Personalities of musicians

Apr 21 07:38 UTC 2002

For those of you who have been in musical ensembles, either 
instrumental or vocal, for a long time, have you not recognized that a 
performer's personality seems to be connected to the instrument or 
voice part?

In general, choral groups are much more outgoing and the individuals 
each have a smaller personal body space, i.e. they tend to be 
comfortable with closer physical proximity than instrumentalists, who 
are more introverted and have larger personal spaces, even more so 
when the instrument needs room to be performed.

I have been in instrumental and choral groups for several years, and I 
have made some observations and have discussed them with a few of the 
types in question.

With instrumentalists, the personalities seem to sort out like this, 
as follows:

The flutists tend to be women, and girlie-girl ingenues at that.  Some 
may characterize them as bimboish and air-headed as as result.  I am 
not sure about men flutists-- although the few I've met are usually 
graceful and somewhat feminine (although *not* necessarily 
effeminiate).

Clarinetists are often women, too, and are gamins to the ingenue 
flutists.  They are much more quiet.  The leading chairs may be 
outgoing enough, but many are very mousy.  As with many lower (alto, 
bass, contrabass) versions of instruments, bass and contrabass 
clarinets are more outwardly thoughtful.  They seem to be men more 
often, too.

Saxophone players are brash, although it is mostly true of alto 
saxophonists.  Same rules concerning lower versions (baritone sax, 
bass sax, etc.) seem to apply.

The brass always carry themselves with a measure of dignity.. or ego.

Trumpet players are often ego-inflated and brash, but no cheekiness 
exceeds that of French horn players.  It's a running joke that trumpet 
players think they are God, while horn players know they are God.  
Besides ego, french horn players seem to have a lack of patience.  I 
had three directors that were horn players, and they all were rather 
neurotic.

Trombonists are clowns.. I guarantee.  It must be the slide.  Even if 
a trombonist isn't clowny alone, put the trombonist back in to his/her 
section, and (s)he will be.

Baritone horn and euphonium players.. may be clowny as trombonists or 
like unto the tuba players, which generally mean they drink like fish.

Tuba players.. carry weight in many a sense.  Big bodies, big 
presence.  As I said, many drink like fishes.

Percussionists are of a few stripes.  Many are competitive, especially 
those of drum and bugle corps training.  They may be very quirky or 
very brooding and moody.  The quirkiness seems to come more with those 
who are genuine percussionists.. rock n roll drummers often don't fit 
the bill.  You've got to be able to play it all.. especially 'the 
goodies.'

Bassoonists are intelligent and often great conversationalists to me, 
too.  They are down-to-earth and generally pretty straightforward and 
honest.

Oboe players have a nut loose somewhere.  Most all of them, save a few 
I have met, have a bona fide oddity about them.  It must be in that 
the instrument has the greatest intonation problems of any, and the 
players have to make all their own reeds.  They cannot 'lip up' like 
bassoonists can.

String players:

Violin-- still difficult to tell.  Quiet, but may hide an interesting 
personality.  Sometimes appear to be a little snooty.

Viola-- never met a violist I didn't find interesting.  Never boring.  
Must be all those insipidly boring lines they have to put up with.

Cellists are deep.  They may hide some ego, but many seem to be 
capable of dealing with suffering.  I have met at least one who 
crosstrained in classical guitar studies.

Bass violinists are great conversationalists.  Some are exceedingly 
quiet.  Mellow at any rate.  They have odd and quirky senses of humor 
when electrified (i.e., bass guitarists).

Guitarists are laid back.. way back.  Few are purely classically 
trained, and many do not know how to read standard notation at first.  
Quite a few learn by ear, by experimentation, by chord shapes, and by 
tablature (which was created for the lute).  As I said, bass 
guitarists (which usually means electric-- not many play guitarrons) 
often have unusual senses of humor.  Lead electric guitarists (for 
rock and jazz ensembles) generally have the egos if any do.

Any major instruments I've forgotten? 

response 2 of 17:

Apr 21 14:24 UTC 2002

I have noticed that string quartets and quintets always seem to 
appreciate jokes of which the violist is the butt.

I saw a string quintet walking into a restaurant in Greektown on Easter 
Sunday and I said to them, "What I want to know is, just exactly who was 
it that thought adding another viola would be an improvement?"