John Ericson

How do you Clean the Leadpipe if there is a Valve in the Middle...

This question was posed to me today and I realized there is nothing in my writings that address this question, one that does come...

Developing a Summer Excerpt Project

A recent E-mail from David Wakefield reminded me a summer where I had a “special project,” an excerpt project, a great project for any...

F or Bb — What Horn Best Suits Beginners?

The standard line for many teachers is single F horn is the best for beginners, traditional tone, etc. Is this pedagogical approach stuck in...

Mailbag: Is a Heavy Mouthpiece Better?

A blog reader, a high school student, wrote in after reading the recent mellophone mouthpiece series asking about heavy mouthpieces. Are they better? The...

Horn study impressions after a visit to Shanghai

As I write I am back in Taiwan after a week in Shanghai. A most interesting week, which we started arranging late last summer...

Summer is Heating up and the Mellophones are Coming Out

This was the first post (2007) in what became a mellophone series of articles, which led me toward writing A Mello Catechism. Check out...

The Black Art of Mouthpiece Making

I am now the proud owner of three Laskey 80G mouthpieces. I am very impressed with the quality control exhibited by Laskey in their...

A Performance of the Brahms German Requiem on Natural Horn

Today I received a most interesting note from Herb Winslow, associate principal horn, the Minnesota Orchestra, which he has granted me permission to quote....

New Information on Maxime-Alphonse

Last night I had a very pleasant surprise in my inbox. Blog reader Jay Anderson had seen my previous post on Maxime-Alphonse and got...

Maxime Alphonse, International Man of Mystery

Probably every month during the school year I receive notes from horn students trying to research horn players of the past who are trying...