Multi Instrumentalist Practice?

[Salvador Dali Lama]

So those of you who are multi-instrumentalists, how do you juggle your practice time? do you set aside an hour for x instrument, y instrument and then z instrument?

Right now I just play drums and piano, but I'm hoping to add sax to my arsenal this summer. But I'm not altogether sure what will be the most efficient way to go about practicing. I regularly get too into what I'm going on one instrument and neglect the other for a while. I really dont want that to happen.

besides buckling down and exersizing (gasp) discipline, what do you suggest?

[Geoff Pfeifer]

Pretty much the x, y, and z method. There's no easy way around it. I've known guys who play saxophone, and studied flute and clarinet at some point in their life. Flute and clarinet get neglected for a while. Then comes a call for a gig on flute. Next thing they're doing is shedding flute again for 3 hours a day till the gig.
So, this situation depends on what you want out of it obviously(re: how to divide practice time on 3 instruments plus living your life!)
Small consolation though: fingerings between saxophone, clarinet and flute are very similar (well, flute for the first two octaves of the instrument. Then all hell breaks loose). So if you learn the saxophone fingerings, clarinet is not all that hard to pick up. Flute though....embouchure can be a bitch.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

I played 49 instruments on my first recording, mostly because the year I moved to Dallas, all I knew were straight-ahead players, and they wanted nothing to do with New Jazz/Avant ("The Music" as Braxton used to call it). From percussion to woodwinds to brass to strings to mallets, I had to keep all the instruments "loose", so I would pick up 5 or 6 a day (or more depending on the time I had available) and run through some scales or etudes. When I finally met other players who understood the concepts of Free Jazz, and who would work with me on my music, I narrowed my arsenal to trumpet, alto sax, bass clarinet, acoustic bass, and piano (mostly for composition).

When I had the time I would put on a record and try to play along with the soloists, in order to become familiar with the different aspects of each instrument, and each instrument would speak to me in a certain way and was used differently than any other instrument. That's when I figured out why, for example, saxophonists play differently than trumpeters. It was my study of another multi-instrumentalist's techniques, in fact, that taught me to solo on my main instrument, trumpet. I had no idea how my horn fit into new music until I heard Roscoe Mitchell. His logic and repetitive lines gave me a way to work on finding my horn's "voice".

It would do you a lot of good as a multi-instrumentalist, to study the way sounds are produced on other instruments, and the colors and timbres available, so that you wouldn't have to make such a drastic jump from say, drums to piano. In other words, study and learn how to play the piano percussively, and learn to play the drum kit in a pianistic, melodic way, that way, when you move from one to the other, the transition feels smoother, and it doesn't feel foreign.

[Sergio Zamora]

Why don't you just put them all together in one of those one-man-band contraptions? You can even add a kazoo!

Originally posted by Dennis Gonzalez
......It would do you a lot of good as a multi-instrumentalist, to study the way sounds are produced on other instruments, and the colors and timbres available, so that you wouldn't have to make such a drastic jump from say, drums to piano. In other words, study and learn how to play the piano percussively, and learn to play the drum kit in a pianistic, melodic way, that way, when you move from one to the other, the transition feels smoother, and it doesn't feel foreign.

I hear you; in my own little, narrow way I think that I might be at the beginning/start of your thought. On tenor, I consciously often think rhythmic, per se, to get the phrase/language appropriately. I mean, I draw from internalized stuff, but execute in a rhythmic fashion; I don't mean slap the keys and be silly, but use a rhythmic concept. Working Jobim's "No More Blues" got me into this perspective.
I haven't thought of it in a multi-instruments perspective; but, I'll definitely keep it in mind; sounds very feasible.

[jessicajones]

I'm about two weeks late to this party, but I do play saxophone and piano, and a little flute and a teensy clarinet. (you should see it!) One really forgiving way to look at it, which falls in the no-discipline-necessary category, is to realize that we constantly think of a day as the time division in which we have to balance everything. Your original post said you get way into an instrument and neglect the others. But if you figure you will live 80 years, then two weeks on one instrument and then a month on another etc feels like a sensible balance. So if you think more macro, then going with your inspiration may turn out to be the most logical thing, even if you dont understand it. Being nice to yourself and respecting your instincts tends to be a direction I gravitate towards, it feels healthy, and I think it leads you to interesting zones you couldnt have come up with yourself.
This is all, of course, assuming you dont get called for gigs on the instruments not currently in the cycle...

[cbjazz]

I have found a practice schedule matrix pretty effective personally...

By mapping out a basic calendar for practice, like I would do toward scheduling any other activities, I also thereby include time for study and growth.

It seems to help keep me focused toward further development, as well as, maintenace on saxophone, clarinet and flute respectively.

Peace, Cb