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The quest for accuracy is in a sense a quest for perfection. It is a mission taken on by many horn players, and is a mission destined for failure.
On perfection and perfectionism
The last chapter of Living Dangerously with the Horn by David Kaslow is on the topic “Perfection and Perfectionism.” He begins,
We humans cannot attain perfection. To do so would require resources we simply do not possess, including complete awareness, full autonomy, unlimited intuitive and mechanical skills, boundless time and energy, and so forth.
This chapter delves into some of the deep motives that drive us as horn players, motives that drive us to try to play perfectly on a difficult instrument.
110% accuracy is not possible
Speaking of deep motives, I have to digress for a moment as it relates to the final quotations presented here on the topic of accuracy. They are from Verne Reynolds, with whom Bruce Hembd and I both studied with at Eastman. Reynolds passed in 2011 (some thoughts on his passing here) and remains for me one of the most influential people in my horn playing and teaching. Memorable for sure. Yet, at the same time, if I am honest, he remains one of the more enigmatic of characters in my life as well.
If there was one central cornerstone of his teaching in the time frame we studied with him it would have to be the topic of accuracy. He was a extremely accurate player and really did want 110% accuracy in literature like his 48 Etudes. And everything else! In that light I think readers will be particularly interested to examine his published thoughts on the topic of accuracy, written a few years after the time frame that I was in his studio. I find them fascinating to ponder and filter through the memory of two years of MM level lessons.
The role of the teacher
To begin, Reynolds in The Horn Handbook tackles the topic of perfection in relation to practice and accuracy, and addresses the role of the teacher in developing the required level of perfection. This is probably the longest quotation presented in this entire series of articles, but is worth trying to understand, there is much here to chew on.
The object of practice is eventual public performance. Part of every practice session should be devoted to actually practicing performing. Each day of the week, one through seven, might see an increase in the time allotted to the practice of performing so that the final session before the lesson approximates the actual playing conditions of the lesson. This in no way repeals any of the laws of practice such as slow before fast, thoughtful repetition, taping and listening, concentration, discipline in the use of time through planning, realistic evaluation of accomplishment, and insistence upon perfection. Perfection is defined here as that which meets the supreme standard of excellence.
Perfection begins but does not end with accuracy. Accomplishment in the areas of tone quality, intonation, endurance, technique, and musicianship is admirable but meaningless if canceled by lack of accuracy. For some horn players accuracy is confined to “hitting” notes. For day one and two of the practice cycle, this might suffice. But soon the elements of dynamics, rhythm, phrasing, intonation, and style become components of accuracy. Just as perfection must be complete, accuracy must be complete.
Teacher and student might agree that a certain portion of each lesson is reserved during which an assigned passage of appropriate length and difficulty is played to perfection. The teacher (in future, the audition committee, conductor, audience, music critic, record producer, but never the student) decides immediately whether the standard of excellence has been met. We are constantly evaluated by listeners whether we like it or not, whether it is fair or not, whether it is informed or not. Let us hope that the teacher is fair and informed, and that the student welcomes the teacher’s uncompromising evaluation. The student can self-impose the same standard in increasing severity during the practice cycle. If day seven produces the same result as day two, adjustments in practice habits are necessary. Playing up to this standard will not happen suddenly and miraculously on more public occasions. It is more likely to happen as a result of having practiced playing perfectly. Realistic evaluation by the teacher and realistic comparisons with players of greater accomplishment can be helpful in establishing mileposts on our road to excellence. One is reminded of the twelve-year-old tennis player who boasted to his coach that he had won every match that he had ever played. “Congratulations,” replied the coach, “but with whom did you play?”
For these performing experiences in the teacher’s studio, teacher and student must understand their own role as well as the other’s role in the process. For the teacher to function as arbiter, both parties should understand that the teacher will shift quickly from the stern judge to benevolent mentor. If the decision is negative, the teacher must point the way to a better performance next week. If the decision is positive, congratulations are in order and the next event in the ongoing series of performing experiences is agreed upon. The student must fit the process into the weekly practice cycle and understand its relation to the world of auditions, rehearsals, concerts, and recording sessions. An experienced and wise teacher can use these performing experiences to prepare the student for the time when only perfection is good enough.
Note that toward the end he gets at the topic of teaching accuracy. In his case he really wanted it very accurate and could be unhealthily demanding in relation to that quest.
Form mental links between notes
As to specific tips toward accuracy, Reynolds notes that,
No attack may be considered successful if it is not accurate. A large factor in accuracy, tongued or slurred, is the player’s ability to form links among how a pitch looks, how it feels, and how it sounds. These links become more important as the notes become higher, although it is possible for any player, at any time, to miss any note on the horn regardless of height. First notes are most often missed if they are not linked by feel and pitch to another note. Everything else set aside, it is easier to play an F-sharp if we have just played an F-sharp.
“No attack may be considered successful if it is not accurate” is a phrase I feel sure I heard him say a couple times.
Transposition versus accuracy
Also, he has a note about accuracy when transposing.
Accuracy in transposition becomes difficult as the transposition increases the distance from the safe haven of horn in F. The first note in the first horn part of the second movement of the Brahms Second Symphony is a perfect example. It does not look, feel, or sound at all like the same note written for horn in F, since the transposition of B-natural places the pitch a tritone away from our home base of horn in F. In this case, our first note of the second movement is a concert F-sharp. F-sharp is the third of the D major triad. A D major triad is the last chord in the first movement. If we have trained ourselves to remember pitches, we can link these two movements together by mentally retaining an F-sharp during the pause between movements.
Reynolds suggests constructing accuracy exercises that require one to “sing a pitch, play the same pitch, and link the played pitch to the next written pitch.”
Practicing accuracy slowly only trains you to play things slowly
Finally, Reynolds has this suggestion of a method to practice for accuracy.
We all have been convinced that slow precedes fast in practicing technically intricate passages, but few ask why this is so. Slow practice allows us to hear mistakes and gives us time to train our embouchure, breathing, and fingers, through deliberate steps, to place each note securely. Slow practice also lets us check intonation, dynamics, and rhythm. Faultless slow practice does not guarantee faultless fast playing. If we have been practicing with the metronome at 60 we must be prepared to return to 60 many times if 72 is not perfect. If our goal is 100 and we have played the passage perfectly one time at 100, a different kind of practicing begins. Now we have to practice playing it perfectly X number of consecutive times at the proper speed. This could include several temporary returns to a slower tempo, but not without asking why. Quite often success depends upon one or two notes. We must identify the offending notes, ascertain the nature and cause of the mistake, practice these notes many times, and only then begin to add notes in front of the now-corrected notes until we arrive at the beginning of the passage. What is learned today may be gone tomorrow. We should be prepared to repeat the process on as many days as necessary to achieve control. What teacher has not heard, “I don’t understand it. This was perfect yesterday”?
A suggestion how to speed up the learning process
An alternate method you could (and should) apply is to learn the difficult passage at full tempo (!) but only in very short chunks. Start with just two or three notes at a time and group them into longer chunks at full tempo. You may surprise yourself that this is more efficient in learning the passage than the slow, deliberate approach.
To close this portion of the Hornmasters series, when we return I will offer a few final thoughts on accuracy.
Continue in Hornmasters Series
