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Introducing the Horn Notes Podcast
Those following Horn Matters for a few years know that there are a group of videos on YouTube related to posts in Horn Matters. The original idea was to develop a series of videos — the channel is...
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The question of water keys and horns
Here is a question you know you have wondered at some point: why are some horns constructed without water keys? It is a puzzle for a lot of people, as literally the cheapest versions of every other...
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Footnotes on the First Triple Horn
I was pleased to see my article, “Memories of the First Paxman Triple Horn,” in the October, 2017 issue of The Horn Call. It was timely, as the first Paxman triple was constructed in December of 1967 —...
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Brief review: The Creative Hornist by Jeffrey Agrell
Creativity. One observation I have had is that people outside of music, often they are looking for creativity, that special spark, tying that idea with the idea of innovation. Who does not want...
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Confidence, Optimism, Fearlessness, and Trusting Yourself
What mindset gives us the best horn performance? This is something debated in various ways for a long time. I decided to do a brief survey on Twitter, and got the following results: Personally, I feel...
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Creativity, Gallay, and the natural horn
When I was working on the review of the new Jeff Agrell book on creativity I was struck by the idea that a lot of horn music we study is written in a way to stifle creativity. For example, one of my...
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On teaching styles of horn teachers, and creativity
Not too long ago a colleague made an offhand comment about another teacher, saying they were a “method” teacher. That observation, and looking at the Jeff Agrell book on creativity (reviewed here),...
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Looking back at a year of publication sales
Periodically it is a good idea to look back, take stock. Especially of your more enterprising things, is there a return on the investment? How did you really do? What could you change to improve? In my...
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Horn Matters People of the Year: Horn People
The Horn Matters People of the Year award goes to Horn People, a group that has hugely impacted the horn world in recent years. If you don’t know what Horn People is, you should check it out here:...
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My Top 5 Articles from 2017
Starting the year I thought it might be interesting to see exactly which of my Horn Matters articles from 2017 ranked the highest in our site stats. To begin, however, I must admit there are hundreds...
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New editions of Introducing the Horn and Playing Descant and Triple Horns
In December I looked back at a year of sales and decided it was time for some updated editions and a change in marketing strategy. The big issue was that I felt I was missing sales opportunities due to...
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Available on Amazon: Playing Natural Horn Today, second edition
The third of six new editions of books by John Ericson is now out, the second edition of Playing Natural Horn Today. Updated for 2018 and formatted as a Kindle ePublication, it may be purchased here on...
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Playing the Wagner Tuba, second edition, on Amazon
A very steady seller in the Horn Notes Edition line of publications for many years now has been Playing the Wagner Tuba, a Handbook for Hornists. This is now available in an updated second edition as a...
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Now available: The Low Horn Boot Camp, second edition
Continuing the series of updated editions, today the focus is on the updated and expanded second edition of The Low Horn Boot Camp. The original edition (2016) clearly was seeing use in the horn world,...
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And now, A Mello Catechism, third edition
Of all my publications, I think the one that has mystified the most people has been the mellophone book. I even thought about dropping it from my line of publications, it badly needed updates, but it...
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Mailbag: Tuning Various Models of Double Horns
This very good question just recently came in, from a music educator: I am seeking any resources on French horn tuning, including diagrams with slides labeled and suggested amounts to pull each slide...
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Stepping Up Your Mozart Horn Concerto Performance
A recent master class with Javier Bonet at ASU brought up some great topics in relation to Mozart 3, with the following two main points to consider strongly. Get a good edition There is an edition that...
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Orchestra 101: A New Publication on Auditions and Orchestral Playing
Horn Matters readers may recall Orchestra 101, a series of over 20 articles looking at the positives and negatives of freelancing and orchestral playing as a career. That series has been updated into a...
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Blog: Facebook, and Horn Makers, Dealers, and Publishers
When Horn Matters was starting out in 2009, our articles, posted to Facebook, went out to a large number of people on their news feeds, at no cost to us. This helped launch the site and led to a wide...
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Book Excerpt: Playing More Musically
Every so often I get a big idea. A recent one was to update the best of my publications into new editions and sell them exclusively as Kindle ePublications. Part of that update process was text...
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