Pedagogical recipes

ByBret Pimentel December 21, 2015March 14, 2017

I want to follow up on something I touched on in my last post. I described in that post how I had my woodwind methods class evaluate some online pedagogical resources, and mentioned that I had them compare the information found online to the information presented in class. My idea was to prepare them to deal with conflicting information, which will be part of their reality as public school band directors.

Woodwind pedagogy, unfortunately, is a mishmash of contradictory ideas. This is supported by a culture of hero worship of certain teachers and performers, a permissive editorial process for publishing pedagogical materials (increasingly so with the rise of the internet), and an attitude that music is not subject to scientific method.

When conflicts exist between one school of thought and another, in some cases that is because one or both sides is incorrect. In other cases the problem is a communication failure: both sides are applying the same techniques in the same way, but describing them poorly (or at least differently). But I think there are other cases where the difference can be attributed to what I think of as different “recipes.”

There are many ways to make a chocolate cake. Some cake recipes might be objectively better than others by some measure or another. Some might produce results that are generally satisfactory but especially suited to certain tastes. And in some cases, two different recipes might produce results that are very similar. In those cases, the way the ingredients and techniques balance is significant: one recipe might call for two eggs instead of three, but has more of another ingredient that makes up the difference, or a difference in baking time and temperature.

I think a similar thing can happen with “recipes” for woodwind playing. Equipment preferences are a fairly clear example: one clarinet teacher might favor very stiff reeds, while another prefers softer ones. Both might produce excellent results, so long as they are balanced properly—the first teacher probably balances stiffer reeds against mouthpieces with a more closed tip, and the other might use softer reeds with more open mouthpieces. One oboe teacher might clip his reeds to 70mm while another clips hers to 69.5mm, but they probably balance this with narrower or wider shaper tips, or tweaks to any of a dozen other variables.

Playing techniques are a little more abstract and complicated to separate out, but I think the same concept applies. One bassoon teacher might encourage some jaw movement when articulating lower notes, while another teaches a more stable embouchure, but it’s always more complicated than that: the technique’s usefulness and effectiveness has to be evaluated in the context of each teacher’s approach to breath support, voicing, embouchure, equipment, and more.

The idea that I wanted to bring across to my class is that, for band directors or other musicians and music educators who might not be specialists in each of the woodwind instruments, it is important to beware little pedagogical proverbs taken out of context. Something like “firm up your embouchure” or “use a stiffer reed” or “use the alternate F-sharp” can seem like a quick and digestible solution, but can’t be applied casually and without understanding of the larger picture.

Product reviews | Woodwind playing and pedagogy

Anatomy of a bad bamboo flute
ByBret Pimentel December 17, 2013March 15, 2017
Bamboo flutes and other “world”-type woodwinds of true musician quality can be difficult to find, and if you’re not experienced with them it can be nearly impossible to tell if an online seller’s wares are genuinely playable or more like souvenir items. I’m going to share an experience of mine in which I gambled and got burned, in case it is instructive to anyone out there.

Recently I needed a bamboo flute in a specific and unusual key (high B-flat) on very short notice for a gig (a performance of the Duke Ellington Nutcracker Suite). My favorite trusted flutemakers don’t currently make flutes in that key, so I placed an order with a flutemaker that I hadn’t bought from before. (I won’t identify the flutemaker here, but I will say that he and his staff were very nice to me. When there was a totally-understandable wrinkle in getting the flute shipped on time, they even overnighted it plus threw in a very nice flute bag at no extra charge.)

Ability to ship quickly was certainly a factor in my choice of vendors, but I was also reassured by the fact that the maker sells flutes in three grades: student, intermediate, and professional. I ponied up the money for a professional flute, and expressed to the flutemaker my need for excellent intonation and a strong high register.

Here is what I received:

cute, right?

Now, the proof of a flute is in the playing, and there’s no way to know for sure if it’s any good without giving it a try. But here are some immediate visual warning signs:
- uh-oh
  
  The embouchure hole is strangely shaped. I don’t know for sure what the flutemaker intended, but round-ish is pretty standard. Since bamboo is an irregular material, a certain amount of air noise (vibrational inefficiency) is to be expected, but this flute is very airy, and I suspect the oddly-shaped and roughly-finished embouchure hole is a contributor to this.
- This is an extremely wide-bored flute. Often for flute-like instruments we see a length-to-diameter ratio of something around 30:1, but this one is closer to 15:1. To oversimplify the ramifications of this a bit, a wider-bore flute (a smaller ratio) will generally tend to be stronger in the low register and weaker in the high register. For this gig, I needed a flute that could play just to the second octave above the fundamental note—not an unreasonable demand for any common variety of bamboo transverse flute. I couldn’t get this flute to do it. A smaller-diameter bamboo would improve this flute’s upper range.
- The finger holes are fairly large, and about the same size. Generally, similarly-sized holes leads to more even tone across the instrument’s scale, but also means that the right hand index and middle finger holes are placed very close together for a simple-system major-scale flute, and on this one the holes are uncomfortably close for me. Larger holes decrease the likelihood of finding usable cross-fingerings; I needed one good cross-fingering for this gig, and couldn’t find one that worked—couldn’t even “lip” the chromatic note into tune. A well-designed flute strikes a balance between large and small holes, and similarly- and differently-sized holes.
- The second octave is quite noticeably flat. This is a common problem of bamboo flutes (or any cylindrical-bore flutes), but this one is particularly difficult to wrangle into tune. Really excellent bamboo flutes are sometimes made from bamboo carefully selected to have just a bit of taper in the embouchure-hole end, like a concert flute’s headjoint, or have some bore work done to create an internal taper; this helps to bring the upper register into tune with the lower.
When I realized that the flute wasn’t going to be usable, I packed my piccolo and a B-flat pennywhistle as possible alternatives. As it turned out, we didn’t end up playing the movement in question, so I was off the hook.

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Woodwind playing and pedagogy

Quick flute switches and embouchure problems for woodwind doublers
ByBret Pimentel May 13, 2017
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.
Lots of woodwind doubler horror stories have to do with quick switches to flute or piccolo. (“Twenty minutes of hard-driving R&B tenor saxophone, then two bars to switch to flute and enter pianissimo in the third octave…”) Doublers in this situation often beat themselves up about perceived deficiencies in their flute embouchures, and commit to even more hours of Trevor Wye, but never quite seem to solve the problem.

While daily work on the flute embouchure is crucial, as is a good warmup, I think often the real problem is the reed embouchures. If playing clarinet, saxophone, or double reeds is leaving your embouchure too tired, tense, or numb to play the flute at your best, then consider improving your reed playing. Adjust your tone production to be less tense, adjust your setup to be freer-blowing, and adjust your mindset to be focused on efficiency rather than muscular effort. Keep up the flute lessons, but touch base with good reed teachers, too.
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Woodwind playing and pedagogy

Choosing instructional materials for beginning saxophone students
ByBret Pimentel December 1, 2001January 3, 2018
Importance of appropriate materials

Choosing the right method books and materials—or choosing not to use them—can be a deciding factor in a beginning saxophone student’s success. A student assigned page after page of boring finger exercises will lose interest quickly, but a student given only “fun” assignments may fall behind in development of sound technique. Read More “Choosing instructional materials for beginning saxophone students”
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Woodwind Doubler Census 2021 results, part 2: doubling abilities

ByBret Pimentel June 8, 2021June 8, 2021

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.

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

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

Which instruments do you own?

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

Which instrument(s) do you consider your “primary” instrument, if any?

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%

Which instruments do you not own, and have had to turn down gigs because of that?

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%

How do you primarily identify yourself as a musician?

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%

Do you have “primary” and “secondary” instruments?

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%

Which of these challenges have significantly affected your success as a woodwind doubler? Define “significantly affected” and “success” as you see fit. You may choose multiple answers.

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%

Which of these benefits of woodwind doubling have made a significant difference for you? Define “significant difference” as you see fit. You may choose multiple answers.

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%

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

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.

Woodwind playing and pedagogy

A woodwind player’s introduction to: pennywhistles
ByBret Pimentel December 12, 2021December 24, 2021
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

The pennywhistle (or “tinwhistle” or “Irish” whistle) is common in Irish traditional music, and has found a home in some other styles such as southern African kwela music. They appear famously in movie soundtracks such as the Lord of the Rings movies and Titanic.

Here are some important things to know:
- There are high-quality pennywhistles with good intonation, clear, pure tone, and nice even response. (The Burke whistles are among my favorites.) But some high-profile players of traditional Irish music prefer the chirpier, raspier, less-perfect sounds of inexpensive, mass-produced ones (such as Generation whistles). Those players might try many inexpensive whistles to find the most playable ones.
- There are also some in-between options. The very consistent but relatively inexpensive plastic whistles from Susato have the advantages of high volume, excellent tuning, and availability in lots of keys. (They also have a reedy tone that some people find too recorder-like.) Or, there are “tweaked” whistles like those made by Jerry Freeman, inexpensive whistles with some adjustments made for better playability.
- Pennywhistles are available in various sizes, but the way they are named doesn’t match with the conventions of orchestral wind instruments. The most common and traditional whistle is the high D whistle. These are usually notated with the instrument’s six-fingers-down note, D, appearing as D on the staff and sounding one octave higher. (By the terminology used for, say, clarinets and saxophones, this would be considered a “C” whistle.) Other whistles are named by their 6-finger note as well.
- For non-D whistles, there aren’t firmly-established notation practices. Some notation treats them as transposing instruments, with music written so that a notated D at the bottom of the treble staff is always played as the six-finger note. In other cases, music may be written at the intended sounding pitch (or, often, one octave below, like piccolo transposition), and it is left to the whistle player to select an appropriate instrument.
- Whistles use a simple-system fingering scheme, and are best used in mostly-diatonic contexts. Some chromatic fingerings are possible but cross-fingerings tend to be weak and half-holed fingerings are awkward in technical passages. To play in multiple keys, most whistle players keep whistles in a variety of sizes on hand. For chromatic passages, something like a soprano or sopranino recorder might be more suitable.
- Like most fipple flutes, pennywhistles have relatively low breath requirements. The upper octaves are achieved almost entirely by overblowing, so they tend to be louder and brighter. (Some more expensive whistles are designed to “improve” on this traditional characteristic.)
- Pennywhistles respond best to a low, open voicing.
- Pennywhistle playing in Irish traditional music uses a sophisticated system of ornamentation and inflection inherited from bagpiping traditions. Since pipers don’t stop to breathe, whistle players use a system of placing breaths that is also somewhat unfamiliar to orchestral woodwind players, leaving out selected notes to breathe rather than trying to insert breaths between notes. For slower tunes whistle players may use a flattement-style finger vibrato. By far my favorite resource for learning these techniques is Grey Larsen’s book.
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Woodwind playing and pedagogy

Why doesn’t my new mouthpiece work?
ByBret Pimentel November 12, 2022November 29, 2022
So you bought a new mouthpiece! How exciting. But wait—it’s not playing as well as you hoped. Maybe it squeaks, or some (or all) notes don’t come out very well, or the tuning is weird. Let’s consider some possible reasons why:
- First, it’s always a good idea to review the fundamentals of tone production: breath support, voicing, and embouchure. Those things probably didn’t really change when you got a new mouthpiece, but maybe the old one was more forgiving of some weaknesses in your technique, and the new one is revealing those issues.
- A new mouthpiece is likely to require a different reed than the old mouthpiece. Try some harder or softer reeds and see if your results change. In general, a mouthpiece with a larger tip opening tends to like a softer reed, and a smaller opening works better with a harder reed. But it’s more complicated than that, and the only way to really know which strength, cut, brand, etc. will work best is to try them out. (Some mouthpiece makers do suggest reeds that go well with their mouthpieces, but your results may vary.)
- Also: even if your new mouthpiece is compatible with the reeds you have been buying, ones that you previously used on the old mouthpiece may have kind of molded to the old mouthpiece. Try some fresh ones.
- Not all mouthpieces are created equal, even mouthpieces of the same brand and model. This can be due to hand-finishing or other manufacturing variables. It’s possible that the one you got isn’t as good as the one that your friend or teacher or favorite professional player uses. If possible, it’s worth trying several before you pick one. And especially with older or used mouthpieces, they can warp or otherwise change shape in small ways, and that can change their playing characteristics and ability to mate well with a reed.
- Let’s consider one more hard truth: if you bought a mouthpiece never having played on it (or at least one like it) before, you may have picked something that just isn’t going a good match for you. It’s easy to get caught up in the promises in advertising copy or on product websites, or to assume that your favorite player’s mouthpiece will be suited to your equipment and playing style. Some mouthpieces are made for extreme or unusual reed choices, embouchures, or playing situations, but most players benefit from a relatively middle-of-the-road mouthpiece. And, of course, some mouthpieces just aren’t as good as advertised at all. Your best bet might be to return or sell the new mouthpiece, and invest instead in lessons with a good teacher who can either guide you in a better-informed purchase, or help you get the results you want out of a mouthpiece you already have.
A good rule of thumb is that a mouthpiece can’t give you skills, talent, or creativity. It can only remove, or add, obstacles to tone production. Pick a mouthpiece that makes it easier for you to do what you do, and get some help from a qualified teacher if needed. Good luck!
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