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Performance & Playing

The physical side of playing the horn ... beyond the embouchure

Mental Health and Horn Playing: The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

I think that it is rather common for people to turn inwards when having anxious thoughts. For horn players, this might translate to internal...

Mailbag: Practicing the High Range

With the start of the semester a few questions have come in related to playing, and one topic I could pull out of them...

Mailbag: The Topic of Contradictory Information on Playing the Horn

Recently a great, extended question came in related to playing mechanics and all the contradictory information out there. The reader wrote, … I’m finding myself...

A Curious Anomaly from Verdi’s “Don Carlo”

Recently on our Horn Matters' social media accounts, we uploaded a meme related to the perils of horn transposition. It features characters from an...

When “more air” is too much air — and causes problems

Standard issue brass playing advice – for practically any problem! – is to use “more air.” For some brass teachers (especially low brass), breathing...

On the topic of phrasing

As we come back from over a year of spotty, Covid era practice, one thing I have observed is a lack of dynamics and...

Lessons in Vienna, part VII: The Long Call

This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977. Then he asked if I had ever...

A few words on the warmup, your condensation, and sensitivity to...

In this time of separation during the coronavirus, it is a good time to rethink your warmup, to experiment, to work to improve technique,...

Looking closer at the topic of breath support with Eli Epstein

Those familiar with my teaching know that I almost never use the term “support,” and when I do I add disclaimers about...

Podcast: Growth Mindset and the horn player

The latest episode of the Horn Notes Podcast is out, and the topic is Growth Mindset. Guest for this episode is Nicole...