Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 6: benefits

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In this installment, we look at why woodwind doublers do what they do.

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.

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Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 5: challenges

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Back for more, I see? Thanks to all who are still reading results from the Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011. At this point we are getting into some more of the questions with free-form answers, and I think your responses are really interesting.

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.

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Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 4: employment

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I hope you all are finding this as fascinating as I am. Here’s the latest batch of results from the Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011.

Employment

Q. Which of these do you play?

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Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 3: education and training

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More results from the Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011. Enjoy!

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.

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Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 2: instruments

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In the previous installment of results from the Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011, I shared some basic demographic information about the 187 survey respondents. In this installment (and those to come), we’ll dig into some real doubling stuff.

Instruments

Q: Which woodwind instruments do you play, and at what levels?

The top results are unsurprising: saxophone, clarinet, and flute being the most widely-played, with oboe in a distant fourth place. I was a little surprised to see folk/ethnic/period woodwinds edge out the bassoon.

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Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 1: demographics

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First things first: thank you thank you thank you to all who participated in the survey, and especially those who Tweeted, Facebooked, and otherwise spread the word. I was bowled over by the number and diversity of woodwind doublers who responded: top professionals, rank amateurs, and everyone in between, for a grand total of 187 responses. Wow! It has been fascinating to see your answers and read your comments. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be revealing what I’ve learned in installments. If you’re not already subscribed in some way, you can grab the RSS feed, sign up for updates by email, or follow me on Twitter. And you can see all related posts in one place, tagged as .

And now, with no further ado, I give you:

Woodwind Doubler Census results, part 1: Demographic background

Gender

Although a number of talented and versatile ladies responded, as a group we are mostly of the male persuasion.

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Advice for prospective college music majors

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Photo, Surat Lozowick

Planning on being a college music major? Good for you! But if you’re like I was as a high school senior, there are some things you haven’t thought of yet. Now that I’m on the other end of things—a college music professor, teaching music majors—I have some advice that I share with potential students (and that I’d like to send back in time to my younger self). I hope these tips help you get off to a good start on your own college music studies.

  • What you need the most right now, before starting college, is a good private teacher. If you’re not already taking lessons, it’s time to start. (Note that if you have your sights set on a top-tier school, most of the people auditioning will already have years of serious private study under their belts!) A good teacher can help you choose some possible schools, prepare audition material well, and get a sense for what advanced music study is like. Oh, and sculpt you into a fine young musician. The money you spend on lessons will pay off when scholarships are awarded.

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“How I Became a Broadway Musician” at MusicianWages.com

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Pianist David Hahn at MusicianWages.com recently posted a 5-part series on his path to becoming a musician on Broadway. Check it out!

David Erato on his clarinet “journey”

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David Erato, a Wisconsin-based woodwind doubler and teacher, describes the motivation behind his year-long “journey” to improve his clarinet chops: The idea as a “doubler” is to make whatever instrument is in your hand not feel like a foreign object. One should really study the instrument as if it is the only instrument you play. Practice the … Read more

The Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011

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Attention: woodwind doublers!

The time has come to stand up and be counted. The linked survey is for anyone who considers themselves to be a woodwind doubler of any ability level at all.

All the questions are optional, so you can skip anything you don’t feel like answering, but thorough responses are much appreciated. The survey will remain open for an as-yet-undetermined amount of time. When there are enough responses to be interesting, I’ll post some analysis here.

The more responses, the better, so please share this with your woodwind doubling buddies. You can use the “Share” buttons (to the left, if you’re reading on a large screen) to pass this along to people via email, Facebook, Twitter, and others, or use this short link as you see fit: http://wp.me/pfZdF-TZ

TAKE THE SURVEY

Update: The survey is now closed. Thanks for your participation!

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