But, of course, on a musician's blog, we're not going to sit here and talk about hats! No, what I'm referring to is versatility. I'm writing this blog in response to people's belief that playing multiple brass instruments regularly is a bad idea.
Before I dive into that, there is one part of that which is true: if one wants to win a full-time playing job, say with the Seattle Symphony, then they should focus on just one instrument. I agree. Mainly the reason for this is practice time. In order to win a job, you have to practice basically when you're not eating, sleeping, working, using the bathroom, or going to school. And you really can only play one instrument in an orchestra, so you want to focus on one instrument. So yeah, if you have ambitions or goals to be the next big winner of a full-time orchestra gig, then just stick with one. This is also true of musicians who do a lot of professional recording.
However, that still leaves a ton of other musicians out there. Not everyone will get a full-time playing job. In fact, probably less than 1% of musicians out there will. For this 99+% out there, playing more than one instrument is not a bad idea; rather, it can be a very good one. Particularly if you'd like to make yourself more marketable (i.e. make more money in music).
The popular belief out there is that being a horn player that plays another bad instrument is simply "bad" for your chops, that it can inhibit things like range, tone, and accuracy. Now, at first that's true. It's just like when we first started playing brass instruments in our lives. Was our range good in the 1st month of playing, or even in the first year? Unlikely. How about our tone? Probably not. And our accuracy? Definitely not! And why? Well, because we had never done it before, and let's face it: our bodies aren't designed to buzz in brass instruments. The purpose of lips on the human body isn't to make funny noises by buzzing them together. So, as young brass players, we had to play a lot to get out lips used to playing a brass instrument. As they got used to it, range, accuracy & tone got better...right?
And the same goes with playing multiple brass instruments. When a hornist starts to play trombone, it's a struggle, sure, but when they go back to horn, they may find that they can't play it as well at first. Well, sure. You've given your lips something new to think about, and they you've put them back in a familiar situation while it's mind is still in this new territory (stay with me, here). At first it's hard to switch back and forth because your lips aren't used to it. And for some, it make take longer for you lips to get used to it. But they will, in time. Believe me, they will. And before you know it, you can do what I did last Tuesday: played trombone with a trombone student in his lesson, immediately switched to horn and played it to help him with intonation, then picked up my trumpet and played a trumpet-trombone duet he's working on with a friend...all within an hour. And I sounded pretty darn good at all three, I might add.
Now, please keep in mind that there is no damage that has been done to my chops. So many people think that happens when you play multiple brass instruments. No, definitely not true. I don't feel damaged at all. I feel at the top of my game with my horn (my primary instrument), and I sure am great with my air usage...Playing tuba and trombone helped me improve that. And because of that, I have a remarkable tone on my horn and trumpet. Definitely no damage. Rather, I feel stronger. My endurance on horn is surprising.
So how is playing more than one brass instrument more marketable? Well, for one, if you're good at them, people will hire you for gigs. I've know a quite a number of free-lance musicians who do well for themselves because they play trumpet and horn so well, or trombone and tuba well. Band teachers who play all the brass can be a very effected role model for their students. And in my case, playing all the brass instruments (and knowing a lot about them) as yielded much more work for me as a lesson teacher. I wouldn't be able to make it on Whidbey Island if I had only taught horn...or even horn and trumpet (the majority of my students are trombonists). I also find it nice to be able to recording brass ensemble pieces for my brass choir that I compose or arrange, so my students can listen to a high-quality recording of them. Yes, playing all the brass instruments has made a career for me, in a place where there are little other career options...and for a family man that doesn't have enough time to practice, or the ability to move around a lot or travel to auditions or job interviews.
Just as with those who tell everybody that the horn is such a hard instrument to play (and thus scare kids away from trying it) because they've never really worked at it before, same goes true with those who saying playing more than one brass instrument is bad. They've simply never worked at it and given themselves a chance to get used to it. Now, like I said, if you want a full-time playing job, it is unwise to playing multiple instruments; not because of chops (because again, they get used to it) but because of practice time. It's good for you mentally to focus on one, in that case, too. But for the large majority of other musicians out there, particularly those that are struggling trying to make a living doing just music, and have to supplement with other non-music jobs (I always called them "stupid jobs"), playing more than one brass instrument is a great idea, and can definitely get you more work if you do it well.
Now, my "many hats" doesn't just refer to brass playing. I also conduct two of my own groups I've formed (soon to be three) and I compose & arrange music, as you've seen on the other pages of my website (go to the "Recordings" page to listen to some stuff!). All that stuff has helped me earn a living in music.
So yes, having "many different hats" has really helped me become a successful working musician.
Take care and value music.