The High School Hornist

Scales: Chromatic/Major/Minor Scales are a great starting point for fundamentals on the horn. Most exercises are built around scales and arpeggios so learning them early is key. I suggest starting with a chromatic scale. Find a trusty fingering chart from one of your band books or online ( http://www.public.asu.edu/~jqerics/HornFingeringChart.pdf ) and find a note that is in the middle of your current range that is comfortable to play. From there, work your way chromatically down as low as you can continue to get notes to speak. When you reach your lowest possible note, turn around and work your way back to to where you started. Now do the same thing going up. Go as high as you can without forcing and come back down. This is a great starting point for getting to know your way around the full range of the horn and you should start memorizing your chromatic scale as soon as possible. Then we need to work on major scales. Full range of the horn makes it possible to play every sca...

The High School Hornist: What to Expect Hello! And welcome to my blog! My name is Tracy Bass and I am currently finishing my Doctor of Music Arts degree at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Thank you for checking out this blog! This is going to serve as home to projects I did during my time at UMKC and will also be a collective resource for high school students who want to major in music in college. I got a late start to horn and never had private lessons before starting college. My first semester, I was put fourth horn in orchestra and had no idea what I was in for. I was expected to read bass clef and transpose which were two things that I had no idea that the horn did. My goal with this blog is to create a resource for high school students and teachers to use when preparing for what a horn player can expect to see at the collegiate level. Below is a checklist of topics that will be explored. Each item will have its own blog post coming...