Answer: Choose an instrument that hardly anyone else plays. You may just get a seat on the stage at Carnegie Hall. I picked the E-flat alto clarinet in freshman year of high school since the flute wasn’t cutting it after all those years (it was too quiet and there way were too many flute players). I passed auditions for regional band and NJ all-state band. Then I was chosen to play in a special concert with a university band at Carnegie Hall! The thrill for me was the enormity of the hall.
It’s important to have the correct tool to do a job. And the alto clarinet, although a good choice for classical music, didn’t cut it for the high school marching band. Choosing the alto saxophone in sophomore year was the solution. Football games were much more fun. I could make a lot of noise with a saxophone.
Great post !! So true that it comes down to needs, and picking ‘rare’ instrument is the ticket to success….. Keep em coming !
My Daughter figured this out when she decided to go to a private high school in Texas. She told me that she wanted to play the viola. I said “why not violin?”, she said, “because everybody wants to play the violin and if I play viola, then I will be in the orchestra.” Sure enough, only one viola player.
Uh, not a chance that I will ever sing as I can’t carry a tune, even if it were given to me in a bucket! I do have a love for the beauty of sound when it comes from others. My favorite instrument is the piccolo. I just love it’s sound. My second favorite is the alto sax. Can’t play either one and can bearly read music, but I do so love the sounds these which emanate from these two instruments.