- If you liked this article, you might also like “Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Horn-Geek.”
Humor: The Mind of the Horn Player
About those “Tutti” parts in some Mozart Horn Concerto editions
A question that comes up quite often is that of the “tutti” parts in some editions of Mozart horn concertos. As in, what is up with that marking? Do I need to play those parts?
Like it or not a lot of players are turning to the IMSLP project for music, as noted in another recent article. The public domain version of Mozart 4 there is the old Kling edition of Mozart 4. In it the very opening is marked “tutti” and later, after letter B, we finally get to a passage marked “solo.”
It is something you should be able to figure out just from listening to a recording (!) but to make it formal, the tutti parts in this edition are really just cues of the first horn part in the orchestra, but printed full size (we are used to seeing cues in smaller print). As soloist playing from the solo part you only play the solo parts such as after B and at C in the example here.
If you are playing in orchestra however and you see the marking tutti that is an indication of you should be playing and also with a bunch of other people! It is in that situation an indication of when the soloist is playing and when they are not.
In one very random, final aside, I once played under a conductor that was trying to be funny and used the term “Tutti-Frutti” whenever he should have said tutti. Never got much more than a groan from me on that.
Jazz Horn Legends
Watkins and Ruff
In a television program from 1959 featuring the Miles Davis Quintet and the Gil Evans Orchestra, we get to see Julius Watkins in action.
Unfortunately the camera does not focus much on the French horns, but we get to hear some legendary players all in one session.
* * *
Here is Willie Ruff Stomping at the Savoy.
[Updated from a “Random Monday” article, 2021, JE]
Anatomy of a Music Stand
In the same vein as previous articles where I posted pictures of my workstation and mouthpiece pouch contents, today’s article highlights some of the music that I am currently working on – for both fun and profit.
I manage to get in 2-3 hours of practice each day and I do it mainly for personal pride and enjoyment. I strive to maintain a high professional standard for the two main groups I regularly perform with: Arizona Opera, and the West Valley Symphony.
I am not the busy performer that I once was and in combination with my current day job as a web developer, this collection is plenty to keep me on my toes. Fortunately my wife is very supportive and understanding of my sometimes very noisy and repetitive practice habits.
Gallay 12 Studies, Opus 57
Springtime is a busy time for opera, symphony and chamber music concerts and I have my hands full with lots of repertoire to learn. That being said I do like to work on etudes and other projects to stay sharp and keep thinking creatively.
I am currently working on #8 in various transpositions and octave ranges. Musically, I want to make the opening as free, happy and easy-sounding as possible. For myself, this involves bending the time a little or stretching a note here and there.
Ward Fearn: Exercises for Flexible Horn Playing
The first exercise in this book is something that I play several times a week. Transposing it in different keys helps to keeps things interesting.
It starts with a relatively small range and gradually, it expands in range and dynamics. This exercise in its entirety is two pages and the sample below is only an excerpt.
This excerpt from Exercise #4 is another good example of the quirky melodic style.
Verdi: Otello (Horn III)
Verdi’s music is not subtle, and for those that prefer more cerebral German opera, the heart-on-your-sleeve nature of Verdi can seem a tad overwrought.
Verdi’s Otello is currently on my practice stand for an upcoming Arizona Opera production opening this weekend in Tucson. This is my 15th year with the Arizona Opera and the rehearsals so far indicate that this production will be a great one. Principal horn Peter Erb is doing a solid job, and he is also a good guy to work with.
The horn writing in Otello is technically much more advanced than in Verdi’s early operas. Gone is the oompah-pah writing of Rigoletto; we now get tricky chromatic passages and long, vocal melodies.
This second example is exclusive to Horns III and IV. It is a long, exposed melody in unison with the bassoons.
Each phrase ends with a unique chromatic twist and this is something I listen and watch for.
Rochut: Melodious Etudes for Trombone, Book One
This particular volume is a touchstone that I regularly revert to. The vocal style goes hand-in-hand with Verdi.
Beethoven: 2nd Symphony (Horn I)
In a few weeks, rehearsals will start up again for me as principal horn in the West Valley Symphony. On the plate (among other things) is Beethoven’s 2nd symphony.
This will be the first time that I have played principal on this piece. I am looking forward to the challenge.
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
On the practice stand too – hidden in back – is the first horn book to Wagner’s opera, Götterdämmerung. I am reviewing this for a future article on the Short Call.
Related to this research, I have recently organized all past Horn Matters articles on Siegfried into a new sub-category.
As it currently stands, most of the articles pertain to the Long Call from Siegfried and the topic is well-covered.
- Siegfried
In the final chapter of the Ring cycle however the Call appears yet again – and in a completely different context. This story is something that will be addressed in a future article, but in the meantime …
I need to go practice!
Educational disconnect
Discontent and disconnect
From the president of the New England Conservatory comes a very interesting article that starts in Detroit and ends in the conservatory classroom. It includes a pointed statement that I very much agree with:
…it is surpassingly strange that there is no connection between the conservatory programs, the trainers, and the orchestras that will employ conservatory-trained musicians. There is no dialogue about what type of musicians music schools are preparing, how the paradigm needs to shift, and what new skills orchestras should be considering for the future. I cannot think of another industry where there is no relationship between the employers and the trainers. For the future, this really needs to change and I believe the key words are “partnerships” and “collaborations”—orchestral partnerships with music schools, and orchestral collaborations within the community.
Incidentally, this is something very similar to what I wrote about a few years ago in “A Systems View of Music Performance.”
At some American music schools, it is the music theory departments that dictate standards for performance majors. It is here where I would cite a root cause of academic disconnect in a performing musician’s overall career track.
[This is a portion of a Random Monday post, extracted 2021 by JE]
The Art of Mellophone Playing + The Mello Zone FAQ
Of all the topics out there related to the horn, the topic of the mellophone is certainly one of the most polarizing. The instrument is very widely played by horn students in marching bands and drum corps, but it has also got to be the least understood and most poorly taught of all the brass instruments. Not a good situation for horn players in general — and it is also a topic that horn teachers in the United States ignore at their peril.
In the United States today nearly every student horn player will encounter marching horns and mellophones at some point. I was aware of them as a student myself, but, believe it or not, I marched with a French horn in high school and college. Early in my teaching also I did not need to interact with the mellophone much, as at my first full time college position at The Crane School of Music there is no marching band! Then when I got to Arizona State the marching band was still using B-flat marching horns, which are built to take horn mouthpieces and operate rather like a big, piston valve single B-flat horn (like the B-flat side of a double horn).
When that changed, and a switch was made to mellophones in F alto, it led to several years of my looking closer at the instrument. My first article on the topic (from 2007!) is still a good read:
Soon that led me to getting involved with a great podcast on the mellophone and middle brass playing (The Mellocast) and the development of a book of questions and answers about the mellophone, A Mello Catechism, now in a third edition (!) and available on Amazon (search for it!). It is as close “The Art of Mellophone Playing” that is likely to ever be published.
A popular instrument
For the marching band director the mellophone makes great sense; it uses trumpet fingerings and is a very easy instrument to switch to. A trumpet player can pick it up really fast, and even a woodwind player can get the hang of it pretty quickly. And, it points in the correct direction! With the adoption of the F mellophone as standard in drum corps, the instrument is certainly the standard alto brass voice in marching situations.
Of course some (even many) hornists will continue to ignore/despise the mellophone, but it will not be going away. I do hope that by getting information out there more widely it will help the bigger picture of it being better taught and more horn friendly, growing our middle brass playing community.
Overall, I think readers will agree that we do need more horn players. The mellophone has with time, in effect, become a gateway instrument to the horn. If it were taught better it could be a part of the solution to the issue of there just not being enough good horn players around at the high school level.
The Mello Zone — A mini FAQ
Related, for many years I had posted a very short FAQ on Horn Articles Online on the mellophone under the heading “The Mello Zone.” With the 2025 demise of that site, that content was moved here to update the text of an existing article and to provide a brief hub of information on this widely used brass instrument. The topics below cover a variety of frequently asked questions.
Is it easy to switch to? Yes, as proven by the number of woodwind players playing the mellophone in drum corps.
What mouthpiece should I use? If you are in a drum corps, you will pretty much have to use what they have you use. If you are doing marching band, you might consider a more horn friendly option, such as:
- Brief Review: The Jupiter Hybrid Horn/Mellophone Mouthpiece
- Review: The Versus M1T mellophone mouthpiece. The one everyone has been waiting for
Is there any cool music for mellophone? Probably peak mellophone cool was with the Mellophonium and Stan Kenton. For more on that see:
How do 35 of them sound on the field? It’s a big sound.
Any humorous mellophone articles? An attempt, at least:
Above all I hope overall that these writings help encourage horn students as they traverse the “mellophone jungle,” and maybe even inspire a few more mellophone players to switch over to the horn for concert season. We need more horn players!
Bonus: Classic (or Concert) Mellophone
I first encountered the mellophone in F alto in high school in the late 1970s, as I was given a “classic” mellophone (or concert mellophone) by a family friend, the one pictured at right (it’s a King). This type of mellophone was used fairly widely in the United States from before the turn of the century until before WWII. Featuring piston valves and fingered with the right hand, this instrument is an octave shorter than a standard single F horn and was generally used to play horn parts in youth and amateur groups. While it is easier to play, it lacks some of the poetry of tone we associate with the horn. It is built to use a mouthpiece sized between that of a trumpet and trombone with a cornet shank. Today, of course, these are “wall hangers” mostly; they are not used in ensembles.
In the photo the the concert mellophone is seen on the left, with an Eb tenor horn. For more on those, see this FAQ. And for even more on the concert mellophone, see these articles:
What [Type of] School is Best for Horn Study?
This article was first posted on the original HTML Horn Notes Blog way back on 11/1/04. It is timely again–today was the last day of auditions where I am at Arizona State–and there are certainly many students out there thinking about colleges and their options for further horn study.
Again and again I find myself talking about the subject of what school is best for horn study with prospective students, current students looking toward further studies, and with parents of prospective students. There are a lot of good schools out there and while I don’t want at least online to make specific suggestions (other than ASU! A great school) I do have one general recommendation to consider when weighing options and programs.
First, before I state my recommendation, I must admit that I am biased toward a type of teacher, as my teachers at Emporia State, Eastman, and Indiana were all of this same type. This type of teacher is found at many different schools of differing price ranges and quality levels, but I feel that in general this type of teacher is best equipped to give students the best educational experience.
My main recommendation is to attend a school with an experienced, full time horn teacher. Not that you could not have a great experience with a fine player who teaches part time, but, speaking generally, I still feel that you are probably better off on the whole with a teacher who views teaching you to be their main job, not just one of the jobs they do as a part of a busy performing career.
Besides that, go anywhere you feel is a great fit for you. Don’t let $ guide you totally, go to the best school and program that you can be at.
The only major exception I would make to this is if your goal is to “break in” to the performing scene in a city like Los Angeles or New York you may find that you need to study with a busy professional player who is part-time faculty at a school in that town. This really can be OK, just chose schools and teachers wisely! If on the fence, though, I would chose the full time teacher as the best choice.
As a brief update to the above I would add and emphasize that there are fine teachers who are part time faculty at colleges and universities out there, don’t take me wrong! As I noted in another prior article, you above all want to study with a teacher that can teach effectively and those can obviously be part or full time and affiliated with a school or teaching independently. But I still like as an ideal situation the general idea of studying with someone who is full time at that school and there for you literally every day.
Art Masterpieces Graffittied with Horns
Over the past few years I have had some fun spoofing Western art masterpieces and putting them online. Looking back though the entire collection, I decided that it was time for a public display of some of the spoofs done so far.
Click on any image to get the largest version.
Enjoy!
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
Just Say “No” to Transposed Parts?
Transposed parts have for years been a point of discussion in the horn world. Certainly students and many adults love them, but on the whole for a player aiming for playing on a high level they are a crutch.
The Mozart concertos and transposition
The older Schirmer edition of all four Mozart concertos with transposed parts is very popular, and is likely the most common introduction to these works for many young students. With the F horn part, it takes some prodding to move on and use the real parts.
In my own case, I have never owned a copy of that transposed edition as a student, and started in on Mozart in college from parts in the original keys.
But as a teacher I do end up using the F horn version with some students, especially those who are not performance majors. For purposes of a jury, the F part sounds just the same.
Bigger picture, there are many published editions of these out there to choose from (I personally am partial to the Baumann edition of the Mozart horn concertos that was published by McCoy’s Horn Library). But also a very workable, older editions in the original key is long in the public domain and may be found as a download. For example, in the IMSLP project, the horn part of the old Kling edition of Mozart 4 may be found here, and we also have it in our Horn Matters PDF library.
A technique you do need to try to learn
Transposition is a very important skill every hornist needs to learn. It is a technical skill that can’t be ignored. Whenever possible perform from the parts notated in the original key. Natural horn parts in particular tend to be simple, you can get the hang of it pretty quickly.
See this article by Bruce Hembd for a handy chart of transpositions.
An exception: Bruckner 7 Wagner tuba
The only place where I would say to certainly think about a transposed part is when playing Wagner tuba on for example Bruckner 7. The standard version of the first Wagner tuba part for example is in B-flat alto and starts out in the key of six sharps with two double-sharp accidentals in the first bar. You have enough things to worry about with playing a Wagner tuba at all that a transposed part really is not a bad idea there. See this article for more on Wagner tuba. My Wagner tuba book contains transposed parts for Bruckner 7.
I’ve gotten more relaxed on the topic over time
Working this article over a bit in 2025 (to fix the Wagner tuba link) I realize I’m more flexible about this than I used to be, as reflected in updates to the text above. But, still, speaking generally, always use the original parts. You will find them in the long run easier to read, and the skill will pay off in the world of actual horn playing, when you walk into some church gig and there is only a part in C for the Mozart pieces they will perform that day. On at least a basic level, you must get a little comfortable with transposition.
Poll: Mouthpiece Buzzing and Multitasking
UPDATE: Polls closed on 27 October 2011.
Recent studies indicate that multitasking – doing more than one task at once – is not all that it was once cracked up to be.
From an article titled “The Myth of Multitasking”
Dr. Edward Hallowell, a Massachusetts-based psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and has written a book with the self-explanatory title ‘CrazyBusy,’ has been offering therapies to combat extreme multitasking for years; in his book he calls multitasking a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously.”
In a 2005 article, he described a new condition, “Attention Deficit Trait,” which he claims is rampant in the business world.
I must sheepishly admit that I do free buzzing on my daily commute and sometimes do mouthpiece buzzing while checking email. On long car trips, mouthpiece buzzing helps to pass the time and it gives me some practice that I might not otherwise get.
It is a matter of some necessity since I have a day job and my window for practice time is limited. While not ideal, it suits a purpose.
An informal poll
To see what Horn Matters readers think on this general topic, here is an informal, three-part straw poll. The questions are:
- Do you engage in other activities while playing on the mouthpiece?
- What is the typical ‘second task’?
- Do you feel that multitasking detracts from your mouthpiece practice?
* * *
(These polls are now closed. The final results are on display.)
[polldaddy poll=4601482]
[polldaddy poll=4601513]
[polldaddy poll=4601537]