“Hello!

What would be some advice that you would give a young horn player to get better at their playing?

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In General:

1. If you aren’t already taking lessons, find a good teacher. Even the best band directors can only do so much.  One on one private instruction is essential if you are serious about playing horn. Take ownership of your learning by bringing questions and concerns to your teacher. As you become more advanced, it’s less about what the teacher assigns you, and more about what you bring to him. Don’t think of your teacher as a boss; think of him as a mentor or a consultant. Progress is up to you; your teacher just points you in the right direction.

2. Air is your friend. It is the source of your power as a wind player. Breathe deep and allow full expansion of your chest and abdomen.  Take in as much air as you can and learn what that feels like. You should feel tension leaving your body when you breathe.  Don’t push the air out when you play.  Instead, allow the air to flow through your embouchre and into the instrument.

3. Learn about pure intonation. This is one of the major differences between professionals and amateurs. If the tuning isn’t right, nothing else matters. In the orchestra, notes need to be played slightly higher or lower depending on what part of the chord they are. Octaves, minor thirds, and perfect fifths, for example, need to be spaced slightly wider, while major thirds and minor sevenths need to be slightly narrower. Ask your teacher about this. One of the best things you can do to learn this skill is to work with a partner on the Verne Reynolds Intonation Exercises for Two Horns. I’m not sure if it is still in print, but your teacher might have a copy or know someone who does.

4. Etudes are essential for developing good technique. Yes, they are hard. That’s intentional. Working to master the etudes develops the tools you need in order to play everything else. I recommend Koprasch “Sixty Selected Studies for French Horn” and Maxime Alphones “Two Hundred New Studies in Six Books for Horn”. I also recommend practicing major and minor scales.

5. Orchestral parts and solos require different skills and mindsets. You need to work on both.

6. Take good care of your body by eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. Playing the horn is a physical activity, and you will learn and perform more efficiently if you are fit, healthy, and well rested.

Practice Habits:

1. Spend the most time working on what’s hardest for you. If your Mozart sounds great but you are struggling with your Strauss, then spend more time on Strauss.

2. Make friends with your metronome. Work the hard stuff slowly, then gradually build up speed.

3. Break things down into bite-size pieces. One of the first things I do when I start a new piece is divide it into sections. I work on one section at a time.  I isolate difficult technical passages and work them in smaller sections.  For example, if I have a series of rapid 16th notes, I divide it into overlapping sets of 3 or 4. I’ll spend days working on half a measure if that’s what it takes to master it. I don’t work on the larger section until I’m comfortable with the small pieces. Then I put the pieces together, starting slowly, and working it up to speed. If I am learning a piece for the first time, I often repeat the process several times before I or my teachers are satisfied.

4. Record yourself. When you think you have mastered something, record yourself playing it, then listen critically as if it were your student playing it. Think what advice you would give them, then apply it to yourself.  You should also record yourself at the beginning and end of each semester, and compare the two recordings.  This will help you to hear how you improve over time, which often occurs so gradually that you don’t realize it.

5. Don’t miss a day of practicing. Even if all you have time to do is 30-45 minutes of fundamentals, do it. It’s easier to recover from a week playing 30 minutes per day than from a week with no practicing at all.

Manners:

Success as a musician depends heavily on your ability to get along with people, more so than in many other professions. As a freelancer, most of your work will come from people you know, so it pays to develop good working relationships with your colleagues. I recommend reading the following articles about the social nuances of professional horn playing:

1. The Seven Deadly Sins of Horn Playing - This presentation was originally given by Larry Lowe, my undergraduate horn professor.  It’s good advice.

2. Top Ten Rookie Mistakes

If you want to be a professional horn player, I recommend this article on choosing a school for advanced horn study.

Have something to  add?  Tell us about it in the comments.