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Review: Leuba, The Rules of the Game
While his book A Study of Musical Intonation is well known, I was interested this summer to literally stumble across another publication by Christopher Leuba, The Rules of the Game, at the horn...
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How do I KNOW my horn is in good working condition?
You know your horn well – better than anyone, in fact. If anyone should know that something is wrong with it, you should. And yet… So many players will come to me with a problem that just “suddenly”...
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Hornmasters on Mouthpiece Pressure, Part I: Farkas, Fox, and Berv
While the topic was addressed in other chapters, Farkas felt it important to emphasize and expand his thoughts on mouthpiece pressure in a dedicated chapter in The Art of French Horn Playing. Those...
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Hornmasters on Mouthpiece Pressure, Part II: Cousins and Wekre
Farquharson Cousins expresses a quite different approach to pressure in On Playing the Horn. Mouthpiece pressure is part of what creates the “Embouchure-Seal” or the “temporary welding” of the...
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Hornmasters on Mouthpiece Pressure, Part III: Yet More
To close this series on mouthpiece pressure we have notes from four more recent sources. David Kaslow does not favor excessive mouthpiece pressure in Living Dangerously with the Horn, as he sees it at...
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Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day: Random Thoughts on 1,000 Articles
Something my father used to often say, of big projects, was that “ Related articles: Quotes of the Week–Three Deep Thoughts This afternoon I was on the Internet and found a link to the new University...
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Hornmasters on Accuracy, an Introduction and Part I
With this topic we get to one that we all care about a lot, accuracy. Who does not want to play more accurately? And who does not want to have tips to offer their students about how to play more...
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Hornmasters on Accuracy, Part II: Schuller and Fox
All horn players recognize that conductors are a part of the accuracy problem. Gunther Schuller in Horn Technique addresses the topic of accuracy in his section of notes for composers and conductors as...
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Random Monday: Back from Hiatus, Getting Back in Shape and Traits of Good...
Back from hiatus In addition to putting the horn in closet this summer, I also took a break from writing at Horn Matters. For myself, taking a break is a great way to keep my interests fresh. While...
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Interview: Laurence Lowe on Coming Back to Playing Horn from a Long Break
One question that comes up often is how to best come back from a playing break, especially one of months or years. Of all the horn professors out there few are as experienced with this topic as...
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5 Tips for Staying Motivated in Music While Working a Day Job
A performance major at a large American university recently asked: When I return home for winter and summer breaks, I find it incredibly difficult to practice. I work two jobs during the summer and one...
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Hornmasters on Accuracy, Part III: Some Shorter Quotations
Turning now to some shorter quotations, Harry Berv in A Creative Approach to the French Horn notes that accuracy relates at least in part to physical conditioning and the condition of the player. The...
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9 Ways to Prevent ‘Dingers’
Ring a ding, dinger… A customer brings a horn in for a cleaning, pulls out the bell, and says, “And can you do something about all these little dents?” Yes, I can, but so can you. Customers never know...
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Hornmasters on Accuracy, Part IV: Perfection and Beyond!
The quest for accuracy is in a sense a quest for perfection. The last chapter of Living Dangerously with the Horn by David Kaslow is on the topic “Perfection and Perfectionism.” He begins, We humans...
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On Practicing ‘Away from the Horn’
In last Wednesday’s article I presented a few tips on balancing horn practice with a full-time job. For myself, keeping my chops in good shape is tantamount to staying employed in the music field. My...
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Hornmasters on Accuracy, Some Final Notes
In short, in this series we have seen that there is no shortage of advice with respect to the critical topic of accuracy. To close this overview I would offer these additional thoughts, from the...
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Random Wednesday: The Heat is On
August is Here and the Heat is On We have been having some very hot days here in Phoenix, Arizona. The temperature topped out at 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) a few days ago. The heat is...
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Introducing The University of Horn Matters Horn Pedagogy Course
Want to know more than your teachers? One way to know more is to combine information gleaned from a variety of sources with critical thinking skills. Development of both will be a goal of The...
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Horn Matters Merchandise on CafePress
In a few weeks Horn Matters will be hitting its third-year anniversary. To celebrate this, the new University of Horn Matters, and other future projects, we have opened a new store that offers some fun...
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Review: The “Other” Rondo of Mozart I
Among other music purchased this summer I finally picked up a copy of a 1988 publication by Edition Kunzelmann, the Rondo in D for horn and orchestra KV 412 (386b) [or K 514]. This is the “alternate”...
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