On Defensive Hornists and Accuracy
The article on accuracy and the horn that was in The New York Times a couple days ago developed quite a stir on the horn lists. My post on the topic brought in a near record day for traffic on the blog as well. Why does this topic generate such passion? One reason why is because horn players are by nature a bit defensive. Most of us might admit if we are very honest that we feel justified on some level if we hear some great player miss notes on a concert. However, someone who is not a horn player complaining about missed notes is not to be appreciated.
Actually there is a very common personality quirk I have seen. Good horn players often have perfectionist tendencies but they are playing an instrument that is really hard to play perfectly! If we wanted something easier to do there are lots of things we could have done other than play horn. Are we gluttons for punishment or do we just enjoy a challenge? Either way, we still don’t want to miss notes but we do because that is the nature of the horn.
Another reason why hornists can get passionate and defensive when critiqued about accuracy is often they are tied up emotionally with an old school approach of some sort. I have nothing against tradition and enjoy the range of sounds from period instruments to big, modern orchestral sounds. In terms of old school approaches, I have been there, having played at one point a 500,000 series 8D with the big Giardinelli C-1 and at another point a Geyer style horn with a block letter Schilke Farkas Model mouthpiece. But that is in my past; I am very open to the idea that we can experiment somewhat with fingerings and equipment.
There is a practical reality to recognize: we are looking for an audible result that is musically communicated to a general audience of music lovers. You won’t get recognition from an audience for using the most F horn fingerings or the largest bore mouthpiece but you will get recognition for not missing notes and presenting an enjoyable performance.
By the same token, I am not advocating bland, careful playing. Go for it! But work to increase your limits in terms of what you can do accurately. Put in the time to specifically work on accuracy and range exercises, it is work that will pay off.
One personal aside would be that I would have loved to have played perfectly at the IHS Denver event last month. I did as well as I could do under the circumstances, the travel, extra meetings, etc. But still I really would have preferred to play perfectly. Overall at the event there really were too many notes missed by major players.
In conclusion I would say again that I am in favor of 100% accuracy, that I am open to being realistic about accuracy, and I desire to be a practical person when it comes to finding ways to improve it. Accuracy is a key thing we all have to grapple with to hit the next level in our horn playing and is essential to winning and holding a playing job.
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