doubling on ___

[cheapimitation]

Hi Adam,

I know this question (like most, perhaps) has to be answered ultimately by one's self, but, here goes anyway: lots of teachers and accomplished players stress the value of doubling, usually on upright, but also with piano, and some say we should learn drums, some say every musician needs to sing, or know how to conduct, or seriously study a musical system outside of one's own culture... it goes on and on, yet we sadly have such short lives. And if you want to compose, there's another 8 hours right there! I'm wondering how you approach this what-to-do and what-to-leave-out situation. My own interests lean toward writing and arranging, and so am putting time into the piano and writing, but still work as a bass player. I read that the great composer/arranger/trumpeter Neal Hefti ultimately put down his horn for good in order to free up time for writing, and he was sad about it but felt it had to be done. And he has a legacy that seems to suggest it was a good choice.

So, my post is rambling, but maybe you can comment on whether you struggle at all with wearing different hats, particularly the performance side of music which can take so much time with travel, etc, and extract so much energy (that lovely feeling one gets the next day after a late gig and 4 hours sleep) vs. writing and creating your own music, and whether you feel that sideman work contributes positively to your overall creative life. I do think that some stress is good, and getting out there playing can be a way to experience creative stress, but there is always the downside of time and energy drain.

[waleross]

For the past 2 years, I've been studying drums, guitar and piano as well as playing elec. bass after many years of no music. . . . Its taken me this long to begin to see results but , it is and has been worth the effort. I touch each one with small reachable goals with in my daily practice schedule. I don't "stress" about what I must do , I just get little stuff done and re-inforce my skills while recording when I need to as a record of progress...............Not for everybody but it serves my purposes................

[adamnitti]

hi, cheapimitation-

wow, that's really a thought-provoking post. honestly, i think about all of that stuff on a daily basis without fail. you can talk about the investment in time required to pursue mastery at your craft, which really takes a lifetime in itself; but then there is the topic of balance if you are a musician pursuing diversified musical goals, whether it be multi-instrumentalism, composition, education, etc... add to all of that the need to also be a good businessman or businesswoman if you are bold enough to pursue music as a career and already you can see how overwhelming things can get if you don't maintain a healthy approach to life and likewise incorporate a pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.

i think that there are different focuses and pursuits for different seasons in life. when i was in my mid-teens and early 20's, all of my passion and energy was centered around a desire to become a great musician. those were the years i spent the most time practicing and really trying to develop my craft. going back even further, my earliest experiences with music were with guitar, drums, and piano, starting at age 5. the most serious of those pursuits was classical piano, which i studied from age 8 to 13. i'd have to say that experience certainly helped my progress as a musician during those very impressionable years and would later influence my progress on the bass, as well. now that i'm a little older and way more busy and weighed upon with many more responsibilities, i don't have as much time to practice as i did a couple decades ago... nowadays it's more about doing 'maintenance' with my playing and making sure i'm prepared for whatever musical situation comes my way. i still practice, but my time is more centered around concepts and execution of ideas, in an effort to further define my identity as a player. being self-employed as a musician also has its own challenges, and i have to be responsible as the sole representative of my career, keeping up as best i can with correspondence and new opportunities...

i could talk about (and certainly enjoy rambling about) creative goals, career goals, and musical objectives for pages and pages, but at the end of the day you have to ask yourself what you want to leave behind as a legacy. i don't mean to try and sound unnecessarily heavy or deep here, but if a good part of your life is centered around music you have to figure out a way to balance both fulfillment and contribution; fulfillment meaning how you wish for music to satisfy you, and contribution meaning in what ways you use music to share with or give back to others. when you tie in the aspect of having a musical career, the balance is more challenging, because now you are dependent on music to pay your bills. i have a pretty diversified musical career - partly out of financial necessity and partly because i get bored doing just one thing. i love being involved with different types of performance and recording projects just as much as i love composition, producing, and music education. however, i had to get to a point where i realized that one person can't do everything, and i had to decide more specifically how i wanted to specialize. my career has 3 main facets to it right now: solo artist, freelance bassist (sessions, tours, etc), and educator/clinician. there are other things i do in my career, but most of my income centers around those three things. wearing different hats is certainly challenging, but i really like it. there are other players who are more centered solely around the craft of playing their instrument, and that's awesome. there are others who exclusively pursue sideman work through tours, etc, and that's great, too. ultimately every serious musician (or non-musician, for that matter) needs to ask the confounding question, "who do i really want to be???" and start living their life according to that pursuit. it's all about figuring out your true identity, which isn't always as simple as it seems. don't feel like you have to be everything to everybody and then sacrifice time and effort serving a goal that isn't true to your calling... i've been there and done that, and it doesn't work.

anyhoo, a good bit of rambling, but i hope that helps in some way!