Practical Horn Pedagogy Dr. Abigail Pack ABC 2017 Session 1: The Fundamentals of Posture and Mouthpiece Placement Session 2: Embouchure and Tone Production Session 3: More Technique and Troubleshooting
Technique and Troubleshooting (and review) Most common posture problems Most common embouchure problems Most common sound/ tone production problems Technique beyond the basics such as: trills, multiple tonguing, and stopped horn
Most Common Posture Problems Reviewed: head crooked slouched elbows out right hand position height of horn needing adjustment
Most Common Embouchure Problems Reviewed: corners not tight mouthpiece too low bunched chin lips rolled in (like trumpet or oboe) cheeks puffed out (like Louis)
raspy tone=aperture not circular (lips rolled in) (loose corners) lack of range bad high range=too much pressure, mouthpiece too low bad low range=mouthpiece probably too low Most Common Sound Problems Reviewed: too quiet/ not enough air=loose corners sharp intonation/ pinched tone=loose corners
Advanced Technical Development (harder stuff your students may encounter) Tu-Ku = light, staccato, crisp/ tongue to the front Du-Gu = legato, smoothe/ tongue at D syllable Tu-Ku-Tu Tu-Tu-Ku Tu-Ku-Tu, Ku-Tu-Ku
Just Stop it How to Stop a Horn (Take a screen shot of this) POSTURE Arms and shoulders relaxed Sit up straight Elbows relaxed at your side RIGHT HAND SHAPE for open position Cup water/ beauty pageant wave/ fingers together Middle knuckle at 2:00 3:00 in the clock Elbow ALWAYS stays down and relaxed All pivoting is in the WRIST and knuckles ONLY RIGHT HAND SHAPE for closed position Pivot at the wrist and knuckles ONLY Create a seal with the inside of the wrist against the opposite side of the bell Fingers and palm are in a 90 bend Fingers and thumb swell to seal bell as much as possible
Continued TRANSPOSITION REQUIRED All notes are played ONE HALF STEP LOWER Fingerings are F-Horn (*exception to the rule: alternate fingerings, including on the B-flat horn, are ok if it improves pitch, but usually don t, esp. in low range) SOUND Cuivré (brassy) and piercing, TONS of aggressive air Intonation must match TIPS Sometimes you must drop your jaw more to accommodate a larger quantity of air (which achieves the best sound) in mid- to low-range notes Notes below middle C (horn pitch) are VERY difficult to play in tune, therefore, have a couple cheap brass mutes/ stop mutes in the class (remember cool stopped horn demo from session #1?)
Stopped Horn Stopped Muting English: stopped muted/with mute German: gestopf gedampf/ mit dampfer French: bouché avec sourdine Italian: chiuso con sordino + is stopped horn in all languages
Trills Lip Trills versus Valve Trills Lip Trills- produce whole steps only -are done with the embouchure (not instrument shaking) slurring between partials, takes lots of practice -are produced with good AIR Valve Trills- produce half steps and whole steps -should be done between notes that are in the key signature -often more effective when B-flat horn fingerings are used
The Secret to Transposition Horn in F...to...Horn in what is the interval of transposition? Key of (given)...to...key of ******** ex. Horn in F...to...Horn in E flat the interval of transposition is one whole-step/m2 down Key of G...to...Key of F ******** ex. Horn in F...to...Horn in D the interval of transposition is three half steps/m3 down Key of E...to...Key of C#
Final Fast Facts You Need to know that will help A LOT: 90% of the problems are the student, not the horn/mouthpiece (assuming the horn is adequate) POSTURE is EXTREMELY important Telling horn students to use more air is ineffective if they don t what to do The #1 overall problem I address in college horn majors = weak corners/weak buzz The #2 issue that I address in college horn players = incorrect right hand position/posture
Questions, Comments, Complaints.. Final thought: If your students are so good that you don t know what to say, find them a private teacher