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The High School Hornist: What to Expect

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 soon so be sure to check back for future posts!
Major scales and arpeggios - expanding over the full range of the horn
Minor scales - what are the three types and why do we need to know them all
Bass clef - a crash course in reading bass clef and how to select the best fingerings when playing below the treble staff, along with what old notation is and how to identify when a piece is written in old notation
Transposition - why we need to do this and how to become fluent in every key
Articulations - different types of attacks along with double and triple tonguing
Pedagogy books - which ones are must haves and how to approach them
Warming up - how to decide what works best for you
Etudes - what an etude is, how are they used, and where to start
Solos - why are Mozart and Strauss the most standard and how to find other works
Orchestral excerpts - what they are and why we use them
Practicing - a guide to using mindmapping and bullet journaling to plan your practice
Tuning - how to practice intonation and why a tuner should not be your best friend
Ensembles - the different types where the horn is found and how they are used
Section playing - how each member of the section contributes to the whole and how to create a positive environment
Other blogs and websites - other online resources that are out there and who their target audiences are
Degree options - a description of the types of degrees in music you can earn and the types of jobs they can create
Selecting a teacher and a school - what to look for in a teacher and a college program along with some red flags to watch out for
Selecting a horn - an overview of the different kinds of horns that exist and how/why people chose each
Selecting a mouthpiece - an explanation of what the different numbers mean, what the different parts are, and how to find what works best for you

This list will change and evolve throughout time! Leave a comment below if there is anything you wish was on this list!

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