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In Defense of the Clean Part
I recently noted a link to an article by hornist extraordinaire Jeff Nelsen, The Importance of Writing Notes in Your Music Feel free to read his entire article first, but this is the key quote I will...
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Holiday Break Thoughts
The topic of what to do over the winter break is always a topic with motivated horn players. School is winding down for most students and there are still a few weekends that are typically heavy with...
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Top 14 for 2013
To close out the year for Horn Matters, we do check the stats and the below are the top 14 articles or pages on the site for 2013. Traffic has been good and the number one article was viewed over...
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Of Books, Recordings, and Other Updates
The ball is rolling for 2014! After the break for the holidays things get busy, and this is a good time to update a variety of topics. First up, I am pleased to announce the hard copy version of the...
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Interview: Rose French
Featured today is Dr. Rose French, a very active performer and teacher here in the Phoenix area. Now more than ever you need to not only play horn well but be entrepreneurial and take full advantage of...
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On Mouthpieces and Metal Allergies
Of all the horn playing topics out there perhaps the most under reported and significant could well be the topic of metal allergies and mouthpieces. The longer I teach the more I recognize that many...
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Eroica (2003), Natural Horns and More!
It is amazing how much is out there now on YouTube. This week a student pointed me toward a great find, Beethovenās Eroica, a 2003 BBC movie. Featuring music performed on period instruments by the...
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Review: The Kelly MDC in Lexan
In late 2012 I posted a review which I titledĀ The Surprising Kelly MC Lexan Mouthpiece. Since that review was completed I have given the Kelly MC two extended trials and that review is updated further....
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On Testing Mouthpiece Rims
As noted in the recent article on mouthpieces and metal allergies, my current working theory is that may I have developed a sensitivity to my gold rim. This has led to the testing of a number of rims,...
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Brief Review: Jinbao Wagner Tuba
This January/February we were very pleased to receive two new Wagner tubas for use by members of the ASU horn studio! Wagner, Bruckner, Strauss, and others (more info here) wrote for Wagner tuba in...
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A Wagner Tuba Mouthpiece
Sticking with the general topic of the article last week, the Wagner tuba, today we have an oddity, aĀ Wagner tuba mouthpiece. Exhibit āAā is this MirafoneĀ Decker model T Wagner tuba mouthpiece from the...
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Where to Go Try New and Used Horns
There is a point when a more advanced horn player really needs a more advanced horn to keep progress going forward. That point is when you really need to try some horns. And that point is also the...
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The Top 9 Horn Excerpts for High School Study
A question was posted last night in the Horn People group about the top horn excerpts for study by high school students. It quickly received a variety of answers, some great, some a bit off track. The...
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Annie Bosler on Dealing with Nerves & Performance Anxiety
Nerves, performance anxiety, and peak performance are topics of particular interest to hornists. I was just pointed to a new video presentation on this topic from hornist Annie Bosler. Bosler is the...
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Warm-Up with Drone > Tuner
Which is better, warming up with drone pitches from a pitch generator or watching a tuner? If you have the time and location to do so drone pitches are superior. I have went though phases on this over...
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Horn Matters Guide to the Final Four, 2014 edition
Basketball can be predicted through horn professors! April 5 there are two games. The first game is Florida against Connecticut, which would pit Paul Basler againstĀ Robert Hoyle. I have nothing against...
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Rethinking the Warm-Up
At an extreme, warm-up routines come in two flavors: etched in granite, or free-form. This past weekend at Arizona State we hosted Prof. Jeffrey Agrell of the University of Iowa for a horn day event....
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On Choices of Horns
This past few months has been productive and interesting in terms of practice and equipment. Two things drove this. One was being forced to change mouthpieces due to allergic sensitivity (more here)....
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On the Horn Parts in the Scherzo of Mahler 5
One of the great orchestral works featuring the horn is the Symphony No. 5 of Mahler. The full work itself has six horn parts. However, the Scherzo movement only has five horn parts, divided as follows...
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On Calculating Timings of Works of Music
I am working toward a trio recording project now, and as a part of planning for that I needed to come up with timings forĀ a number of works that we did not have recordings of. There will be three brand...
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