French Horn SOS! First Notes, Fundamentals, and Fixing It: Teaching strategjes and resources every director should know for their beginning to college level horn players. Dr. Abigail Pack, Associate Professor of Horn Unversity of North Carolina ~ Greensboro Greensboro, NC27407 alpack@uncgyedu Introduction: |. Getting your beginning horn players started — Top Ten List 1. quality instrument with hard case 2. medium cup mouthpiece 9. valve oil 4. tuning slide cream 5. cleaning snake and lint-free cloth 6. mouthpiece brush 7. straight mute (tunable for high school/more advanced students) 8. tuner 9. metronome 10. private lessons! 11. Equipment HORNS. 1. Beginning Horns * single horns ~ Yamaha “standard”, Holton “student horns* *make sure it is pitched in F, not a single B flat horn © double homs - Holton “Farkas”, Holton *Merker”, Yamaha Intermediate 2. Intermediate hos (high school/not-so-serious players) + all should play double horns ~ Holton, Yamaha Intermediate/ Professional/Custom, Conn *CONNstellation”, Conn “Symphony? series, Hans Hoyer 3. Advanced horns (serious high school/rising, music majors)* encourage these students to attend regjonal horn workshops (can be found at www.hornsociety.org and look up your state’s Area Representative) so that they may test the multitude of hos for sale. Seek advice of a horn teacher, MOUTHPIECES 1. Average/ Medium Cups * Holton MC or MDC, Conn 5BW (wide) or SBN (narrow) * Custom- Shilke, Giardinelli, Stork, Laskey, Moosewood MUTES 1. Straight Mutes * Tunable vs Non-Tunable © Tunable are usually taller and have a lever inside that can be pulled out (pitch goes up*) or pushed in (pitch goes down) ‘turingis opposite of slides © Non-Tunable are usually less expensive, can be short or tall and have a fixed intonation © Pitch can be adjusted by height/thickness of cork used to keep mute from falling out * Cheap Student models vs Custom better quality models © Student- Humes and Berg, Farkas Omni Mute © Intermediate/Custom/better quality models- Dennis Wick, Balu, TrumCor (have never tried “Jo Ral”) 2. Brass Mutes: brass mute (aka stop mute)= right hand/stopped horn + Use.a brass notes for longer passages that require steady pitch and consistent tone (also fingered 1/2 step lower on F horn) * Use stopped horn/right hand for single note/few notes, or where there isn’t time to insert a brass/stop mute * Dennis Wick, Alexander, Humes and Berg (cheaper)M. Suggested method books/repertoire 1. Beginning Method/ttude Books (middle school) * The Dale Clevenger French Hom Methods (2 volumes) © First/Second Book of Practical Studies, R. Getchell * ATirst Book of Etudes, A. Goldstein AFirst Book of Exercises ATirst Book of Solos 2. Intermediate Method/ttude Books (middle school-high school) * Primary Studies for the French Horn, A. Horner + Pottag-Hovey Method for French Hom (2 volumes) * Second Book of Studies, A. Goldstein + Sixty Selected Studies, C. Kopprasch 3. Advanced Method/ttude Books (high school) = Deux cents Etudes Nouvelles Books 1 and 2 (in 6 books), Maxime-Alphonse * Preparatory Melodies to Solo Work, M. Pottag, * Concone Lyrical Studies for Trumpet or Horn, J. Sawyer * Melodious Studies for French Horn, E. Miersch * Rubank Advanced Method, H. Voxman * Sixty Selected Studies, C. Kopprasch 4. College level Preparatory Method/Etude Books (rising freshman) * Deux cents Etudes Nowvells Books and up, Maxime-Alphonse + 339 Selected Melodious Progressive and Technical Studies for French Horn Volume! (2 volumes), Pottag & Andraud * Sixty Selected Studies, C. Kopprasch 5. Beginning Level Solos (middle school) * Solo Sounds for the French Horn, level 1-3, Belwin * First Solos for the Horn Player, M. Jones 6. Intermediate Level Solos (middle school-high school) + Solos for the Horn Player, M. Jones + Froydis Favorite Prunes, 3 volumes, F. Wekre. * Concerto 1 and 3, Mozart * Concert Rondo, Mozart7. Advanced Level Solos (high school-tising freshman) * Solos for the Horn Player, M. Jones * Concerto 2 and 4, Mozart * Intermezzo, Nocturne, Romance, Valse Triste, Gliere * Nocturne, Op. 7, F. Strauss * Concerto, Op. 8, Fr. Strauss * Concerto 1, Op. Ii, R. Strauss: * Sonata, Op. 17, Beethoven * Morceau de Concert, Saint-Saéns Fundamental Horn Skill 1. Sound/tone production a. Air usage and breathing: “OH ~ TEW? + breathing exercises + filla balloon b. Embouchure, mouthpiece placement and the buzz i ‘spita seed? “mmm — peu” + 2/5upper lip, 1/5 lower lip * motor boat c. Tongue position and tonguing * arch the tongue for high notes/ drop for lower notes * tongue to the bottom of teeth for crisp articulation “t/th” * tongue to gum/teeth line for legato articulation “doh” d. Range * comers tight in all registers * arch tongue and create small air stream/blow down= higher + lower tongue and create larger oral cavity/blow straight= lowerIl. Posture and Body Awareness a. Holding the horn left Fingers on keys/ pinky in ring/ thumb in ring, or on trigger (double horn key) “Leather Specialties Horn Holding Strap” fastens with Velcro right hand cupped to catch water/ beauty pageant wave right hand placed in “clock” with middle knuckle where the bell begins to flare at 2:00-3:00 right hand fingers stay together with all knuckles resting against brass b. On-the-leg or off-the-leg? Both feet flat on floor, body to front of chair On-the-leg: legs at 90° (or close), adjust knee to adjust leadpipe height Off-the-leg; offers more control vs. heavier weight Very short/young players: horn can stay on leg, Very tall players: horn should be off leg! c Right hand position + Cupped to catch water/ beauty pageant wave Middle knuckle placed at flare of bell at 2 o’clock or 3 o'clock Very large hands will be further out, very small hands will be further in Wrist should be straight from side to side but can be very slightly bent as part of “cupping” Very young players can hold inside of bell until they are old/big enough to assume proper hand positiond. Leadpj ipeangle * Greatly effected by on-the-leg/off-the-leg, + On-the-leg= higher leadpipe angle/more upper lip pressure + Off-the-leg= greater control of leadpipe angle + Angle of leadpipe should stay lower for high range (avoid pressure on upper lip) * Head should remain straight in relation to air column!t! Il. Basic Technical development/refinement of sound a. Tuning concepts . Thies that effect pitch Room temperature (cold = flat, hot = sharp) I. Slide positions (in = flat, out = sharp) Gf you're not sure whatit does, pull it out) I, Right hand position (in = flat, out = sharp) IV. Leadpipe angle (high = sharp) V. Valve combinations/alternate fingerings b. Plexibility * Lip Slurs 1. Little~ whole book! w. Farkas PS: 33-35, 58-61 I. Singer pg. 9 IN. Fearn PS 1-2 c. Sound/blend/volume * Long tones I Farkas ps 32 I, Singer pg. 5-6 * Dynamic studies ‘blastandos” 1. Brophy pg, 6-7, 12 I. Berv pg. 39-40d. Finger technique (fingerings for single and double horn) * Scales and arpeggios 1. Singer pg, 18-26 I, Pares- whole book! WM. Davies- whole book! * Chromatic scale patterns 1 Pares pg, 26-27 I, Arban pg, 76-86 * Other technical etudes 1. Kopprasch- whole book! e. Accuracy + Arpeggios 1. Hill- whole book! I, Singer pg. 9-17 I Parkas pg, 33-36 + Fifths and octaves (larger intervals) 1. Parkas pg 37-38 WV. Advanced Technical: a. Variety of scales/arpeggjos in three octaves (major and minor) b. Multiple tonguing ~ Arbans * Double tonguing © du-gu/tu-ku * Triple tonguing, 0° TKTTKT/TTK TTK/ TKT KTK c. Muting, stopped horn, trills and transposition + Muting- see equipment list * Stopped Horn ©. Finger one half step lower on F horn ° Brophy Ps 25-27* Lip Trills 0 Below34 space C- use F horn fingerings 0 Above 3 space C- use B flat horn fingerings o Farkas pg. 58-59 9 Brophy pg, 17-22 * Transposition © Find the Interval of Transposition © Best practiced through orchestral excerpts and easy ctudes (transposed into other keys) © Old Notation is played one octave higher than printed Selected Horn Books: ACreative Approach to the French Horn, H. Berv (Presser) Complete Conservatory Methode, Arban (Fischer) Daily Exercises and Scales, G. Pares (Fischer) Embouchure Builder, Little (Warner Bros) Embouchure Building for Horn, J. Singer (Belwin) Exercises for Mexible Horn Playing, W. Fearn (Presser) Scales and Arpeggios for the Horn, J. Davies (Boosey & Hawkes) Sixty Selected Studies, C. Kopprasch (Fischer Intl) Technical Studies for Solving Problems on Horn, W. Brophy (Fischer) The Art of French Horn Playing, P. Farkas (Summy-Birchard) Warm-Ups and Maintenance Sessions for the Horn Player, D. Hill (RGM)