Favorite blog posts, July 2014

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I am closing out July in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at ClarinetFest. Report forthcoming. For now, enjoy my best-of-the-woodwind-blogs for the past month.

Woodwind doubling and the “main” instrument

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I identify very much as a woodwind player: as far as I’m concerned, if it’s a woodwind, it’s part of what I do. But when I introduce myself to someone that way, I am frequently asked, “But which one is your main instrument?”

Auxiliary instruments and college study

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One thing that seems to surprise some prospective college music majors is that we have different views about what I consider “auxiliary” instruments. For example, it’s common for prospects to identify themselves as bass clarinetists, or as tenor saxophonists. Some of these students have never even attempted to play a B-flat clarinet or an alto saxophone, and sometimes show little interest in doing so. Am I old-fashioned to expect my saxophone majors to play mostly alto and my clarinet majors to play mostly B-flat?

12(+) ways to practice a technical passage

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Rhythmic variation is an excellent way to keep some variety and interest in your practicing, even when you’re stuck on a particularly frustrating passage.

Favorite blog posts, June 2014

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, June 2014 edition.

The problem with “ethnic” woodwinds

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I am trying to get away from using the term “ethnic” woodwinds, one that I have used frequently in the past as a catch-all for the instruments I play that aren’t modern Western woodwinds. The term was problematic from the beginning, since, for example, I was using it to include instruments like recorders, which fall squarely under the umbrella of Western music traditions, but are arguably period or historical instruments. Additionally, I find that the term “ethnic” increasingly grates on my ear as too ethnocentric and limited a view, and incompatible with my real attitudes concerning music from cultures and traditions other than my native ones.

Dissertation: Woodwind doubling on folk, ethnic, and period instruments in film and theater music

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My doctoral dissertation is now available online through the University of Georgia library, entitled Woodwind doubling on folk, ethnic, and period instruments in film and theater music: Case studies and a practical manual.

Review: Ben Britton’s A Complete Approach to Overtones

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A review of Ben Britton’s book A Complete Approach to Overtones: Vivid Tone and Extended Range, a broad-based approach to improving every aspect of saxophone tone production (particularly tone, intonation, and response).

Favorite blog posts, May 2014

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, May 2014 edition.

The amazing shrinking woodwind section: increasing demands on woodwind doublers

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21st-century woodwind players need to be able to play a greater number of instruments, from a pool no longer limited to the orchestral woodwinds and saxophones, at a soloist level on each instrument.