- - Please visit: Legacy Horn Experience - -
With the start of the semester a few questions have come in related to playing, and one topic I could pull out of them is the general topic of practicing in the high range.
A quote from a low horn book
To start I’d like to go back to a post from 2006! At that point I had a “quote of the week” feature and the subject was Randy Gardner in his low horn book. He wrote,
“Use it or lose it” is a truism in many walks of life, and it certainly applies to horn playing. Mastering the Horn’s Low Register is narrowly targeted to excellence in low register performance. However, if while working on these specific techniques you neglect high register work, for even a day or two, you will notice increased difficulty in that range. You must practice in all registers every day. Horn students are often surprised to learn that many professional hornists in second and fourth seats spend a large percentage of their practice time in the high register, and that many hornists in first and third horn seats spend a large percentage of their practice time in the low register.
Bad advice from Dr. Ericson
In lessons these days I often find myself giving advice that seems opposite of the advice you would think I would give. In terms if practicing the high range I totally agree with Gardner in that final part of the quote above. When I was playing Third Horn full time in Nashville certainly a larger percentage of my practice time was in the low register.
So while I know it sounds like bad advice, I think one of the best ways to work on the high range is to not specifically work on the high range. Let me explain.
One angle is you need balance in your playing. High/low. For the high range you are better off playing exercises that cover multiple octaves and incorporate pedal tones. Pedal tones are very important, they offer balance and at the same time prevent stiffness.
This is why I’m also not a big fan of long tones. I am not convinced that they promote building strength in the way that proponents think; I think they tend to make you stiff. Being stiff is the warning sign that you need to rethink your practice and the way you set up your chops before ensemble playing.
But to be more specific and in reference to the quote, I feel if you are playing a lot of high horn parts you don’t really need to “work on” high horn playing. What you need to do is be certain to maintain overall balance of range work, being sure to fit low range work in your playing day to keep your embouchure healthy.
Practice sessions should not be designed to beat up your chops over and over
Another gentle reminder is that practice is not some sort of brutal “beat up the chops” session. That won’t move you forward, especially in the high register. Listen to how your chops feel and if you are stiff/tired go to some low register work and rest. You may just need a light day of practice, or a day off. (Gasp! Yes, you can and should take a day off). If your chops always feel bad you are doing something wrong.
But what about mouthpiece pressure?
Another related topic that perpetually comes up is that of using “too much” mouthpiece pressure in the high range. The short answer is I’m not that worried about mouthpiece pressure. Nothing wrong with a ring on your lips either. I have written about this various places but this is kind of the key quote from one of the University of Horn Matters articles…
Fun fact: People worry about mouthpiece pressure way too much, due to the power of suggestion
… overall I think students often worry about mouthpiece pressure too much.
…some mouthpiece pressure is certainly appropriate. Speaking personally, my embouchure formation with my heavy lips seems to require more mouthpiece pressure than that seen in some of the descriptions above. Where you fit in the spectrum of mouthpiece pressure will become clear as you above all listen and look for the very best sound.
The key point is you won’t have a good sound if you use too little pressure. Try it yourself! Play with less pressure than normal, do you sound better or worse? As a teacher once told me, “strive for tone.”
There is a balance to be found
Get a good sound and don’t worry about the specific details so much. If you are stiff, reevaluate your practice, as more practice is not the solution. Don’t over practice and warm up gently before each playing session, that will also be very helpful for your high chops. And practice in a manner that balances out your high and low register work.
Finally, for some more good ideas on how to practice, read the article linked below:
Practice and perform effectively with the “three session a day” plan
P.S., Two of the memes above, and really most of them you see in the site, are by Bruce Hembd, from the Horn Matters archive. The Batman meme is part of a new series I have posted in various articles around the site.
