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Enough High School Hornists?
First, if you are a high school age hornist and you are reading this, you have made a good choice! The horn is a great instrument with a lot of great music to play. I still remember quite a bit about the music I played in high school, there are a lot of good horn parts out there.
I wish I knew where to look for hard statistics but I have to believe the overall number of high school aged hornists is lower than it should be, probably a lot lower than it should be. Phoenix may be the fifth largest city in USA but it can’t possibly be fifth largest in terms of high school age horn players. Or junior high hornists either. I spoke at some length last week to an area music educator, and what he said was not encouraging. The numbers are way too low.
This is a large issue; we all have to be a part of the solution. In terms of me, I hope that my new publications and especially Introducing the Horn and the mellophone book will have a positive impact on horn pedagogy and do something to help raise the numbers of high school aged hornists in not only my area but also worldwide.
975 articles: JOHN ERICSON has wide-ranging experience as an orchestral player, soloist, and teacher.» About John Ericson » More articles » Horn Notes Edition » Contact
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