Tag Archives: embouchure

After the meltdown and the Balanced Embouchure

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How to recover from a day like my meltdown day? I tried to analyze what went wrong and went through the usual litany of horn problems – wrong mouthpiece, bad embouchure, bad warm-ups, bad posture, too much practice the day before, too much high register work, etc. I zeroed in on my recent work on my embouchure. (Amazing that I didn’t blame the mouthpiece, but of course I had to blame something.)

In my never ending quest to fix playing problems that can and will be fixed by practice, (If only I would listen to myself) I had been trying a new technique called the Balanced Embouchure (BE). It was originally developed for trumpet by Jeff Smiley and then adapted for horn as a collaboration between Jeff Smiley and Valerie Wells (valleriewells@msn.com.)

I’d been dutifully practicing BE  – I believe correctly – for a few weeks before the lesson meltdown. The specific targeted exercises for the embouchure use rolling in and rolling out techniques that are, to quote Jeff Smiley on his website, “a specific and practical method for developing a more efficient and successful trumpet embouchure.” He goes on to say in a separate interview, “I developed exercises designed to exaggerate the normal lips range of motion, thereby increasing the lip’s ability to form more complex combinations of opposing motions (shapes) which more effectively promote a continuous state of balance within the context of dynamic activity. In other words, through the repetition of relatively simple exercise targets, the lips become more intelligent, more able to move far enough and morph into more complex shapes to match the task at hand.” For more information please see Jeff’s website http://www.trumpetteacher.net.

Valerie Wells adds in a post on the Yahoo Horn Group, “If BE is used as designed, there are no ‘set backs’ or ‘trade offs’ but a solid and fairly rapid improvement in tone, range, and endurance.”  Hooked yet? Is this the magic elixir for horn players? At this point I have to say it’s not for me. I also have to add that although I don’t think this method is right for me at this point in time, this is not a pan of the technique. I believe that some hornists have greatly benefited from it. If you read the posts on the Yahoo Horn Group you will find very positive reviews about BE from some of the members of the forum.

At the time of my meltdown I felt very confused about BE. I wondered if BE wasn’t for me or if I started it too soon. Did working on it just finally culminate in the lesson disaster? I thought that it was a method where working on it wouldn’t hurt existing playing. It is promoted as such. Maybe the meltdown had nothing to do with BE and I was just having a really bad day. Maybe I’m jumping to a “BE isn’t for me” conclusion too quickly. But the ability to play double pedal notes and high C’s isn’t worth a darn if I can’t play in a normal range.

Here is a link to a demonstration of one part of the BE exercises for trumpet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7za4dPMk7U&feature=related. I think Jeff or Valerie should post a video demonstrating BE for horn especially since it is pretty impossible to find a teacher that will teach it at a private lesson.  Although I believed that I was practicing BE correctly, maybe I wasn’t. Is it possible that damage can be done to the chops if BE is practiced incorrectly or too frequently? I ran into lots of chop trouble very quickly after I started BE. I think some (most?) people will want to use BE as a panacea for embouchure problems instead of using it as a method to improve upon already mostly correct playing. Again this is my opinion based only on my experience.

I understand about over practicing and I know that there is a fine line between doing enough to get tired and doing too much and I’m sure there are days that I do too much. I am only questioning working with BE because that is the only significant change I have made to my practice routine in a long time.  Of course new horn, new mouthpiece, plus BE all in the same time frame was more likely the impetus to the meltdown. Kind of like the perfect storm.

My immediate problem was to fix what was wrong. I backed off BE and went back to my basic warm-up – low long tones, slurs, arpeggios, scales. Although I didn’t have another meltdown day I certainly wasn’t playing as well as I had been a few weeks before and I was very frustrated.

I decided to take a lesson with Scott Bacon (Siegfried’s Call), the fellow I bought my Hoyer from. When I bought my horn he spent a considerable amount of time on revamping the beginning of my warm-up – the first horn to face time of the day – and I felt very comfortable turning to him for help. (This is not to say that my teacher I see every week wasn’t helping. I was looking for a fresh opinion.)

My first comment as I walked in the door was “My embouchure is shot.” I played a bit for him and he said, “No it’s not.” He did acknowledge that I was having some significant problems since I couldn’t produce a note below the G below middle C. We worked on re-establishing my low range and after about half an hour it was getting better. My marching orders when I left were to spend at least fifteen minutes doing only low range work followed by slurs from low C. He gave me a lot more to work on which I will get to in another post. The really good news is that it took less than a week for me to make significant improvements. At the moment, BE is off the table. This doesn’t mean I won’t try it again sometime in the future.

All this meltdown stuff occured back in January. Today the best way to describe my progress is to relate what my regular teacher has said to me over the past few months. I started working on Mozart 3 in December 2008. She said, “I played this in 7th grade.” Translation – I play like a 7th grader. Hmm. Sometime in February she was talking about one of her other students in 10th grade. She said, “You and she are at about the same level.” Well you know what the translation is. Last week we were working on Strauss 1 and she said I was playing like a good college student! YES!

YouTube Symphony –>

Bits and pieces

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Some non connected things I have learned:

Screwbells – If you are a klutz like me don’t get one. Just kidding, well only partially kidding. My Yamaha is a fixed bell horn so this screwing on the bell thing is new to me.  My bell from my new Hoyer has recently spent too many seconds flying through the air. I was trying to insert into the bell sleeve in my Marcus Bonna case. Fortunately I caught it but there is now a thumb and finger squeeze type dent in the bell and a ding in the body of the horn where the bell hit the horn. I also find aligning the body of the horn to the bell difficult. The horn is heavy and if I don’t get both sides lined up quickly I have to put the horn down, rest for a second, and try again.  However, If you are going to travel with your horn, a screw bell is almost mandatory.

Horns on the floor – Don’t do it. It’s so tempting to just set it down and go answer the phone or whatever. But until you take a flying leap over it and just barely miss the horn you may not appreciate this advice.

Grease those slides – You will inevitably ding the bell as you try to yank out the third valve crooks.

Don’t eat and blow – Be nice to your lead pipe please.

Be careful snaking – If you try to use a snake to clean out your horn, don’t push it so far into the valves that it gets stuck. It’s really, really hard to yank it back out. And the heart attack you get as you ponder what you’ve done isn’t pleasant.

Horn to mouth disease – Be careful bringing your horn to your mouth. Banging the mouthpiece on your lip is painful. Two times and counting so far.

Watch those risers – it’s not that funny when your chair falls backwards off the riser during the Star Spangled Banner.

Sleeping on the job – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx6N5lGlbZY&feature=email_. Watch to at least 50 seconds. Just in case you can’t tell, this is not me.

Lesson with a pro – Make sure you know your F horn fingerings – yes, all of them. Nuff said.

Count rests – Don’t come in a measure early when playing Fanfare for the Common Man.

Watch what you say – Don’t ask the 1st horn player what brand of ear plugs he uses when he’s actually removing his hearing aids.

Taking practice notes –  If you are going to review what you’ve written write more meaningful notes than ‘yuck’.

Watch for part 2. I’m sure there will be more.

After the meltdown and the Balanced Embouchure –>

How much is too much?

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Practice, practice and more practice. But how much is too much? Is there anyway to know for sure when to stop playing and put the horn down?

This is a question that I struggle with all the time. If I’m having a good day and actual music is flowing out from my horn I want to keep playing. The pieces I am working on just click. These are the days that make all the hard work worthwhile. These are the days when I know that I can play this instrument. Too bad they are so few and far between. On a good day I stop practicing when the good day starts going south, typically around two hours of playing with lots of breaks.

If I’m having a mediocre day (the norm for me) with missed notes here and there, sloppy slurs and fuzzy or constricted tone then I keep going because I know I should. I am trying to increase my endurance so as my playing deteriorates I start dropping the range that I practice in so that I can keep going. Again, I take plenty of breaks and try to get about two hours of practice in. On these days I don’t practice beyond two hours. Maybe I should. Or not. I just don’t know.

If I’m having a bad day – most notes are cracked or completely missed, tone is awful, range is shot – I pay attention my breathing to see if that is the problem. Usually it isn’t. I try to push through for a half hour or so but a day like this is so bad that the only thing to do is put the horn down for the day and resist the temptation to try again later in the day.

I should point out that none of these instances involve pain. I very rarely have any pain in my chops but when I do I stop.

So for the really bad days I stop out of frustration and because I feel like my chops are rebelling. But I don’t know this for sure. Maybe I should keep playing anyway. Or maybe two hours of practice on the good and mediocre days is too much even with all the breaks. Probably if I practiced less I’d have more good days, fewer mediocre days and even fewer bad days. But, how does endurance get better then? And with shorter practice sessions how do you get better technically?

The long term goal is to increase endurance by strengthening the muscles in the embouchure without causing harm. The short term goal is to have good practicing days while increasing endurance. When there’s no pain, where’s the point that tired chops turn into harmed chops and how do you know if you are at that point?

One simple answer is to ask your teacher. I have two teachers (more on that in another post). Before I started with the second teacher I would practice for about 40 minutes straight and then fade quickly. If I managed an hour that was a really good day. The interesting pearl of wisdom here is that the first 20 to 30 minutes were almost always good. I was at this level of time for months and months. I didn’t feel like I was making any progress.

When I talked about this endurance issue with my second teacher he said to practice for twenty minutes and then take a minimum 20 minute break and go on from there. He said to drop the range as I got tired. I’ve been using this approach for about two months now and I got up to about two hours of actual playing daily almost immediately. Adding the breaks was a huge help.

On my good days I can see that I have improved significantly over the past two months. But those mediocre and bad days sure are frustrating. I have the luxury of plenty of time to practice all day if I had the chops. Maybe I should push to three hours, accept that there might be even more bad days, but then see improvement at a faster pace.  Those good days where I see the improvement are really rewarding. Or, maybe I should drop back and enjoy more good days and just deal with improving more slowly. I’m not a particularly patient person so I like option one better.

It’s a conundrum, not only for me but I think for anyone returning to the horn. We remember, or think we remember, where we were when we stopped and we want to get back there fast. We forget that back then we had been playing for years – junior high, high school, college – and that our endurance developed so gradually that we didn’t even notice it was happening.

So what to do? What did you do to develop endurance? Thoughts?

Bits and pieces –>

Ice Cubes, Oh No!

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January 23rd, 2009: After a fairly strenuous practice session I decided to try putting some ice cubes on my chops. Well, I got them from the fridge and didn’t think about what I was doing and put one up to my lips. It stuck on my lips and I stupidly pulled it off taking some skin with it. Ouch.

The tear on my lips couldn’t have come at a worse time – I had a lesson and band rehearsal the next day and my new custom mouthpiece arrived that day. (Please read ‘My Mouthpiece Saga‘ for more info on the mouthpiece.)  I asked for help on the Yahoo Horn Forum and got many valuable suggestions. These included applying Close-up toothpaste, Vaseline, and Blistex. The suggestion that seemed to work the best for me was to apply Vitamin E oil by breaking open a capsule and putting it directly on my lips. This was messy but my lips felt better immediately and by the next afternoon I was playing again.

On the days when I don’t do something so stupid, I use Chop Saver to prevent chapped and split lips. This is my personal choice. I’m sure there are other products that also work well. One caveat, I have heard that some lip balm products contain ingredients such as phenol, camphor, and/or menthol that may dry out the lips and may become habit forming requiring constant reapplication.  I’ve also noticed that I play better when I stay hydrated.

But why use an ice cube at all?

My chops were tired on the day of my ice cube fiasco. At the time I thought that applying ice was the right thing to do. I’ve had cold drinks after playing and it feels very good. Now that I’ve done some reading and asked some questions I’ve come to the conclusion that ice was most likely NOT the right thing to do. Most of us know the RICE acronym. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. I’ve had enough sports injuries to know that this is what is typically recommended for an injury. But if you run a marathon, go for a long bike ride or  – insert your favorite sport here – your muscles get tired. You want to massage the muscles, creating warmth, when you are done. i.e – you want to stimulate blood flow not compress it. So with my tired chops increasing blood flow with a hot drink would have been more appropriate, not ice. Bear in mind that I am not a physician. This is my opinion based on my experiences only. Now I drink a hot cup of tea after I practice. Even if it does nothing else, at least it’s relaxing.

Twitter, Huh? –>

The Meltdown

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January 16th 2009: I had about the worst lesson I’ve ever had. A friend of mine called it my meltdown which is a very good description. I couldn’t play at all. I had been practicing double pedal notes for a couple of weeks because I heard about a technique called the Balanced Embouchure (more about that in a future post) on one of the forums and I bought the method book. I’m no different than most beginners who grasp for solutions that we hope will be the magic elixir to solve playing problems.

Back to the lesson. I demonstrated how good I’ve gotten at the double pedals but I couldn’t play a scale starting from the C below middle C and just starting on that C was almost impossible. From middle C to third space C wasn’t much better. Clam C – splat – burp – hiccup – G – A – splat – C. I’m sure you get the idea. Lynn, my teacher said that I am dropping my jaw way too much and thinks it may be due to working with the double pedal notes before I was ready to do that. The lesson here: Talk to your teacher or someone you trust before you embark on some technique that, although it might work for someone else, may not be right for you. I think there is huge value in reading what both the amateurs and the professionals have to say on the horn forum. I just think it’s not wise to dive into something without evaluating it carefully.

During my lesson I was overshooting or missing completely almost every note. Forget about playing any scales, slurs or arpeggios. You would think I had just picked up the horn last week it was that bad. Really, it was that bad. Absolutely nothing went right. Lynn was very patient, but oh my gosh this was embarrassing.  She said that my tone was very constricted all through my range and nothing at all like the good tone I had last week.

Last week was the first time Lynn heard my new horn and she said it was a huge improvement. I was leaning in that direction too. The day before this lesson I was working on the first movement of Strauss #1 and I think I was doing pretty well with it for me. In general after a more strenuous practice session, and for me Strauss 1 is strenuous, the next day isn’t stellar, but it’s never been as horrid as it was during my lesson.

Confusion and frustration are clogging my brain. What did I do to cause such a bad day? Did I do anything to cause such a bad day? I know that we all have good days and bad days, however this was so bad I actually thought about giving up for about 60 seconds. Fortunately my recent purchase of a new horn squashed that thought pretty quickly.

Ice Cubes, Oh No! –>

The New Horn Part 2

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Late January 2009: I’ve been playing my new Hoyer for about three weeks now. My intonation issues with it are getting better slowly. For the most part it’s the third space C that gives me trouble by sounding consistently sharp. I have been working on developing the correct muscle memory to play the C in tune. I play the C repeatedly holding the note steady while watching the tuner. I make sure that the needle is dead center. I do this for several minutes every day. It’s boring but it does seem to be working. Did I mention that it’s boring? If I play the note with my eyes closed and then look at the tuner it is much closer to center this week than it was last week.

When I first tried the horn I wasn’t sure I loved the sound of the instrument. In fact, I was pretty darn skeptical. That has changed now. I love the sound. I think I had to learn what the horn wanted me to do. I needed a lot more air support for the Yamaha and I was overblowing the Hoyer. I’ve learned how to control my air better and now on good chops days I can make the Hoyer really sing. In fact, on good chops days I’m pretty happy with how I play.

Of course, I still have more bad days than good days. That makes those rare good days all the better. The new horn certainly wasn’t a quick fix for all my playing problems but I never had good days with the Yamaha that are as good as they are now with the Hoyer. My bad days with the Hoyer are more like the good days with the Yamaha. Now it’s time for a new mouthpiece.

My Mouthpiece Saga –>

The New Horn

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Late December 2008: I brought the horn home two days before Christmas. I can’t wait to play it but I am on doctor’s orders to wait for two weeks past my surgery date of Dec. 19th. Talk about frustration.

Early January 2009: Finally I can play the new horn. The valves are an absolute delight. Slides pull easily. In fact, everything except intonation is fabulous. The intonation worries me. It’s a big deal especially since I played the Yamaha in tune. The third space C is very sharp and middle C is somewhat sharp. I have spoken with Scott Bacon (the fellow who sold me the horn) and the first thing he said to do was find out what frequency the horn is calibrated to on middle C when I play it with all the slides pushed in. The way to do this is to turn on the tuner, set it at 440, close your eyes and try to center the note. Then look at the tuner. Keep adjusting the tuner (in my case up) until it reads in the center. For me, and I emphasize me, this turns out to be 452 on the Bb horn with the F horn just slightly flatter. I think we both were surprised at the value and were expecting something around 445. Scott thinks it’s up at 452 because I’m not finding the notes’ center yet. One theory is that I learned to play the Yamaha in tune but that it’s inherently flat. My muscle memory therefore is set in a way that would have me play sharp on a horn that is in tune.

A few words on finding the notes’ center for the new hornist. I’m probably a victim of brain fog but I don’t remember learning about centering notes back when I used to play. I just tuned my horn and played in tune or at least I thought I was playing in tune. Maybe I was lucky and had a horn that had decent intonation. More likely, since most horns have a few notes that are inherently bad, I just learned how to deal with them appropriately. And the appropriate intonation varies depending on the key you are in and who you are playing with (piano, chamber group, orchestra, etc.) Once your horn is in tune with itself, when playing in groups the tuner is not your friend, you have to use your ear.

Anyway, back to centering notes. My understanding is that horns have slots for each note and depending on the brand of horn, these slots vary in size. You can play high (sharp) in the slot, in the center of the slot or low (flat) in the slot. This lets you lip up or lip down notes to get them in tune. (Positioning your right hand in the bell correctly also plays a huge role in achieving good intonation.) When a beginner plays a horn with wider slots they are more likely to get the note without clamming it, but also are more likely to play the note out of tune. For horns with narrower slots, beginners are more likely to clam notes but when they get the note, it’s more likely to be in tune. I have heard that most custom horns have narrow slots.

I think my new Hoyer has fairly large slots. I can play the third space C to the point where it’s almost a C# and I can lip it down so that it is in tune when I watch the tuner. My natural tendency is to play the note quite sharp and to play most of the horn somewhat sharp. Pulling the tuning slides all the way out helps a bit but also makes a few other notes flat.

Mid January 2009: Some progress. The intonation is getting a bit better. I can play many notes in tune at 440 with the main tuning slide fully out.  Third space C is a tiny bit better. Checking the calibration, it’s now around 449 so it is also getting better. I’m starting to believe that I may be able to conquer the intonation issue.  My teacher has played the horn and she plays it in tune. However, even if she plays it in tune I’m the one that ultimately has to play this horn.

The good news is, other than the intonation issue, that I’m playing way better on it than I was even a few days ago and so much better than on the Yamaha words can’t really describe it. (Well not really but I can dream, LOL.) I have fewer gurgles between notes and I don’t clam as much.

The New Horn Part 2 –>

Buying a Horn

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The horn I’ve been using since I started playing again is a Yamaha 668 that is about 15 – 20 years old. It’s somewhat beat up. The valves need some work and the slides are very hard to pull. All of this is completely fixable and by itself does not warrant the purchase of a new (or new to me) horn. But, it’s a large bell horn. Playing my teacher’s Hill, a geyer wrap, medium bell horn was definitely easier for me. I’m sure in the long run, I could become proficient using the Yamaha but I firmly believe that it would take longer and be a lot more frustrating.

For the past two months I have been alternating playing either the Yamaha 668, a Conn 8D which I borrowed from my teacher, or a Holton 180 which I just bought to try to figure out if the horn has anything to do with my problems. I have about 21 more days to return the Holton.  I have the most trouble playing the Yamaha – it requires lots of air, I have lots of missed attacks, clammed notes, and tone that goes fuzzy very quickly. I also gurgle between notes a lot. I feel like the Conn is easier to play, however, I can’t seem to play the Conn in tune and this drives me crazy. Also, the position of the keys and thumb causes pain in my hand. I do find the Holton easier to play than either of the other horns, I have more range, and my husband and mother say I sound better. This horn, however, has at least one solder joint broken somewhere and has very sluggish valves so I am considering returning it. Though, it still may be a good horn for me and I should just get it fixed. However, I bought this from a very well known music store and I don’t like the fact that they didn’t take care of these obvious problems before they put it up for sale. It makes me wonder what the service for this horn will be like. All of these horns are similar to each other and none of them are as easy as the Hill.

So how do I pick the right horn? I started by asking questions on the Yahoo Forum. I asked for some suggestions about playing characteristics of different horns with maybe some insight on better choices for me. I don’t feel that I play well enough to go play lots of different horns, nevermind finding them to play (I have since learned about all the horn workshops that have tons of horns to test), and make any decision.  I did a search on the web and found an article on buying a horn by Dr. Eldon Matlick. This article was extremely helpful.

Here’s my criteria / considerations:

‘Easiness’ – I don’t know how to describe this except to say that I found my Yamaha ‘harder’ to play than the Conn. I found the Holton easier than the Conn. Easiest of all was my teachers Hill. Easy to me is what range I get, how much air I need, can I play in tune, are the attacks clean, how are the slurs, etc.

Intonation – Is there a Bb tuning slide. Reputation of brand for intonation.

Sound – Warm, dark

Quality – reputation of brand, known or rumored faults (like Holton’s have bad valves or where the Conn’s were manufactured.)

Type of music most likely to play – chamber.

Bell throat size – medium.

Physical Characteristics – Type of wrap. Location of thumb trigger. (I can’t play the Conn 8D without lots of pain in my hand.) Adjustable pinky ring or alternative.

Recommendations – Is there one brand that get more recommendations than the others.

New / used – no preference.

Location of vendor – Local (within a days drive), or web based.

Budget – under 5K (for new horns, not list but typical selling price.)

The recommendations played the biggest role in my final decision. I narrowed my choices down to a Holton Geyer Merker 192 or a Hoyer 6801 PMAL. I have a sentimental attachment to Holtons because I played a circa 1960’s nickel silver 179 in school. The Hoyer, a medium bell model, comes highly recommended by many people. The decision between the two came down to where I had to buy them. The Holton was available from a web based store or by special order from a semi-local music store chain. The Hoyer was orderable from an extremely reputible vendor, Siegfried’s Call, who would get the horn in for me to try without my paying for it first. I decided to buy the Hoyer assuming that I liked it once I played it.

I went up to Seigfried’s Call, about a three hour drive from my home, two days before Christmas 2008 and four days after I had surgery and doctor’s orders not to play for two weeks. This was not the most appropriate time to buy a horn but I had ordered it before the surgery and didn’t realize that I would not be allowed to play it. Well I played it anyway but very carefully.

I have to say that it was not love at first note. I didn’t really like the sound too much when I played it but I really couldn’t put any chops to it. I asked Scott Bacon, the owner of Siegfried’s Call, to play the horn for me and I liked it a bit better. Again, no love yet. So why buy it? I heard so many good things about Scott and spent enough time talking to him that day that I decided to trust him when he told me I would love the horn soon enough. So I bought it. Stay tuned for more about the horn.

The New Horn –>

Progress? Fall 2008

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I’ve been taking lessons since August 2008. I practice daily. I try hard to practice correctly. However, on many days I feel like I’m going downhill or stuck in a rut. If I am having a good day, my chops will last about 45 minutes. In the very beginning it was about 20 minutes so there is some improvement but 20 minutes turned into 45 minutes very quickly and I’ve been stuck at 45 minutes for months. Very occasionally I can get to an hour. It’s frustrating. I actually have the time to practice more. Moreover, I don’t have enough chop time to work on the things  – warm-ups, scales, etudes, and actual music – that might actually help me improve.

I feel like 3 months ago I was playing longer before tiring but I suspect that what’s really happening is that I am better than I was 3 months ago for the first 20 or so minutes and then I revert to how I was playing for the whole time back then. What starts to happen over the hours’ time is that my notes get more and more fuzzy even though I work hard to keep my breathing and air support the same as at the beginning of practice. It’s frustrating.

Around mid October Lynn, my private teacher, started me working on Franz Strauss Nocturno. I’ve been at it for weeks. I keep struggling on the same passages. The piece starts on Ab (Horn in F) and goes down a half step to G, then back to Ab, up to Db, then down to C. I’ll be darned if I can play a clean transition from the G to the Ab. It’s a gurgle or a clam every time. Geesh. If I break the passage down and only play the G to Ab it’s usually ok. If I add the opening Ab, not so much. Of course this is not the only passage that I have trouble with, I seem to gurgle consecutive notes fairly frequently. Intervals of 3rds and up are better. When I say ‘gurgle’ I mean that there is not a clean transition from one note to the next. It’s note – gurgle – next note. Once I get to the next note it is clear. I wouldn’t exactly call it a clam. To me that is more like a splat – note combination or just missing the note entirely.

My range hasn’t improved either. I can play from the G below middle C up two octaves. I’m sure some of you are thinking that’s great for playing for about 6 months. But again, I got there months ago and haven’t improved since then.

So I start trying to analyze the problems – endurance, range and sloppy playing. I want to blame equipment. Lynn tells me it’s most likely poor breathing. She works with me on that continuously. I usually start playing and it’s “Stop. You didn’t breathe. Take a deep breath from the diaphram. Put the horn down and let’s practice breathing. Then use the mouthpiece and buzz. Now pick up the horn.” On goes the metronome. 1,2, 3 – take deep breath on 4 – and play. What Lynn keeps harping on is that breathing properly is critical. My opinion – It helps all three problems I have. More air = better endurance, less pressure. Faster air = better range. Better air support, less gurgles between notes. All that being said I still think I have a problem playing my horn. Back to the Nocturno. I try Lynn’s horn, a Hill, and I don’t gurgle. It just feels easier to play. I guess I don’t really need to get a new horn but if it can help, even a little, it will be worth it.

Buying a Horn –>

Time for a Teacher

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August 2008: It’s time for a private teacher. I’m improving very slowly on my own but I need guidance and goals. I also need to make sure I’m not practicing and therefore learning bad habits. Fortunately for me, my daughter has a good friend, Lynn,  who is a doctoral candidate in horn performance. Lynn lives about 5 minutes from my house and will come to me for my lessons. This is fantastic. I don’t have to go through the find a teacher routine. We talk on the phone and I make sure she knows what she’s in for. I tell her I was competent once but now I’m probably playing like a good 6th grader. Or maybe a not so good 6th grader.

My first lesson is okay. We start with doing a simple warm-up routine that I will continue to use. I play stuff from the Rubank Soloist Folio. I’m really nervous and I clam more than my usual number of notes. We talk about my embouchure and Lynn thinks it’s good. Phew. So what’s with the lack of endurance I ask. I’m still at the twenty minute mark. After that my tone, such as it is, gets fuzzy and I miss more and more notes. Patience! More patience.  We talk about maximizing the value of practice within the time frame my chops are giving me. Don’t just play through things. Work on the problem spots by slowing them down. Slowing them down means go as slowly as necessary to play the passage correctly. Play it correctly for at least three times and then pick up the speed just a bit. Repeat this again and again slowly getting faster. If you start making mistakes at the new tempo slow it back down again. If you don’t do this all you do is learn your mistakes.

Lynn asks me if I know how to count beats in 6/8 time. Of course I say. Ha. Turns out my counting isn’t so great. I don’t hold notes long enough. I rush 8th notes and I slow down 16th notes. I guess my mother, my accompanist, is adapting to my bad rhythm. How nice of her. LOL. I don’t remember having trouble with this when I used to play. Lynn says I need to use a metronome so I go buy one. She also asks me to buy Preparatory Melodies for Solo Work for Horn by Pottag which is the etude book we will start working with.

Second lesson: I have the book and the metronome. The metronome arrived in the middle of the week and I start to use it and it drives me crazy. I discover that I have a new skill. I can completely ignore it. It goes tick, tick, tick…. and I play tock, tock, tock so to speak. In fact, it takes an amazing amount of concentration for me to play in time with the metronome. I have to really force myself to practice with the metronome and for the most part I don’t use it. (Sorry Lynn.)

I play a few notes before Lynn arrives. Then we do warm-ups together. I don’t have the chops yet to do significant warming up before a lesson. After the warm-ups we take out the Pottag book and start on the first etude. At first glance it looks easy. Then I try to play it. It isn’t that easy. I miss a bunch of notes. Some of this is nervousness about playing for Lynn. We work on the etude for a bit and then move on to a piece in the Rubank book called The Victor. In my case we should call it The Clam. I don’t think I have to say anymore.

Progress? Fall 2008 — >