James Boldin's Horn World

Thoughts on Teaching and Playing the Horn

Posts tagged with practicing

What’s on My Music Stand?

June 10, 2011

Here’s a snapshot of what’s currently in my practice routine.  Some of the items are old friends, while others will vary depending on my performing schedule.  For students who might be looking for a way to organize their practicing, feel free to modify this list to include appropriate material in each category.

I.  Warm-up/Daily Routine

II. Etudes/Technical Exercises

  • Wendell Rider, Lip Control Exercises: Great for working on range and flexibility, these can be downloaded on Wendell’s website.
  • William R. Brophy, Technical Studies for Solving Special Problems on the Horn
  • Kopprasch, Sixty Selected Studies, Op. 6:  Chambers edition, which I’m using for my etude video project.
  • John Ericson, Ultimate Horn Technique: Technically not on my stand, but right beside it. I work a little out of this book every day.  You can read my review here.
  • John Ericson, Ultimate Low Horn: I usually play an exercise or at least part of one at the end of the day to loosen up and work on phrasing and musicality in the low range.

III.  Solo (music for an upcoming recital)

  • Beethoven, Sonata, Op. 17 for Horn and Piano
  • Roger Jones, Epilogue for Horn and Piano: New piece to be premiered in July.
  • Emmanuel Chabrier, Larghetto for Horn and Orchestra, Op. posth. I’ll write more on this piece in a future post, but in short it is a wonderful and substantial composition – great for recitals!
  • Steven Winteregg, Blue Soliloquy: Read more about this piece here.
  • C.D. Lorenz/ed. Bacon, Fantasie, Op. 13: Seldom performed, but a great closer for recitals.  Recorded by Thomas Bacon on the Summit CD The Complete Hornist.
  • Marin Marais, Le Basque 

IV. Miscellaneous/Fun

  • Essential Songs for Horn Published by Hal Leonard, this volume contains 130 melodies (no accompaniment) to all kinds of popular songs.  Fun material for the end of the day, or a creative way to warm up. Try transposing them!

Technical exercises and etudes combined with recital preparation tend to be my usual summer material, but during the academic year I add in orchestral excerpts and chamber music to round things out.  Whatever you choose to practice during the summer months, try to strike a good balance between all of the areas of horn technique, as well as building in some fun/creative time.  Ok, now it’s your turn – I’d love to hear what you’ve got on your music stand this summer!

Three Things You Should Practice Every Day

July 3, 2010

Although you might not be required to perform each of these techniques every day, it is essential that you keep them in good shape so that they are ready to go when you do need them.  I’ve found that even just five minutes or so of dedicated practice in each area helps to maintain proficiency.  If your regular daily routine doesn’t already include patterns for developing the following skills, you can choose from among the many excellent resources already out there, or create your own.

Lip Trills: Whether you already have a solid trill or are still perfecting your technique, daily practice is crucial to improving and maintaining this important part of our playing.  If you get bored doing the same trill exercises every day, change them up or create a rotation so that you are covering a range of materials.  Here’s a short list of publications with excellent trill exercises.

William R. Brophy, Technical Studies for Solving Special Problems on the Horn, Carl Fischer, 1977.

Bruce Hembd, “Exercise: My Lip Trills Stink,” published on Horn Matters, 2009.

Douglas Hill, From Vibrato to Trills to Tremolos…for the Horn Player, Really Good Music, LLC, 2003.

Douglas Hill, Warm-ups and Maintenance Sessions for the Horn Player, Really Good Music, LLC, 2001.

Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, The Brass Gym: A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players edited for horn by John Ericson, Focus on Music, 2007.

Wendell Rider, Real World Horn Playing, Wendell Rider Publications, 2006.

Multiple Tonguing: As with lip trills, I’ve found that unless I practice double and triple tonguing daily, fluency and clarity are lost over time.  You want your multiple tonguing to be as reliable as possible so that when playing rapid articulations you have the option of seamlessly switching over to double or triple if necessary.  Here are some resources.

J.B. Arban,  Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet edited by Edwin Franko Goldman and Walter M. Smith, annotated by Claude Gordon, Carl Fischer, 1982.

William R. Brophy, Technical Studies for Solving Special Problems on the Horn, Carl Fischer, 1977.

Douglas Hill, Warm-ups and Maintenance Sessions for the Horn Player, Really Good Music, LLC, 2001.

Ifor James, Warming Up, Editions Marc Reift, 1999.

Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, The Brass Gym: A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players edited for horn by John Ericson, Focus on Music, 2007.

Wendell Rider, Real World Horn Playing, Wendell Rider Publications, 2006.

Milan Yancich, A Practical Guide to French Horn Playing, Wind Music, Inc., 1970.

Stopped Horn: I think one of the main reasons why stopped horn doesn’t stay consistent unless practiced daily is because of the drastically different resistance and resulting sensations at the embouchure.  Virtually any long tone, scale, or articulation exercise can be modified for stopped horn practice – the important thing is to put in the time every day.  Practice both F and B-flat horn fingerings, but practice the best options for your instrument more often so that they become automatic.

You should of course practice other things every day, like long tones, high/low range, flexibility, scales, etc., but practicing your trills, multiple tonguing, and stopped horn daily will set you apart from many players.

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