Vio-horn? Horn-a-lin?

This past year I have been in contact with several players who have had embouchure problems, including focal dystonia. These can be very serious to deal with, but a couple basic observations come to mind after some recent conversations. The inclination is to try to practice your way out of these problems. That won’t work. [...]

The topic of fingerings above high C for standard double horn came up for me last week in one of the master classes in Kansas and came up again this morning in the form of a note from a blog reader. Most fingering charts end at written high C. Lots of players will finger above [...]

About a year ago I wrote a post on hobbies. When I have the time in a month or so I do plan to do more with my hobbies, and I know many professional horn players and teachers have hobbies and interests totally unrelated to the horn. Which is a good thing! Hobbies are a [...]

This past week I heard from a former student who had looked over my top 10 CD list. In the list I include the Dennis Brain CD of the Mozart Concertos, which was actually the first horn record I ever purchased (on vinyl) and is a great, classic recording. I was not aware however of [...]

Newly discovered blogs of note. The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thought and finds no other inspiration. Pearl S. Buck-American Novelist 1892-1973 I subscribe [...]

What was Munch screaming about? Was it the daily assault on our senses from media? The fear and anxiety of living in our modern age? Overwhelming hopelessness in the face of adversity? Nah … …blame it on the trumpet players! * * With tongue held firmly in cheek. Please read about the original artwork here.