- Play each instrument because you love that particular instrument!
- Aspire to play each instrument as if it were the only one that you play.
- Set up a disciplined daily practice routine.
- Have a consistent set of warmups including tone, articulation and scale studies for each instrument.
- Listen to recordings of an assortment of great artists for each instrument on a daily basis. Focus intensively on one artist each year. Choose their greatest attributes to emphasize—tone, vibrato, articulation, phrasing, technique, etc.
- Study each instrument privately with teachers who have a similar philosophy with regard to breathing, phrasing, tone, etc. and are sensitive to a multi-instrumentalist’s role in the music industry.
- Study with only one teacher at a time on each instrument.
- Try to play in as many varied musical contexts as possible (especially helpful are saxophone quartets, woodwind quintets and jazz combo settings).
- Buy the best instruments possible (and all the major ones of each family of instruments).
- Buy instrument cases available that provide the best protection for each instrument and are ergonomically sound.
- Find an excellent repair technician for each instrument and cultivate that relationship. Make sure that you always have someone to go to in an emergency.
- Subscribe to all relevant professional journals and organizations.
- Attend concerts, masterclasses, and instrumental conventions as often as possible.
- Perform, rehearse and practice great music as often as possible.
- Become an excellent sight-reader on all of your instruments in all styles of music.
- *Developing an excellent sense of rhythm, pitch, stylistic knowledge and collegiality are essential for success in the music industry!
How to Succeed as a Woodwind Multi–Instrumentalist
Excerpted from Woodwind Doubling for Saxophone, Clarinet & Flute
Categories
You may enjoy other Articles.