Skip to main content

Accuracy

Accuracy


Accuracy is a challenge we face as horn players on the daily basis, especially the higher in our range. To combat this, there are some fun ways to work through fundamental exercises and help your accuracy at the same time. The best way to start is just playing scales and arpeggios with different articulations at varying dynamic levels. Work on playing scales in your full range as loud as possible to as soft as possible while playing the notes from slurred all the way to staccato. This will give you some ideas about where you have the biggest holes in accuracy.
Josef Schantl wrote a book of studies called Grand Theoretical and Practical Method for the Valve Horn as a series of over 200 exercises in all major and minor keys. Not only does this book help with the fluency of all key signatures, but can be a resource when working on accuracy issues. He has suggestions on articulations written throughout so feel free to use those as needed, but play around with dynamics more than anything. Once you have an exercise down, play it across a wide dynamic range to help all notes become more comfortable.
There is also an app called Quality Tones that will randomly select one note at a time for you to play. You can customize the range, dynamics, and articulation types that the app can throw at you. Once you hit start, you are timed at various intervals to perform the note before it changes to a new one. This is a fun tool to have literally in your pocket that you can work on for a few minutes a day. You can start with basic concepts and range and then build from there as you become more comfortable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Women Writing Chamber Music

Women Writing Chamber Music For my Chamber Music Literature class, I created a presentation on chamber music works that have been written by women that include the horn. I wanted to write about works by women because they are so seldom heard. My goal was to find a video performance of each work so that the audience would have an audio and visual representation of the piece. This project was more difficult than expected in some ways. While there are a few resources that highlight chamber music by female composers, they are typically outdated and include pieces that I was not able to find any information on the composer, let alone the piece itself. The project was enjoyable to work on and I hope to be adding more pieces in the future. The current list highlights selections from 1849 to 2018. If you have any suggestions on pieces to add, please comment below! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MMmnOz8YykQakaPRcjYDzzHg0uwH97ch5ClT6KJjK8U
Post a Comment
Read more

Intonation

Intonation Learning how to play in tune with yourself and others should be a fun process for you. It takes patience and attention to detail, but the end results are life changing for your playing. First off, make sure you have a metronome and a tuner. There are lots of apps that exist today for these, but if you are willing to spend a little money, I recommend the TonalEnergy Tuner. This app lets you have the metronome and tuner going at the same time. You can also have the app play drones, which we will get to shortly. First, make sure that your horn is in tune with itself and a tuner. There are many different types of horns with different tuning systems so it is best to get help from someone with experience tuning the horn the first time you do this. I also have found this video by Matthew Hogan useful for students to get an introduction to tuning the horn. The best place to start is by learning your tendencies. Each note will require a little adjustment to get perfectly in
Post a Comment
Read more

Articulations

Articulations When you are playing each note, remember that there is a beginning, middle, and end. Each part of the note requires definition and equal attention. Articulations are often what causes us to make the most mistakes. There are different ways to approach articulations, but we are going to keep it simple with a “too” approach. Start by just slowly saying the word “too.” Feel the shape your mouth makes and where the tip of your tongue makes contact. It should be around the back of your top teeth, just where the roof of your mouth meets the teeth. This creates a well-rounded attack that works great on the horn. The higher in the range you are playing, your tongue will move further up from that position, and the lower you play, your tongue will move further down. This motion should happen naturally, but if you find yourself making unclear beginnings to notes, check in with where your tongue is making the initial attack. Make sure that after you make the attack, your t
Post a Comment
Read more