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Where are my Horn Matters Articles? Facebook Update and Other Resources
I have been asked a few times recently what happened to the Horn Matters articles? New articles are still posted nearly every day, but they are not presently as widely visible as they were on Facebook...
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Horn Pedagogy Week 12: Accuracy and Transposition
Accuracy is a big topic. As a prelude to the readings this week, there is a deep thought to be found in the brief article which is the first assigned reading, and another quick thought in the second....
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Memes for a Friday
This past week (hat tip to Bruce Hembd) I saw on Facebook a link to a very interesting group of horn-related memes. The site is Hornist Hamsters, and I especially enjoyed a couple of the memes on what...
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Hornmasters on Performance Anxiety, Part II: Cousins
Farquharson Cousins has an extended examination of “the mental side” of horn playing in On Playing the Horn. He suggests that “For those whose anxiety borders on ‘nerves’ there is a path back to...
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Audition Tip: “Make the tape”
This past weekend several times I encouraged current or former students to make a recording for an upcoming audition. The specific job it is for gives me a unique opportunity to say why you should make...
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Archibald Noodlefish: The Top Eight Non-Musical Sounds that Emit from a Horn...
Rogue and scoundrel, Archibald Noodlefish is the nose in spite of your face, a spider in the web, and the proverbial turd in a punch bowl. In spite of this, he claims to be a consummate professional. *...
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Horn Pedagogy Week 13: Lip Trills, and Muting and Stopping the Horn
“Extended techniques” is a general term that can include many things. Horn chords, already discussed in week 9, are actually an extended technique. This week our focus is on the important topics of...
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Hornmasters on Performance Anxiety, Part III: Wekre and Reynolds
Frøydis Ree Wekre in Thoughts on Playing the Horn Well notes that The best remedy against stagefright and nervousness is to always be in the best possible shape and well prepared for what you have to...
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Hornmasters on Performance Anxiety, Part IV: Kaslow
David Kaslow has as arguably the central chapter of Living Dangerously with the Horn a chapter on “Fearlessness.” His discussion is substantial and should be read in the original context by advanced...
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The Benefits of Being a Thankful Hornist
With this being the Thanksgiving holiday it is a good day to look briefly at the topic of being a thankful hornist. Many have the habit of counting blessings this time of year, and in the longer term...
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Horn Pedagogy Week 14: Performance Anxiety and Care of the Lip
We have arrived at the final week of readings! This week the main topic is performance anxiety, and the total number of readings are reduced to allow for time to review for the final as well....
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Where can you Study Music Education and Not Take Marching Band?
Many horn players are not fans of marching. Often for instrumental music education majors marching band is a required course. At some schools, however, marching band is not a required course in this...
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On Teaching (and Studying) Effectively
With the first semester of the University of Horn Matters horn pedagogy course nearly complete it seems like a good time to re-post the last remaining article from 2004 in my dwindling archive of...
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Horn Pedagogy Week 15: Final Review
First, thank you for following along to the end of the semester. We have been able to cover in some depth the most essential topics related to horn teaching and performance. For those taking the class...
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Review: The Horns of Valhalla – Saga of the Reiter Brothers by Norman...
In a recent article where I featured a photo of hornist Xavier (Xaver) Reiter I noted that a new book was out by Norman Schweikert on the topic of the Reiter brothers. I have now had my copy of this...
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Cor Carols!
Back in 1981 a recording was released, Music for Christmas, featuring the Eastman French Horn Choir and the Eastman Trombone Choir. The first track on that album is Cor Carols, a work arranged by...
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Review: The Surprising Kelly MC Lexan Mouthpiece
To tease the conclusion first, I was very pleasantly surprised by the plastic (Lexan) Kelly MC horn mouthpiece. Why a plastic mouthpiece? This past fall I was riding in the car with my new tuba...
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On the Reicha Horn Trios, and an Epic Recording
Among the works out there for three horns, certainly the 24 horn trios Op. 82 by Anton Reicha (1770-1836) stand above the rest. Reicha is well known today among wind players for his woodwind quintets,...
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Thursday Topics: Bonding with your Horn, and More Memes
Up today are two topics. First, making the rounds of social media the past few days was an article on the topic of the benefits of bonding with your instrument. The article begins, Forging a deep,...
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Crunch Time to Break
Horn players are not alone, of course, in the weeks leading to Christmas being a crunch time. Depending on where you are in your musical career the nature of the crunch time can vary a lot. For me the...
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