. Each instrument deserves its proper respect and diligence. If saxophone is so easy, why do so many clarinetists sound so bad? Attitude in approach to a secondary instrument goes a long way. |
| it’s fine to make mistakes |
| Play with people who are better than you as much as possible. |
| Visualize and really hear the sound you want as you double, in whatever way works for you. Sometimes you can get caught up in the differences between the doubles, but visualizing and not overthinking allowed me to get by on many doubling gigs, and work through the parts more efficiently |
| If not preparing for a specific gig or show, have an instrument of the week rotation. Focus on that one. |
| Flute loses playing proficiency at a significantly faster rate than other woodwinds thanks to the extremely delicate embouchure – when a professional flutist misses 2 or more consecutive days of practice, it takes minimum 4-5 days to correct their embouchure again. So those that wish to maintain their flute fitness must make sure to set aside time for it at least every few days |
| Practice, practice and practice! |
| Think of each additional instrument you learn as an extension of musical mechanics— you’ve already learned the fundamentals of reading music, now you’re just learning a different pathway to create those sounds you read. Treat a new instrument, even one of the same family, as a whole new instrument with its own requirements and set points for pitch, resonance, and response. |
| Always be ready to play clarinet |
| Stick with one instrument per gig, if possible. Be careful of having a reputation as a doubler, as it may have negative connotations (jack of all trades, master of none). |
| Take each instrument seriously |
| Be proficient on clarinet first, then branch out. |
| Play secondary instruments in ensembles (band, orchestra, chamber music, etc). |
| Slow practice on all the instruments, don’t rush it on a “secondary” instrument because you can play it on a “primary” instrument |
| Practice all your axes and always learn from everyone. |
| Find an order of operations for your practice. I start my day on the flute and then move to the clarinet. When I get to tenor I am moving plenty of air and feel warmed up.
Scale practice on flute will help saxophone playing |
| Treat every instrument as a unique instrument of it’s own kind with similarities but unique. |
| Lessons, performing, recording, great equipment |
| Study each instrument you play with a non-doubler: major symphony/studio player. |
| Practice so you concepts can benefit across all instruments. |
| Take it slow |
| Be very intentional when learning technique. I learned how to play saxophone with a clarinet embouchure, which is not correct. Work with a professional teacher to ensure you have the fundamentals of new instruments and check in with them regularly to ensure you are maintaining key distinctions between the instruments. |
| Be cognizant of your body and the techniques you employ as you play (don’t go on autopilot); try to find complimentary mouthpiece/reed setups (if everything has a similar resistance level, switching will be easier) |
| Choreograph the switches and after getting comfortable with a new double practice the switch to get faster at creating a good sound on the instrument as soon as possible. |
| The goal of woodwind doubling is to be good enough on each instrument for people to think whatever instrument you are playing right now is your primary instrument, and not a double. |
| Practice, listen, and be patient |
| Never look for the “doubler way” to approach an instrument. Approach it as a serious study, as if you intend to make it your primary. |
| Treat each instrument as if it is your primary instrument. |
| Practice and take lessons. Continue to get better. |
| Play the flute every day, studying with a specialist when possible |
| If you have good air and support, you can play through the woodwinds without having to worry about their differences. Also, get good reeds!!! |
| Put in the practice hours |
| Practice. And then practice some more. |
| Learn and practice the basics |
| Get a teacher. You can’t learn all of these on your own. |
| It’s ok to make a mistake, just keep going. |
| I’ve found that taking the time to develop a woodwind practice routine has been super helpful! I’ve also found that I practice better when I start with my least proficient instrument, and work to my most proficient one. This helps me feel a bit better mentally when I practice. |
| Practice lol. The sooner you learn “Work SLOWLY on what you’re bad at,” the easier your musical life will be. It’s rough, especially if you’re pretty accomplished on one instrument/family, but the slower you practice, the faster you’ll learn! Trust me, I know the feeling. I’ve got two masters degrees…but I’ve still gotta practice fairly easy flute stuff like I’m one of my 7th graders. I feel your pain! Oh and scales are your friends…all of them :) |
| No matter what instrument you’re playing, no matter how much time you’ve had to switch, your goal should always be your best professional sound. |
| Moderate setups for all instruments make transitioning between them less onerous |
| Plastic reeds for the pit to avoid breakages |
| To make sure that if this is something you choose to brand yourself as, go with it 100% |
| Pick up each instrument with a new mindset as if it is your primary instrument. When I play flute, I’m a flutist. When I play oboe, I’m an oboist. Etc. |
| Find a professional teacher as soon as possible instead of trying to teach yourself and (potentially) develop bad habits. |
| Approach each instrument as if it is your major instrument |
| Practice each a little every day and practice switching back and forth at home, not just at the gig. |
| Stay w/someone who’s major instrument is your double. |
| High quality tuition from specialists in each instrument, excellent sight-reading, good fundamentals, good air support across the board (!), familiarity with as many styles as possible |
| While there are some universal fundamentals, each instrument (even within an instrument family) has unique characteristics that at the very least need their own mindset. Once you figure out the key differences, the things that are the same take care of themselves. |
| Treat each instrument as if it is your major instrument. |
| – Take regular (weekly/bi-weekly) lessons with excellent teachers on each instrument that you wish to play at a high level – Focus on improving one instrument at a time (ex. for three months taking flute lessons and primarily practicing flute, while lighter practicing + preparing for gigs on clarinet and saxophone) – Own high quality equipment and keep it in good repair |
| Learn to be a performer on all of your instruments, not just a person who dabbles on the others! |
| Learn each instrument as if you know nothing about how to play and learn to play it correctly from the beginning |
| Play whatever instrument you enjoy the most. For example, don’t double on flute as a sax player just because you feel you have to. Play the recorder and contrabassoon, or celeste and guitar. Do what makes you happy. |
| Listen to professionals to develop your best sound and practice your secondaries similarly to your primaries. Don’t be afraid to ask others for advice to improve your playing. Scales are good for everyone. |
| Learn to play cross genre music on each doubling instrument. This will increase your career viability tenfold. |
| “Book yourself on gigs you’re not quite ready for” – Don’t take the piss and lie in such a way that you’ll be unable to give a good show. But do book gigs where you are almost good enough but not quite yet. This gives you the motivation to reach that next step in your practice, and forces you to get better. Nothing to make you practice like an upcoming show! |
| Don’t stop practicing. |
| I would say treating your double as your primary horn (using the same techniques you used on your primary to learn). If you did scales, arpeggios, tone exercises, do the same on your double. |
| Say “Yes!” |
| Don’t have your instrument just be a work colleague. Noodle around and get to know them sometimes without a particular goal. |
| I always say, “view playing each instrument like speaking a different language. They have similar qualities as Winds, but each one requires a different mindset and physical setup.” |
| Think of each instrument separately, don’t try to transfer technique from one to another. |
| Compartmentalize your brain. (eg. When I hold a saxophone, I can’t easily tell you much pedagogically about anything else) |
| Take lessons on your secondary instruments with established teachers. Practice all of the music before the first rehearsal (especially for your secondary instruments). |
| Try not to sound like a saxophonist playing a clarinet. Try to sound as much as a clarinetist as possible. |
| The principles of tone production on single reed instruments are all the same, and that is more important to stress than the particulars of what will happen to achieve that on each instrument. e.g. the saxophone and clarinet embouchure will look different but for either all you need to do is make a seal with no unnecessary pressure or biting that minimally dampens the vibration of the reed Don’t get too bogged down in the beginning/intermediate stages with perfecting any technique or piece of music. It’s probably more important to read a variety of music so that you are reinforcing a bunch of different techniques in a bunch of different scenarios. It makes it more real world, forces you to discover and engage with more of the instruments strengths/weaknesses, and I think it makes you learn faster too because you see things in more different places |
| Get a good teacher |
| Off the top of my head: STYLE; maintain your instruments well; be good with your finances and set aside a little money each month for new instruments, upgrades, accessories, reeds, repairs, etc. |
| Legere reeds are great for doublers! |
| Study instruments with teachers on that primary instrument (flute with a flutist, etc) |
| Show up confidently prepared! |
| Treat every instrument as it’s own when you start. Just cause you play saxophone doesn’t mean it’s a golden ticket for you being good at anything else. |
| Practice! |
| Spend a reasonable amount of time on rudiments for your weakest, or non-native, instrument. Then spend an equal amount of time goofing around on the same instrument. |
| Synthetic reeds help with quick instrument changes, especially when the new instrument hasn’t been played for several minutes. |
| Which ever instrument is in your hand, practice/play it like it is your primary/only instrument |
| Master the basics of all your doubles. |
| You have to really want to do it. Nothing is wrong with not woodwind doubling ie. focussing on just one instrument. The opposite can also be true. |
| Study with a specialist on that instrument |
| Good instruments help a lot. |
| Study each instrument privately with someone who is highly accomplished. |
| Never neglect the basics when learning a new instrument. Long tones and scales are universally important for learning tone and technique, and those don’t usually cross over between instruments |
| Take lessons/listen/get the tone, intonation and musicality right and let the fingers work themselves out. |
| Don’t allow the mentality of being a doubler lessen your goals toward sounding you are a specialist on the horn in your hands.
Even if you never sound like Tim McAllister (or whoever), be proud of your versatility: doubling has opened doors for me that specializing on a single instrument would have never done. You may never arrive at what your musical ear wants to hear from your own playing, but enjoy the never-ending growth, exploration and discovery that comes along with chasing that ideal. |
| Practice your instrument switches! |
| Treat each instrument as if it is your primary, learning all of its specifics. Take good lessons to sure up lesser instruments, no matter how old you are. Practice! |
| have fun |
| Master one instrument before adding more. |
Thanks again for your participation and stay tuned for more survey results.
From a blog post by musical director Conrad Asklund back in 2006:
How do you find woodwind players that can each double on 4-5 instruments?
You can’t—assuming you do not have a budget to hire session players (which really, only session or union players are going to be able to pull off all those doubles professionally) and are not near a major city with access to players like this.
Hey Conrad, call me!
I have gotten into the habit of grilling my students about their fingering choices: “Can you tell me which fingering you used for the last note in that phrase, and why you chose it?” Often they take this (and often correctly so) as an indication that I disapprove of their choices: “Oh, I guess I should have used the other fingering.” But I would like them to actually answer the question that I asked—why did they use the fingerings that they did?
Usually the answer is either that he or she has a “usual” fingering for that note and didn’t bother to consider any others, or that he or she finds the alternative fingering to be physically awkward or hard to remember. As you might guess, I do not find these reasons satisfactory. Professional-level command of an instrument requires a thorough knowledge of fingering options, a thoughtful, purposeful approach to choosing from among them, and conscientious practice to habituate them.
Ideally, there should never be a situation where a woodwind player falls back on a “usual” fingering for a note; each possible option should be considered and weighed each and every time. (Training and experience can automate this to some extent within common patterns of notes, such as scalar or arpeggiated passages.)
In some situations a student knows that a different fingering is the “right” one but shies away from it because they can’t remember it or have difficulty executing it. (One example is the left E-flat fingering for beginning oboists; reaching for the left-hand key can move the ring finger enough that it fails to cover its hole.) These situations are resolved simply through careful repetition until they become a part of (so-called) “muscle memory.” There are a number of method/exercise/etude books that provide material for practice of unfamiliar fingerings (the Klosé clarinet method and the “Universal” saxophone method are some time-honored examples.)
An amateur tries to get the job done with a few low-quality tools. A professional keeps his or her toolbox fully stocked with sharp, high-quality tools and knows just which ones to use to get the job done right the first time.
Working with some woodwind students recently on their upcoming performances, I have been asking them to play with more confidence. Often they have practiced well enough, but play timidly in lessons or rehearsals, and I worry that the same will happen on stage.
When I ask them to play more confidently, they don’t always seem ready to rise to the challenge. But I’ve worked out a useful equation that helps them get on the right track:
confidence = air
Confidence can seem difficult to muster, but air is free. When I point out the equivalence and ask them to just play with more air, they play better and discover the confidence they need.
When you are playing and feel your confidence start to waver, don’t worry—you have a whole room full of confidence ready for you to breathe it in.
As a follow-up to last month’s post on playing in tune, I would like to revisit the idea of adjusting woodwind tuning mechanisms (generally by the “pushing in” or “pulling out” of some joint of the instrument). Note that this information is probably of most value to advanced players; beginning and intermediate players should be focusing their intonation efforts on breath support and voicing.
A simplistic view of “tuning” is that “pulling out” makes the instrument play a little flatter and “pushing in” makes it play a little sharper. The problem is that not all notes are affected equally.
For example, let’s keep the math simple and imagine an instrument that is 100cm long with its tuning mechanism pushed all the way in. And let’s imagine that instrument has a tonehole that can be opened to give the tube an effective length of 50cm.
Now suppose that you pull the tuning mechanism out by 1cm. The lengths of the tube for the notes are now 101cm and 51cm.
They have changed by the same absolute length, but not by the same percentage. The shorter-tube notes (those with more open toneholes) are more dramatically affected by changes in the tuning mechanism than the long-tube notes are.
This is a problem without a tidy solution. A high-quality instrument is built to play at a specific pitch standard (A=440, A=442, etc.) with the tuning mechanism adjusted to a precise location and at a specific temperature. The “easiest” way to play in tune is to own an instrument built to your preferred pitch standard (such as the one your ensemble tunes to), play only in spaces having a suitable temperature, and adjust the tuning mechanism to that precise spot every time. In reality, of course, we need the flexibility of a moveable tuning mechanism to adapt to a variety of circumstances, but we have to be aware of the consequences of pushing in and pulling out.
An additional wrinkle, so to speak, is that adjusting tuning mechanisms can introduce perturbations to the instrument’s bore. Skilled instrument makers can purposefully create perturbations to improve an instrument’s intonation, but undesirable perturbations can have non-intuitive effects on the instrument’s scale.
Here’s what I mean by the tuning mechanism creating a perturbation. Notice how when the tuning mechanism is pushed in the bore is a consistent width, but when the tuning mechanism is pulled out, there is a wider spot in the bore:
This is one of the benefits of tuning a clarinet or bassoon flatter by switching to a longer barrel or bocal: you get the additional length you need without creating a bore perturbation (though remember, notes are still affected unequally). A workaround for clarinetists is to use tuning rings, preferably matched to the instrument’s bore size at that joint, to fill in the perturbation.
Most of getting tuned up has to do with obtaining a high-quality instrument and playing it with high-quality basic technique (good breath support, voicing, and embouchure). That last little bit of improvement is complex and elusive, and understanding some of the reasons for that can help you get there.
I recently renewed a few memberships in some of the woodwind-related professional organizations. I like to stay current with as many of these as I can, because I enjoy receiving their publications and attending their conferences whenever possible. Most offer some other benefits like score and book lending libraries, eligibility for a group instrument insurance plan, member directories, and exclusive website content.
Membership is especially useful for woodwind folks in academia—students and professors alike—who are hoping to build their vitae. There are opportunities to publish articles, interviews, reviews, and such in the organizations’ publications, and to perform, present lectures and demonstrations, and participate in competitions and masterclasses at the conferences. Students can usually join the organizations and attend the conferences at significant discounts.
The groups I’m listing below are the major ones that North American woodwind players ought to seriously consider joining. There are others, mainly regional groups, of which I list as many as I’m aware elsewhere on this site (see flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone organizations). Read More “Woodwind organizations”
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Hi there – both links are dead
Fixed. Thanks!