Home Blog Page 39

Warming-up before Farkas: Basic Technical Studies by Harold Meek

John Ericson
-
0

Recently I had a realization that so far as I can tell I don’t recall seeing a warm-up routine described in any horn publication before WWII. You can find random exercises and technical studies of course many places, but nothing actually presented as a warm-up routine using that wording.

It would appear that the first horn warm-up routine that was called a warm-up routine was published in Farkas, The Art of French Horn Playing (1956). But there were at least two, separately published routines for horn that were clearly warm-up routines already in print at that time.

One I have written about before, a 1948 publication, Tonal Flexibility Studies for French Horn by William Mercier. In the preface he dedicates the book “To Louis Dufrasne, whose studies comprise a large part of this book.” Dufrasne was the main teacher of Farkas, which renders this book rather significant. The Mercier book is better known today in the version republished as Dufrasne Routine in an edition by Thomas Bacon (more on both publications at the links).

Meek-Basic-Technical-StudiesThe other earlier publication of this type I have located is Basic Technical Studies for the French Horn by Harold Meek (1914-1998). Perhaps better remembered today as the first editor of The Horn Call, Meek was an Ohio native and had a long performing career in the Boston Symphony (1943-63), following studies with Anton Horner at Curtis and Arcadi Yegudkin at Eastman.

(When I was a student at Eastman many years later Meek was one of the few guests to give a presentation to the horn studios. In cleaning my office just this week I stumbled upon my folder of his handouts. I recall him bringing a natural horn, but the topics on the handouts are unrelated to historic horns or the warm-up.)

Basic Technical Studies was published in 1947 and is clearly intended as a warm-up routine. In the introduction he states

The following technique studies are intended to be practiced in the order in which they are presented. They are progressively arranged so that the lips are exercised and built up with the least possible strain to them. Therefore it is important that the studies be practiced in their chronological order. All the exercises are to be practiced every day, with the exception of the section devoted to intervals….

He goes on to explain that you are to select one example in each key every day, rotating through exercises in this section. He concludes,

The estimated amount of time to be spent “DAILY” on this material before the player goes on to the study of Etudes, orchestra studies and solos is about forty minutes.

The routine itself starts fairly slowly and stays in the lower range longer than most horn routines I have seen. Notes above G at the top of the staff are not approached until page 27, some 30 minutes in (!), and even then have a note cautioning that they only be practiced daily if “the student has a sufficiently developed embouchure.”

It is a very workable routine that addresses long tones, interval studies, arpeggios, slurs, and tonguing. I have enjoyed experimenting with it and would rate it well worth seeking out, especially if you are into the history of warming up on the horn. I suspect it may actually be the first published routine of the type, and it is still in print today!

Going back to the lack of horn warm-up publications before WWII, my initial conclusion is that warming-up as we think of it today was a concept being developed by some of the more progressive brass teachers of the early 20th century. It would seem that the idea originates with brass teaching in the USA, perhaps influenced by athletic training methods of the day.

If you look way back to natural horn methods you can find lots of little, one line exercises. I strongly suspect that players of that time used those short studies much as we would to warm up, but did not do them in fixed routines as we tend to, doing just enough to feel ready to go into playing actual music or to work on specific technical issues. “Warm-up” probably was generally more along the lines of noodling some passages until you felt ready to go into real playing. Which was probably also not a great way to start playing sessions – which some players had undoubtedly also figured out even then, but had not presented in a book.

The benefits of warming-up seem to have become clear to better teachers by the 1930s. Meek seems to have had good instruction on the topic during conservatory studies with Horner and/or Yegudkin, and Farkas is another great example. Farkas was a talented high school age horn player in the early 1930s and he benefited greatly from having a teacher like Louis Dufrasne who taught an organized warm-up routine as a foundation of his teaching. Having benefited from this as a student Farkas went on win his first professional, full time first horn job while still in high school, and passed on his experiences in his famous 1956 publication.

After the Farkas book pretty much every subsequent horn publication has something more to add on the topic. For an overview of the warm-up in horn publications, the series of articles beginning with “Understanding the Hornmasters on the Warm-Up” is a good place to start.

To close, I love warming up. It is my favorite part of the playing day. Over the years my warm-up habits have changed drastically. When I was taking auditions and playing full time in Nashville I had a very fixed routine. That routine became longer and more variable during the early years of teaching full time, but now over time it has become shorter and more open ended. The actual “warm-up” is presently fairly short — then moving to a “menu” of short exercises and routines. With having played horn seriously now for (gulp!) close to 40 years changing things up from time to time has kept things fresher. The point being I still warm up, but as a career goes on there really is no need to be a lifetime slave to any one magic warm-up routine.

On the single F horn, part II: Mouthpieces for the serious player

John Ericson
-
0

Continuing this brief series on the F horn and the 19th century, spending close to two months mostly playing the F horn on period solo literature has been an interesting project and learning experience.

In part I of this series I hint at some thoughts on tonguing, and I would briefly repeat that certainly the F horn requires very careful attention to tonguing in the upper range (the Eli Epstein book, reviewed here, has some of the best advice you will find).

Another part of the puzzle is the mouthpiece. About three years ago I posted a two part article on mouthpieces for horns with a high F side (starts here). In short, a shallower cup is advantageous on a triple or descant.

But when it comes to long horns like a single F horn or a natural horn, a deeper cup is advantageous; it is acoustically more suited to the F horn.

The interesting thing I have found though is that, among those available in my “collection,” the several that have what I would call a double cup work the best.

Double cup mouthpieces are more associated with other brass instruments, especially the trumpet. Basically for a horn mouthpiece the design as you look at the main cup looks the same but then there is a secondary “V” shape (the “double cup”) that leads down to the actual straight bore (the small point) of the mouthpiece. It results in a very deep cup that has a throat that is closer to the small end of the mouthpiece than where it is typically placed.

The three mouthpieces that have the most promise for me right now on the single F are a 1980s vintage Atkinson H-10 (H being for Horner, but this one somewhat modified by me in grad school), a Moosewood Anton Horner 12, and a Moosewood LGC model. All of them have the double cup to varying degrees, which seems to help substantially with the rough attacks in the higher range that I get on any “modern” mouthpiece, and it also helps with slurs. Right now I am leaning toward the Atkinson example, but each has good points to consider.

The big picture point being that if you are playing anything serious on the F horn or on the natural horn your normal, modern horn mouthpiece is likely not the best choice.

Gumbert-model-hornThe other “update” to note as this series progresses is that in part I I was mostly playing on a reproduction period horn made for me by Rick Seraphinoff. At this point now I have however gravitated to another horn I own, one I made with his help but combining new, authentic parts with the body of a modern single F horn. The body is a vintage King horn but it was rebuilt with a crook to match the design of a Gumbert model horn (ca. 1880) that I saw photos of in a book. This photo is of the horn when I was rebuilding it; presently it also has a screw bell. That a Horner cup mouthpiece works well on it makes total sense, too, as Horner was a student of Gumpert (the name is actually spelled with a P, but on all of his publications it is spelled with a B).

Playing mostly this instrument for so long has taken this type of project to a new level for me. This project has given my accuracy a checkup too, in the same way that natural horn playing does. The F horn playing will continue into the summer, be looking for another update in a month or so.

Continue to Part III of series

An inside look at tonguing (and more) on the horn

John Ericson
-
0

One of the big, important topics of horn playing is tonguing. A new video making the rounds this weekend is the newest episode of Sarah´s Music, the classical music program by hornist Sarah Willis from Deutsche Welle TV. The episode of interest is “Music and Science,” and from the episode description,

Sarah and the team go to the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, Germany to meet scientists who are using the latest MRI and Motion Capture methods to find out exactly what goes on inside a musician´s body whilst playing an instrument. Sarah talks to kinesiology professor Peter Iltis, head of the MRI department in Göttingen, Prof. Jens Frahm and motion capture specialist Erwin Schoonderwaldt.

“The good part” starts about 1/2 way through the show and it is well worth watching.

The topic is of huge interest as, so far as I know, no horn teacher out there has X-ray vision! I believe that the Willis episode is part of a larger MRI horn study involving Iltis and others, looking not just at tonguing but also at the use of the tongue and oral cavity in general. I understand from recent posts on the Facebook feed of Eli Epstein Productions that Iltis also did MRI studies at the Max Planck Institute with Epstein and with Richard Seraphinoff, and that Seraphinoff fashioned the horn that was used. (He used a similar horn, plastic tubing connected to a natural horn corpus, for practice when I traveled with him on a road trip years ago. And yes, it is the same Peter Iltis of Dämpfer Mitt fame. A brief review is here).

It is a great topic that only recently could be studied safely. Last year I was able to see my own tonguing via ultrasound when assisting a student of mine, Alex Austin, with his Barrett honors thesis project here at Arizona State. I feel I have a very clear handle on how I tongue but, at the same time, I feel sure that certainly I have taught people who used rather different tonguing motions and that the descriptions of tonguing in some well known, older horn books can’t possibly be physiologically accurate. I have tried to address that issue various places in my Horn Matters writings, and for an overview with a connection to this article check my review of the recent publication by Eli Epstein, Horn Playing from the Inside Out (begins here).

Modern MRI studies have opened up this study further in a new, safer way, and I certainly look forward to seeing more of the findings from these MRI studies. [UPDATE: There is another MRI horn video online here. Video quality not as high as you might wish, but includes a close look at Beethoven 3 (starting about half way into the video) with a focus on the larynx and vocal chords.]

Until then, there is an older and not nearly so safe study you can check out on YouTube. I wrote about it in a bit more depth in an article back in 2011 (here) and also in 2010 (here, with a focus on jaw position), but in short it is actual X-ray video of horn playing, filmed as a part of Joseph A. Meidt’s 1967 dissertation, “A Cinefluorographic Investigation of Oral Adjustments for Various Aspects of Brass Instrument Performance.” The video (direct link here) is actually quite similar to what you see in the new Sarah Willis episode, with her MRI video being clearer and offering more detail about the interaction of the back of the tongue and the throat. The big technical difference is this one is performed on a valved horn and allows performance of scale passages into the low range. It is still a little spooky to watch as it is X-ray video, but worth checking out as you can clearly see the tongue motion and jaw position changes by range.

And to close, to those that say looking at videos like these encourages paralysis by analysis, I understand your point but still would say you are better off approaching things from a physiologically accurate direction, and these resources can help in understanding that physiology.

Review and First Impressions: Paxman Academy and Series 4 Horns

John Ericson
-
0

One exciting development in the horn world is that Paxman has not only expanded their product line but also has expanded their dealer network. In particular, a store local to me in Arizona, Milano’s Music, just received their first shipment of horns from Paxman, including Paxman Academy and Paxman Series 4 double horns.

Many people have said that it was only a matter of time until the Chinese brass instrument makers figured out how to produce very good French horns, and that time is clearly now. Paxman has been working for a number of years now with Chinese maker Briz, who only produces French horns (website here, in Chinese). While Briz is a new manufacturer (founded in June of 2000), Paxman itself has been producing horns since 1945 and needs no introduction as a leading maker of high quality horns. Clearly Paxman and Briz have in this partnership developed a very fine line of horns that it is time to be highly aware of.

In recent years I have had two brief encounters with the Chinese Paxman horns, both mentioned previously in Horn Matters. I was “particularly interested” at the Australia IHS symposium in the single Bb Paxman Academy horn, and at the UNT IHS symposium I was “very impressed” by the Paxman Academy double horn. [UPDATE: The articles where I’m quoting myself are no longer online, but the quotes are my reactions at those times.]

And that brings me to my brief trials this week here in Arizona. My overall first reaction is this: these are very solid horns.

Paxman-Series-4I will start with the Paxman Series 4. This model was, according to their website, introduced in 2008. It is priced somewhat below that of the very comparable Yamaha 667 and Hoyer G-10 models, and first impressions make clear that the Series 4 horn is a contender!

The very first impression of any horn is how it feels in your hands. At this point a brief aside is appropriate. About 15-20 years ago I tried my first Chinese double horn at a show. It was terrible in basically every way. It was very heavily constructed (a tank!), the mouthpiece did not even fit in the receiver correctly (!), valves felt bad, harsh sounding, etc. It simply screamed out that it was a cheap, poor quality instrument. In contrast, the Paxman Series 4 horn gives every first impression of being an excellent horn. The instrument looks to be well designed and constructed, and I immediately liked the feel of the quiet, string action valves very much and the weight and balance.

At Milano’s I was able to test it comparing it with a Hoyer and a Yamaha side by side. The Paxman feels more like the Yamaha in terms of “feel” in the hands — the ergonomics of the left hand are very good, and the overall weight is similar — and the sound is also generally similar. That said, and maybe I have been conditioned a bit as an owner of three Paxman horns, but it really has the look and feel of being a Paxman, with no feeling of it being “cheap” in any way.

The wrap is what is sometimes called a “modified Geyer” wrap. I think the only real plus the Yamaha and Hoyer have compared to the Series 4 horn is I suspect that they will prove easier to remove water from, as this type of Geyer wrap has the extra “knot” (loop) of tubing on the F side rather than the more open F side of the traditional Geyer/Knopf design. High and low the horn plays well, with a very solid high Bb. This would make an excellent instrument for a strong intermediate player or a serious amateur. I have had a number of people come audition for me at ASU — potential performance majors! — who were playing horns that were clearly not nearly as good that cost more. In total this is a horn that really cannot be ignored at the price point.

Paxman-Series-3The other horn I tried is the Paxman Academy double, also known as Paxman Series 3. The horn is generally similar to the Series 4 horn already described, but has a slightly different wrap (look at the the F horn tube coming out of the first valve slide on both horns) and it sells for just over half as much as the Series 4. It also looks to have also been built very well. The sound is not quite as good as that of the Series 4 but still compares favorably to instruments sold for twice the price — it does not have the shrill, harsh edge I associate with a very cheap horn.

On the example I tried the high range was quite free with a fine high Bb but the low range was somewhat unresponsive (while the Series 4 horn was very good high and low). A possible factor on this is the slightly simplified wrap that eliminates that more rounded bend on the F horn. But being aimed at younger students I am sure that was probably the right business decision from the makers, to set the horn up to favor the high range and save a bit on construction costs.

As with the Series 4 the ergonomics of the left hand are excellent with the same, quiet string action valves. This horn is definitely one to consider for school program purchases, as if played back to back against traditional USA brands this horn will certainly not disappoint. The only “negative” I could see is that it is not as heavily made as some other horns intended for a school market. In terms of playing qualities this is a plus, but I suppose it might dent more easily? But a horn built like a tank is no fun to play and sounds like a tank, I think Briz/Paxman made the right decision in not using overly heavy/thick materials on this instrument.

Series 5 is the top level instrument in the line of Paxman/Briz horns and is their newest model, described here in the Paxman website. I have not had the opportunity yet but I very much want to try one of these. It has what I have been told is a “more complex tone,” of the type we associate with a fine custom horn. The Series 5 horn hits a little higher price point and is built on a more open pattern very similar to the venerable Paxman 20. From what I am hearing this model is one that a professional really would consider playing, it is that good. I look forward to the opportunity to try one!

To repeat one point, both of these horns appeared to me to be very well made, and both models have been in production now for a while. If Briz maintains this level of quality, these horns and their related horn production will certainly be seen more and more worldwide.

One other final note on the horns and my testing. For my trials I had a Laskey G cup mouthpiece and a similar Moosewood BA mouthpiece with a European shank available to me. These horns work well with a standard shank mouthpiece, no European shank is necessary, the horns playing better with the standard shank. Yet another good decision on the part of the maker in relation to our market in the USA.

There are now several dealers of Paxman Academy horns in the USA and it is to be hoped that there might be even more by the time new horn sales pick up for dealers in the fall. It is also worth noting that other Briz branded horns are sold directly in the USA through at least one dealer (Google it, they produce a Kruspe wrap model as well), and then there is also the Pope-Balu Briz Alliance horn that was recently introduced that I would very much like to try too, a Knopf wrap horn. Based on my brief observations with the Paxman-Briz horns this maker is positioned to sell in the coming years a large quantity of horns in the USA. I feel there is certainly a market for these horns — if the number of locations where you can try one in person expands — and at the price points they hit the days of the traditional USA band instrument makers may be numbered. The fit and finish and the playing qualities combine to make these horns an excellent value.

Photos from Milano’s Music website, with permission

On the single F horn, part I: 19th century low horn playing (and solos)

John Ericson
-
0

A major long term interest of mine is the valved horn in the 19th century. It was a time frame dominated by single horns built to take crooks — instruments that are very different than those generally used today.

Richard Strauss noted in 1905 (in his annotations to Berlioz’s Instrumentationslehre) that “horn players now use almost exclusively the horns in E, F, high A and high B-flat…,” continuing that

Generally, the players of the first and third horns use the horn in high B-flat for almost all pieces in flat keys and the horn in high A for all pieces in sharp keys. The players of the second and fourth horns use horns in E and F.

The central point to grasp is, in the era before the double horn (invented in 1897!), many high horn players by the late 19th century had adopted the single Bb horn and low horn players were still using the single F. In some places it clearly became basic to the division between high and low horn playing, as they played different types of horns.

In the USA today reality is the division between professional high and professional low horn players is minimal, especially in terms of players preparing for auditions. The general expectation is that any really good horn player can play anything. Every professional needs to be a master of every part of the range.

That clearly was not the case in the 19th century. An interesting passage in Fergus McWilliam, Blow Your Own Horn!, 2nd edition, sheds light on the situation back then (and today, still, in some places).

There is a long tradition, most notably but not exclusively in Germany, of teachers classifying their students as either high or low hornists and streaming them accordingly….

This writer has even heard it argued that low hornists should “know their place” and not aspire to things beyond their reach. I knew one section leader who quite openly forbade the low hornists from warming up above g2, claiming that such ambition would not only endanger their low range capabilities but also upset the hierarchy of the section….

Particularly in Germany, too many young players seem to accept their classification quite willingly and are required to abide by it for the rest of their professional lives.

Which brings us back to Strauss and the two types of horns at that time. One of my goals over many years has been to make a recording on a 19th century style horn. I had one made for me by Richard Seraphinoff way back in 1997 (more on that horn here), and periodically return to it and think about rep and finally making that solo CD.

It is a challenging instrument to play. In short the low range is great but the upper range is kind of like playing natural horn but worse! The articulations are by a degree even harder to control, especially toward the top of the staff. It takes great attention to detail to produce good tonguing in that range – tonguing is much easier in the upper range of the Bb horn. Careful mouthpiece choice is also part of the puzzle of higher range F horn articulations.

Recently I saw a link to a source of PDF music from the Eastman Sibley Library. If you follow the link (here), they really have some interesting music and I noted in particular a group of solos by Müller (or Mueller, better known today for his horn etudes), and also a (low horn) sonata by Fritz Spindler. [These are also on IMSLP.]

The bottom line is these pieces work very well on my instrument in F and provide some musical evidence of the high/low horn split in that time frame. I think we generally tend to look at solos of this type (if we look at them at all) as solos for “younger” players with weak high ranges, at least from our USA perspective, as again we think a good player can play anything. But actually these works are quite idiomatic for a low horn player on a single F horn, as they hardly go to the top of the staff and tend also to not have a lot of articulations right at the top of the staff. Plus, when they do have articulations in that range they tend to be lighter, thus less likely to be obvious double/split sounding articulations of the type the instrument is prone to produce. It is a very different writing style when compared to some of the better known works of the period (like Strauss 1), which are much more idiomatic for a high horn player on a single Bb.

I am enjoying getting even better in touch with the “vibe” of the 19th century valved horn in F and the “low horn” solos of that time frame that suit the instrument. Be watching for updates: this may be the year I finally make that period instrument CD.

Continue to Part II

Knopf or Geyer?

John Ericson
-
0

One of the perennial favorite articles in Horn Matters is on the topic of Kruspe or Geyer. Both terms reference the names of classic horn makers (Kruspe still being in business [UPDATE: see the comments]), but both terms in a sense have also become generic terms. How makers work out their individual horn designs will vary a bit, there is no one successful Kruspe or Geyer design but rather many subtle variations on themes.

Which brings us to the topic of Knopf or Geyer. Conventional wisdom is they are similar horns, and many use the terms interchangeably. The essential visual difference is the Knopf has the tube come out of the first valve at an angle and the Geyer has this tube straight across the instrument.

A good place to see a lot of horns is the ever-useful Horn-U-Copia website, the source of these photos. First up is this image of a Knopf horn, and about the maker I would note right away they are still in business (website here). Which is probably why makers don’t often refer to their instruments as being Knopf-style instruments, as Knopf still sells them! Horn-U-Copia dates this instrument to around 1960, but the Knopf family goes way back as a maker of horns of this type to the early 20th century and has been making brass instruments in Markneukirchen, Germany since 1852. Presently this type of instrument is their Model 16.

Then we get to Geyer. According to his bio in the IHS website, German native Carl Geyer (1880-1973) “became an apprentice instrument maker at age 15 in Markneukirchen” and

While working in a music store in 1903, he saw an advertisement in a Leipzig newspaper that Richard Wunderlich was seeking a horn maker because musicians in Chicago were forced to send their instruments to Germany for repairs. Geyer immigrated to the US and arrived in Chicago in 1904. He worked for Wunderlich until Wunderlich retired during World War I.

In 1920 Geyer opened his own workshop to help meet the great demand for American-made horns. His Chicago shop was widely known for both his distinctive horns and his repair service. In 1955, at age 75, he sold the business but continued working for the new owner until he was 90.

The horns he was famous for were ones of this design, again seen in this image from the Horn-U-Copia site. Visually you can see a few dimensions are a bit different. The Knopf pattern opens up the space where the valve mechanism is a bit more so it can potentially be a bit better for valve action. There are also a lot of other dimensions subtly different, the most visible being the leadpipe length and the overall wrap. Where you would notice the latter is fitting the horn in a case; often Geyer-style horns need a little larger case than a horn inspired by the Knopf version of this wrap.

With those two classic makers described, it is worth noting also that their products varied a bit over the years of production. Which brings us to the topic of “almost” Geyer or Knopf horns, there are many ways to vary the basic wrap and still be visually similar, especially at a distance. Every maker has their own take on how to best address specifics of design toward getting the best result.

If I had to pick one I would tend to pick Knopf if only for the elegant look of the bend going into the first valve. This does not get at the topic of which is better though, as honestly both types can be great. Try them both! In the end it is all about the build and the way the maker has worked out the various small dimensional differences toward making a product that meets their expectations.

And for another article getting at the above topic that is one of the most frequently read in Horn Matters see Thoughts on ‘Quality’ and an Overview of Trusted Brands in French Horns.

PDF: 11 Gallay Etudes, edited by Josef Schantl

John Ericson
-
0

Jacques-François Gallay (1795-1864) wrote many great horn etudes that are certainly worthy of use by modern horn players. Standard, published versions are available, but alternate editions can shed new light on how to use them practically today.

A great example of an alternate edition is to be found in the public domain PDF featured today, Gallay etudes extracted from Volume IV the Große theortisch-praktische Horn-Schule of Josef Schantl (1842-1902). Originally published in 1903, the best known portion today is Volume III, which was reprinted in 1941 in abridged form as Preparatory Melodies to Solo Work, edited by Max P. Pottag. The primary focus of Volume IV is transposition, and included for purposes of that study is a rather heavily edited edition of 51 of the Op. 6 etudes and 13 of the Op. 5 etudes of Kopprasch.

With them are found these 11 etudes by Gallay, which are also rather heavily edited but perhaps better suited to the needs of valved horn players than are the original versions, especially with the suggestions for transpositions and many alterations of dynamic and nuance.

Gallay-Schantl-snipIn this PDF edition I have rearranged the order slightly to fit the page layout but otherwise they are unmodified. The numbers are those given by Schantl. Also there are a few blank areas due to the layout and focusing only on the Gallay etudes from the Horn-Schule.

The PDF of this public domain music may be accessed from our PDF download library or from the link below:

Josef Schantl is not that well known today, but was a major teacher and player of the late nineteenth century. He was a Principal Horn of the Imperial and Royal Court Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, and has been credited with founding the Vienna Waldhornverein. Among many significant performances he performed on the premieres of Brahms second and third Symphonies and also the third and eighth Symphonies of Anton Bruckner.

To close, I have enjoyed putting together the recent series of Gallay PDF publications. I find Gallay had a melodic gift and really was aspiring in these to reach a higher level as a composer than most of his contemporaries who composed etudes. If you have never explored Gallay, this packet is a great place to start.

From the Mailbag: Right Brain, Left Brain, and Connecting with Students

John Ericson
-
0

Several years ago a question came in. It was one that I found interesting to ponder at the time and still find interesting to ponder.

The left side of the brain is the seat of language and the right side is related to creativity. Of course it is just pop psychology (and a myth), but the general idea is that a person who is more logical would be “left brained” and more creative would be “right brained.”

scumbag-brainAnalyzeSome teaching styles won’t connect with certain students, and one way to explain the situation would be that your “brain” style is the opposite of the student. Paraphrasing, the question that came in had to do with teaching and connecting with students who were different than you were. The person with the question felt they were naturally left brained but that a number of their younger students were more right brained in their approach.

Turning this to an application in horn teaching, it would seem to me that one of the extremes of horn teachers are the “song and wind” types, inspirational perhaps but focusing on visualizing what you want to play [right brained]. The opposite extreme of teaching would focus on logically breaking down, analyzing, and solving problems to work toward the goals of the student [left brained].

Either style actually can work great with the right student. If you are considering colleges for study in particular, be aware that teachers have different styles and some won’t be a good fit for you.

A good teacher will however be able to flexibly hit some of the middle ground between the two approaches, depending on what is heard in the actual lesson and what seems like the most effective way to get toward solutions with an individual student. Understanding the learning style of a student is part of good horn teaching.

For those teachers that have a style more toward analysis, the one caution I would offer is that for sure teachers have total power to give people complexes instead of helping solve problems. “Paralysis by analysis” can tie some students up in knots; students do at times need to simply imitate good models and aim for a good sound.

For those teachers with a style more toward song and wind, the caution would be to realize that for some of your students the magic won’t happen — visualizing right notes can help, to a point, but you can visualize all day and still not have a low range. There is a point where you will have to analyze and address directly the technical issues behind the problems.

This is the sort of topic that it would be interesting to see expanded out into a real study and is part of what makes teaching the horn such an interesting field.

Image credit: Bruce Hembd

Session: Building Great French Horn Sections

John Ericson
-
0

This week I will be presenting a session at the Arizona Music Educators Association annual conference on the topic of “Building Great French Horn Sections.”

There are a few articles in Horn Matters related to this general topic. From Bruce Hembd I would note:

And from myself I would note:

UPDATE: Also check the dedicated page on this site For New Hornists for much more.

I will touch on these topics and more in my session. I have designed the presentation so that I can go several directions depending on the size/interests of the audience and will be flexible with the exact content. But I plan to start with several specific issues related to hand position, fingerings, and instrument choices, and from there head toward the topics of switching people to the horn (about 50% of the horn students I have taught at the college level started on another instrument) and the range of common problems (“horn mysteries”) seen at the high school level. My book Introducing the Horn is a related resource I also plan to give all those in attendance at the AMEA session.

The big picture is that that not enough players start on or switch to the horn. Which is the challenge I would put out to Horn Matters readers – be doing your part to build up and support the numbers of good horn players, especially at the high school level. Support their directors! And to those teachers that are, thank you for your hard work.

On Dealing with New Compositions with Bad Horn Writing

Bruce Hembd
-
0

grumpy-cat-modern-horn-muiskA recent discussion on the Facebook Horn People discussion group brings up the topic of living composers and how they write for the French horn.

This has been a topic here at Horn Matters, one that both John and I have explored. In “Composers who Can’t Write for the Horn,” John Ericson suggests that composers should talk to horn players in order to answers questions and concerns with writing for the horn.

As horn players we see a lot of horn parts written by composers who don’t really know how to write for the horn. First, the point of this post: if you are a composer and you are not sure about your horn writing, talk to a horn player.

In “4 Tips on Orchestration and Horns,” I echo John’s sentiments with a few suggestions of my own. This being said, what does a horn player do when confronted with a new composition that presents insurmountable challenges? Here are a few tips:

  1. Give it the “old college try.”
    In other words, try your best in earnest to play what is written on the page. If the end result is less-than-good and ends up sounding like a mess, swallow your pride and let it stand. If the composer wishes to have a more literal translation of their musical idea, they should step up and ask you about it. A smart composer will re-negotiate the work in order to accommodate.
  2. Abbreviate questionable passages.
    If a particular passage seems impossible to play, try abbreviating it in some way. If a certain passage is too high, for example, play it down an octave. If it is technically out-of-reach, try leaving out a few notes.
  3. Talk to the composer.
    If the composer is available, have a talk with them. The preference would be to do this as an aside, and not during a rehearsal where conflict could arise.
  4. If there is a conductor, talk to the Maestro.
    If the new piece you are playing involves a conductor (who is not the composer), that person may be able to mediate or negotiate on your behalf.

This being said, if the composer is committed to their artistic idea and you have no choice in the matter. the best that can be expected is option #1. Perhaps a future generation of horn players will be more capable of rendering what the composer wishes.

On Tchiakovsky and the Horn

scumbag-tchiak2Along these lines, I must confess to a personal bias with the orchestration techniques of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  While I enjoy listening to most of his works, I am not a fan of how he writes and orchestrates for the French horn.

His Fifth Symphony, for example, contains one of the most well-known horn solos in the symphonic realm. Without a doubt, this solo is one of our treasured moments as horn players. But, the remainder of the symphony presents some difficult challenges with loud dynamics, isolated and exposed passages with the woodwinds, and long, technical passages of non-stop playing.

If an assistant is available, the principal horn can rely on that person for help and relief. If an assistant is not available, compromises may need to made in order to make it to the end in one piece.

1...383940...156Page 39 of 156
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv