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Of my recent publications the warmup book has sold the best (more info on the book here). Teaching this fall a side point came up, and I realized it is one that I’ve never addressed in Horn Matters.
That side topic is that of the initial setup on the lips and getting started with the playing day. William C. Robinson in An Illustrated Advanced Method for French Horn Playing (Bloomington: Wind Music, 1971) opens the book with an extended section on initially setting up the mouthpiece placement on the lips. I’m told he did not emphasize this in later teaching, but the photos there are an interesting documentation of how he in 1971 focused carefully on his initial setup. His photos also show that he is thinking deeper about this than found in the general, related discussion that I had posted in a prior Hornmasters series article.
What I realized on reflecting on Robinson is that I have a way I really (REALLY) like to start my playing day, and it is either the first exercise in the short routine that begins my warmup publication or the first exercise that begins the mello warmup also found in that same book. I had not thought of it in these terms, but starting that way sets up my face a certain way. If I start with either of those exercises, even with a very short warmup I feel pretty ready to go – although I’d rather warmup for more like 20 minutes.
As that was among topics on my mind, it is one of the central topics in my most recent podcast, Horn Notes 38: Understanding warmup publications and more. Follow the link or look for it on Spotify, etc. This may be the only episode for a little while, but as always the older episodes are new until you hear them, check out any of them of interest to you, and thank you for listening. With a specific suggestion, if you are interested in podcasts that look at the warmup, I’ve done three prior episodes that will be of interest:
- Horn Notes 21: The Brass Gym for Horn
- Horn Notes 8: Horn Warmup Routines Part I, with Alex Manners
- Horn Notes 9: Horn Warmup Routines, Part II, with Alex Manners
