More thoughts on multiple woodwinds degrees

ByBret Pimentel

I often get email from people who are considering pursuing a college or conservatory degree in multiple woodwinds. Now that I’ve completed two of them myself, here are a few thoughts.

If you want to enter a multiple woodwinds degree program, you should already have at least a basic technical command of each instrument to be included on the degree. This really should include a background of good private instruction on each instrument. In my experience, self-taught players on any instrument are rarely very well prepared for the rigors of college-level study.

Bachelor’s-level programs are rare, and I think that’s with good reason. For most woodwind players, I think, diving right into college-level study of three or more instruments is ill-advised. You will do much better to spend those years focusing on your strongest instrument, developing your musicianship, learning good practicing techniques, and hopefully racking up some achievements like contest awards or high placement in top university ensembles. All of those things benefited me very much (my bachelor’s degree is in saxophone performance), and it’s likely I wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much if I had been dividing my practice hours between multiple instruments (plus completing music coursework AND general education coursework).

The only circumstances under which I would really recommend multiple woodwinds study at the bachelor’s degree level are cases where young musicians have had several years of excellent instruction on multiple instruments, and enjoyed significant success on each, or perhaps cases where experienced musicians already have professional or semi-pro doubling experience and are entering school a little later in life.

I DO recommend that aspiring doublers at the undergraduate level make good use of their summers, taking private lessons on their doubles, and playing those instruments in less-competitive summer ensemble courses (if available).

Before moving on to graduate degrees, let me point out one thing that doesn’t seem to occur to undergraduate music students until it’s too late: a bachelor’s degree in music performance isn’t good for much. You don’t need a degree to be a professional musician. A BM degree is good for getting an entry-level office-type job that just requires a degree in something—or for applying to graduate music programs. A music education degree, on the other hand, should qualify you to teach music in the public schools. Even if you are planning on graduate study anyway, it might not hurt to have the BME as a plan “B.” If I could go back and do it over, I would give this idea serious consideration.

Master’s-level programs are the most common multiple woodwinds degrees. If you are studying music performance at the master’s level, you most likely are headed for a college teaching career, probably after completion of a doctorate. A multiple woodwinds degree at this level can be a nice CV enhancement for a woodwind player who plans to return to single-instrument study at the doctoral level.

Some multiple woodwinds degree programs are organized in terms of a “primary” instrument and one or more “secondary” instruments, and others take more of a true multi-instrumentalist approach; if your goal is significant achievement on one instrument plus lesser focus on other instruments, then a primary/secondaries program is your best bet.

Doctoral programs are rare but available. I would suggest these programs (even primary/secondaries-oriented progams) only for musicians who are serious about each instrument individually. Here’s why I think so.

Graduates of doctoral-level performance degree programs must, in order to compete in the academic job market, be highly skilled performers. Spreading your focus and your practice hours across several instruments unavoidably results in a lower achievement on each instrument than if that instrument had been studied exclusively. There just aren’t enough hours in a day to learn to play three, four, or five instruments at a doctoral level within the time frame of a DM or DMA program. Graduates of multiple woodwinds programs have a skill set that is broader than single-instrument graduates, but not as deep. There are faculty positions out there that need that broader skill set, especially at smaller schools where the professors wear several hats, but if it’s your goal to be the bassoon teacher at a large and well-known school, then your doctoral work probably ought to be focused on the bassoon.

Some previous posts:

And, of course, check out the list of multiple woodwinds degree programs:

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    Q&A: Instrument purchases

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    Here are some of the questions readers sent me in celebration of this blog’s 10-year anniversary. I have edited, combined, and otherwise adapted some of them but hopefully there are answers here for those of you who were kind enough to inquire.

    What starting models do you recommend as an entry point for each woodwind?

    Hi! What brand of clarinet would you recommend for an intermediate high school clarinetist who plans on majoring in music education?

    I suspect that you’re both looking for specific brand recommendations, which I mostly avoid doing on the blog, for reasons I’ve highlighted previously (tl;dr: equipment recommendations tend to outlive their usefulness—people cling to them while the market changes around them). Sorry. What I’ll do instead is offer some general advice that applies to beginners, college music majors, woodwind doublers, everybody.

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    If you’re in, or about to be in, college: consult with your professor. Period. Head off to college with the instrument you already have, and let your professor guide you through the process of buying what you need.

    As far as I’m concerned, that’s what most woodwind players need to get through their complete formal musical training: a good beginner instrument, and then an instrument suitable for college-level study. “Step-up” or intermediate instruments generally aren’t worth it—they cost most of what a college-suitable instrument costs, but don’t play much better than a good beginner instrument. If your budget is bigger than necessary for a student-level instrument but not big enough for a college-appropriate one, buy a good student model and save up the rest for the next purchase.

    For clarinetists, saxophonists, and oboists, often the college-level instrument is a true professional model, and you won’t ever need anything fancier. Professional level flutists and bassoonists may have more of a need(?) for a nicer instrument beyond their undergraduate degrees, and these can sometimes be in the price range between a new car and a new house.

    How do I deal with the cost of buying all of these woodwind instruments for college?

    If you’re thinking of studying multiple woodwind instruments as a college undergraduate, firstly I recommend that you think that through carefully, and get in touch with the music faculty at the school(s) you are considering. I think for most undergraduate students (including my past self), it makes sense to major in just one instrument, for reasons I’ve addressed previously, and at many schools high-level undergraduate study of multiple woodwinds is impossible or impractical. I think that for most aspiring doublers, graduate school is a better place to dig deeply into it.

    To address your question, though: college-suitable woodwind instruments are expensive, but almost certainly less expensive than tuition or room and board at an American university or maybe even a few semesters’ worth of textbooks. If you’re college-bound in the USA, a pro-level clarinet or oboe is probably the least of your financial woes.

    If you’re planning to pay your way through school with scholarships, then that might not be money you’re able to access for things like instrument purchases. Depending on your personal financial values, it may be worthwhile to get student loans to cover the cost of a new instrument, and pay them off at relatively low interest after you graduate.

    Depending on the instrument and the school, you may be able to borrow or rent a suitable school-owned instrument while you make arrangements to purchase your own.

    Thanks for the questions! Good luck with your instrument purchases.

    More 10-year anniversary Q&A

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    Reedmaking and choosing your college oboe or bassoon professor

    ByBret Pimentel

    US college/university music departments and conservatories are filled with talented, qualified faculty. If you are an oboist or bassoonist bound for a large school then there will almost certainly be both oboe and bassoon professors there with outstanding credentials and years of high-level teaching and performing experience.

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    Those professors still have much to teach you, and while it’s not an ideal situation it’s also not unheard of. However, for double reed students, there’s an additional wrinkle: the need to learn reedmaking.

    Reedmaking is a crucial skill for oboists and bassoonists. At larger schools it’s not unusual for the oboe and bassoon professors to offer classes in reedmaking, or at least to spend a significant chunk of lesson time on it. And while still learning this art, you will probably need someone to provide you with reeds or adjust ones you purchase elsewhere. (The ones from your local music store or online retailer aren’t likely to play at the level you will need for college study.)

    So, if you’re considering a school where you might study with someone who isn’t a performer on your double reed instrument, it would be worthwhile to find out their plan for teaching you reedmaking. If they don’t have a detailed and convincing one, you might think about some other schools, especially if you are planning to pursue a performance degree, or ask your teacher about ways to fill that gap in your education.

One Comment

  1. Hi Bret, Do you have any thoughts on jazz vs classical sax embouchure? Do you go full throttle into what Dave Liebman describes? ie lip out and varying the amount of mouthpiece in the mouth.

    Reply

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