Advice? Two instruments?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>I need some input - please don't think you are making any decision for me by answering, I just want some advice from the people who know this whole thing better than me.</p>

<p>So, I've decided music is what I'm doing with my life. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if it were something else. Whether I make professional, profitable career out of it, or if I end up a high school band director (both of which I would be happy and satisfied doing), who knows. Naturally, this will mean applying/auditioning to music schools, conservatories, etc... next year and such.</p>

<p>The crossroads is: do I want to play guitar or sax/woodwinds? Most people know me as a guitar player (made all state jazz last year on it, only one spot - could be all east, I find out in a few eeks). But I've been playing sax all my life, longer than I've been playing the guitar. I can't give up one or the other... Well, maybe I worded that wrong. Obviously I won't give up one, but I just don't know which to concentrate on.</p>

<p>In a purely technical sense, I'm a better guitar player. I went through my "shredding" days, so most of my chops are there... but sometimes I feel more expressive playing on my tenor sax. I also hear things better when playing the sax, and in some cases, find myself improvising better than I would on the guitar.</p>

<p>I would also like to work in more doubling on flute and clarinet, but I haven't even started any of that stuff yet. I'm worried that if for some reason I chose the sax over the guitar as my principal instrument in college, I might not be able to get in to a good music school, because I don't really have the experience/technical facility.</p>

<p>Then again, I don't want to give up guitar either. I've always had more success playing the guitar, but that's kind of a shallow reason to play an instrument. In funk or fusion situations, I always feel right in the pocket on the guitar, and I could literally play for hours and hours. That doesn't happen for me when I play the guitar in a typical jazz scenario, but I suppose that comes with more confidenca and experience. However, the ability to play chords, a thing that for some reason I cherish, makes me always want to come back to the guitar.</p>

<p>On the sax, I do feel very much in the spirit of jazz, I guess you could call it, but I also get bored and tired very easily, which rarely happens when I play guitar. Maybe this is just cuz of my weak lungs, not being able to support me. But when I play the sax in say, a pit band, I always feel really alive and wanting to do more. My tone always feels better on the sax than when I play guitar.</p>

<p>So, clearly I have a bit of a predicament, because I love both, but I really do feel that I need to concentrate on one for awhile, to get it together for that whole college thing that makes me really nervous, and I'm only a junior!</p>

<p>The places I've talked to have basically discouraged studying both instruments as principles (although UNT said it was doable, but not really that feasible), with the exception of Oberlin, who said it was entirely possible. All of the others reccomended going on one (guitar?) and taking secondary lessons on the other. Are there more opportunities in the professional world on the sax/doubles or the guitar? I have no idea.</p>

<p>This has been troubling/confusing me for awhile. I just need some sound advice to think about (obviously, I won't let it make my decision for me), to clear my head.</p>

<p>Thank you very much, kind strangers! Any advice you have, if you could let me know, that'd be great.</p>

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<p>It depends a lot on what you want to do musically. If you want to be the next Charlie Christian or John Coltrane, you should have already made a choice because, as my wife's former flute teacher put it when in his 80's, "you've only got time in this life for one instrument." If you want to play at the highest levels, you pretty much have to focus on one thing.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you would be happy being the kind of steady, competent and occasionally inspired player that most groups are built around, then it doesn't hurt to have multiple talents. Usually, this involves at least somewhat similar instruments, for example doublers who play multiple wind instruments or both violin and viola in the classical or pit orchestra worlds. Occasionally, it can involve very different instruments that tend to play the same part, like the guy I know who plays both string bass and tuba for Broadway shows. A guitar/sax combination may not help all that much as a doubler because both are integral parts of a modern jazz band and they tend to play together a lot of the time so the band would need a specialist on each instrument anyway. I suppose you could add some variety to a small group's sound by putting down the guitar and playing second sax now and again.</p>

<p>If you go the HS band director route, it helps to a little bit about everything. In fact, many instrumental music teacher curricula include a semester of woodwind lessons, one of brass, one of percussion and maybe even one of violin in addition to your primary instrument and piano. Unfortunately, a lot of elementary and secondary schools out there can only afford to hire one instrumental teacher and they have to do it all.</p>

<p>If you do not feel you are ready to audition for a good school on sax, you are probably right that you would not get in. You can take additional lessons on a second instrument at most places and should even be able to switch major instruments if you get good enough and decide to go that route. Be aware that it may well cost you an extra semester or two in school. At this point you should probably start out on guitar and think about branching out once you have gotten used to the routine at school. I would not advise trying to study guitar, sax, flute and clarinet all at the same time.</p>

<p>So I guess that my advice is to work up your audition on guitar and keep playing the sax for fun at present. Once you have gotten into a good school and spent a semester or two getting used to the place, if you still feel you want to go further with your sax playing you will still have time to start serious lessons on it. You will aslo probably be taking a year or two of piano in school, so don't worry about flute or clarinet for a while.</p>

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<p>I agree, go with your strong suit and prepare for auditions on your guitar. As for doubling on the woodwinds, I found that in the larger programs, it was not as much of an issue. For example, Juilliard requires sax players to demonstrate ability to double by performing an additional pre-screening selection on flute or clarinet. However, that was the only school that we encountered that even asked about doubling. So I would not recommend you spend time on that right now. However, it is advisable to spend some time before entering school working on the doubling. It improves your chances of making it into ensembles.</p>

4

<p>DD was in a similar predicament with clarinet and sax. Here's our roundup...</p>

<p>Most schools will "officially" frown on doubling as an undergraduate, but embrace it as a graduate student. IU will let you audition on two instruments if you like and of all the schools we looked at, seemed most comfortable with undergraduate doubling. D decided to go it on the primary (clarinet), figuring she could take lessons on sax with a grad student on the side. </p>

<p>She's at Peabody now as a clarinet performance major and is not "officially" taking sax lessons, but it's a perfect world for her. "Official" lessons would mean me paying more $ and her having to do juries. Instead, she's getting lessons from one of the sax faculty and playing in their large jazz ensemble. The beauty of that is that Peabody expects all alto players to play clarinet AND flute, which allows D to work on picking up a third instrument. </p>

<p>Our 2¢...</p>

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<p>My son also plays two instruments, and is only auditioning on both at one school (at least that is the plan at the moment). Most of the kids with two or more instruments seem to choose one, and then continue lessons on the other, but not as a major.</p>

<p>You sound more passionate about the guitar, and if you were selected as all-state as a Sophomore already, I think you have answered your own question!</p>

6

<p>My S had to make the decision about horn and composition. He is majoring in horn, and taking classes in composition. He loves both, but is extremely talented with horn (and he probably loves it more), so that made the most sense. Composition is easier to do on the side, and he figured there's always grad school to change focus if he decides to. (At this point, I doubt it, but that was his reasoning back at the decision stage.) He had to look at what his biggest dream was, and set aside the contingency plans for now.</p>

<p>My personal reading of your post is that you might need to look hard at what you want most to do. If you want to be a band director, then sax is going to matter more than guitar, in my opinion. Although if you lead a jazz band, the knowledge of both will be wonderful -- I don't know many schools who hire a teacher <em>only</em> for jazz band, though.</p>

<p>What are your teachers telling you? Are you taking private lessons for both guitar and sax? </p>

<p>I think it's possible that you might need to end up auditioning on both instruments. D wants to continue playing violin in college, without majoring, and is finding herself having to prepare for auditions just in order to be allowed to minor or for scholarships, or, in some cases, take lessons.</p>

7

<p>D, a HS senior, was in the same situation last summer when she decided to pursue music performance in college. Started piano at 6 and flute at 11. A better pianist than flutist (my and her piano teacher's opinions). Loves collaborative music. Wants to be an orchestral flutist but loves piano literature so much that she is not ready to give it up. Contacted the schools she is interested in, and most of them will allow her to major in both as long as she passes both auditions. IU, Michigan, CCM, Eastman, Peabody are some of them. Not sure if these schools have the programs you are interested in. CIM allows only minor. NEC allows students to add one later on (with audion of course). CMU is just plain difficult. Not even minor or private lessons. And it is the only school that asks for two audition fees.</p>

<p>D met an accompanist in a flute camp this summer and has given some thought of this possible career choice. For now she would like to keep her options open. If she has to give one up later on, at least she won't have any regrets.</p>

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<p>I am interested in Michigan and Eastman; I might be able to get into Michigan on both, but I sincerely doubt my ability of getting into Eastman on both.</p>

<p>I like IU, but it has no jazz guitar department...</p>

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<p>i think the other posts have said this too, but from my experience remember that even if you choose to focus on one, you can still play the other for fun or take lessons or be in an ensemble on the side.</p>

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<p>jazzguitar--</p>

<p>Is Berklee an option too? Also you might want to try your question on the jazz educators forum:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.IAJE.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.IAJE.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck with your choices!</p>

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<p>Berklee is an option too! But I'm not sure I would want to go there on guitar (half of the school is guitar - yikes!). I've heard Berklee isn't like it used to be anymore though, is this true?</p>

<p>I will post on the IAJE forum, thankyou!</p>

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<p>You can also apply to NEC on two instruments, and two genres. It does require two separate applications for classical and jazz, but is easily done (relatively speaking!).</p>

<p>A lot of kids start at Berklee and either can't cut it musically, or are lured away by the biz before graduation. We have known some utterly amazing musicians from Berklee, because the kids who are really talented, really get noticed, and many have a rosy future. </p>

<p>I used to be concerned about the percentage of kids who never graduate from Berklee, but you have to look at the ones who do, and see what great things they are doing.</p>

13

<p>I think I've kinda made a preliminary plan -</p>

<p>I'm not sure which insrument I'm more passionate on. I suppose that will take some soul-searching from me, and that will just take time...</p>

<p>I believe I'm just gonna work really hard on both, and audition on both at the schools that let me. In the end, I know I'll be happy just doing music in some capacity, so it's all good.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

14

<p>I am extrapolating a bit here, but you sound a bit like my son who is a senior. His main instrument is alto sax and he is applying to jazz programs. He also plays in a ska band and sings and plays in a gospel group. He also plays the piano. He is looking for a college music experience that is excellent and intensive without being too narrow. In visiting schools he has found that some departments/faculty are more flexible and open to experimentation and playing other genres of music than others; Michigan and Oberlin have come to the top of his list for that reason. He is also looking at NEC and Miami. </p>

<p>He is a very dedicated and talented musician and plays in 2 small jazz ensembles and 2 big bands; however, he doesn't want a school that is so competitive that to make the top ensembles requires round-the-clock practice. I don't think he is a "7 x 24 jazz kid" as someone here described their child. It makes the college search process a little more complicated, but I think things will work out OK.</p>

<p>I know that this probably runs counter to the thinking of traditional music people but at 17 to identify JAZZ and SAX as his lifelong pursuit seems too limiting when I hear him at the piano or playing songs he has composed with his ska band.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>