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There are a variety of approaches to the question of how much to practice on a French horn.
Practicing to your breaking point is not a goal
Before getting to those, I have a question for the reader to consider. Do you do any athletic training? Such as lifting weights? You don’t do the same thing every single day; instead you have heavy days, light days, etc. There is a plan developed, and that plan includes days off. You never push to a breaking point.
Some of the below practice plans, if taken very literally, could push you to a breaking point. Be flexible, listen to your body. There are only so many hours you can play any given day, and don’t push further just to meet an arbitrary number like three hours of practice. This topic will be examined further when we get to the section on endurance.
Conventional wisdom: three hours a day
Farkas in The Art of French Horn Playing was a strong advocate of three hours of practice a day. He does allow that rehearsals and concerts are a portion of what playing can be done in one day, but playing consistently up toward that three hour mark is required to develop the “stamina and endurance to finish strong on a heavy concert.” He notes that
Endurance in any field is gained only by persevering when already tired. There are teachers who advocate stopping when the lip gets the least bit fatigued. One even suggests no more than a half-hour practice at a time. There will be a rude awaking when the player using such a method plays his first all-Wagner concert or the opera, Der Rosenkavalier.
As to how to space those hours, Farkas offered this advice.
The three hours a day need not be spaced in three equal hours but might be spaced somewhat in this manner: an hour and a half, one hour, and later just one half hour. This spacing will accomplish more with some players, as they are fresh early in the day but might find it difficult, after a long day, to concentrate for more than a half hour. The ideal situation, of course, would be three evenly spaced sessions, the first as early in the morning as practical, the second in the afternoon and the third in the evening.
Farkas was not in favor of a heavy day/light day alternation or of ever taking a day off the horn, to at least practice one and a half hours a day every day. He wrote that “One day’s neglect on a brass instrument requires at least two day’s work to bring the embouchure back to its former condition.”
Don’t practice carelessly …
On the topic of how much to practice Fred Fox in Essentials of Brass Playing offered this advice.
To sit home and practice several hours a day does not guarantee becoming a top-notch player. That is only lip service—physical. It must be done with intelligence, ever trying to refine, improve, streamline. But that is painful, and few are willing to pay the price of concentration at all times. Every note played thoughtlessly is a step backwards. Better one half as much time spent practicing with total concentration than twice as much without!
Seven days a week…
Harry Berv in A Creative Approach to the French Horn devotes a chapter to the topic of “The Practice Session.” He views disciplined practice as a seven day a week way of life for the advanced hornist.
If practice is interrupted for one or two days, it could take two or three more days to get back into proper playing shape. If there is an extended vacation for a month without any sort of practice, it could take a seasoned player two weeks or even more to get back into prime playing condition….
The practice session must be one of disciplined concentration. The mind must not wander or be distracted in any way. This disciplined concentration will be required of the player throughout his entire musical life. It is demanded of the performer when he is alone in the practice room and during his actual performance as a soloist or ensemble member. When he attains increased stature, the demand for concentration and discipline, if anything, becomes even greater.
I well remember my days as a member of the great NBC Symphony under the leadership of Maestro Arturo Toscanini. He was an extreme perfectionist who demanded and got maximum effort from the entire orchestra, and this above all meant the strictest discipline and unremitting concentration. In rehearsals, Toscanini never wasted time on the strong points of our ensemble playing. He worked almost exclusively on the weak points of the ensemble until all the choirs of the orchestra blended and united as one. There were no prima donnas in the orchestra. Off the stage the personalities of the musicians were quite different—but once on stage, every individual disappeared into a larger entity. I mention this because many students practice four, five, even six hours a day, but they do so without the concentration and selectivity that is forced upon players in rehearsal by all great conductors. Many times the student’s practice session is never thought out in advance, particularly with regard to what problems or weaknesses are to be overcome. Many, many hours are wasted this way. Nothing is more wasteful in practicing an etude than to play it through with no musical concept in mind. Correct notes without any musical idea is in fact a step backward. I would even prefer to hear someone play for a grand musical effect and miss notes, providing he plays with sensitivity.
Three sessions
As to specifics, Berv divides his discussion between the first, second, and third practice session of the day.
For the first practice session of the day (which will include the warm-up session), a 1 ½ hour period should be sufficient. This session should include the practice of scales and etudes. For the end of the session, there should be a 5-minute period devoted to trill practice. Practicing trills should in fact be included every day until a considerable degree of proficiency is reached.
In this session he recommends the use of a variety of etudes (“Kopprasch, Kling, Gallay, Belloli, Maxim Alphonse, Oscar Franz, Mueller, and others”) to avert boredom and to touch on contrasting styles. He also notes,
It cannot be repeated often enough: All etudes must be practiced slowly, and all of them should be practices at least one degree under any written dynamic indication. This concept of practice will in the end give the player greater endurance and control of the instrument. Later in his performing career it will act automatically as a regulator so that no matter how long the concert or how difficult the music, he will have the reserves to cope with any contingency.
As to the second session, it “should take place in the afternoon and should provide at least one hour of intense practice on solo repertoire and orchestral studies.” However, this session should not strain or fatigue the embouchure.
Too much practice can be more harmful to the lips and embouchure than too little. The amount of time involved in the practice session should be carefully and proportionally allotted to the particular problems of the individual, and the embouchure should feel flexible at all times.
The third practice session is “a fifteen-minute session in the evening, devoted to light playing.” It is intended to keep the embouchure in condition for the following day, and he strongly recommends never taking more than “a twenty-four hour break between practice sessions.”
Practice and the young student
In Practical Hints on Playing the French Horn David Bushouse addresses the topic of practice and the younger student.
A little practice each day is much more effective than a few long sessions a week. For example, practicing thirty minutes daily for six days will give far better results than three hours all in one day or in two days. For the young player, thirty minutes approaches the limits of endurance and concentration and is a suitable target for daily practice.
For advanced players, benefits are more noticeable with daily practice of one to three hours, depending on the level of proficiency. Frequency is important for the advanced player, also. Two or three shorter sessions will give better results than one period totalling [sic] the same number of minutes. Spreading the playing out over the day keeps the lip from becoming stiff and keeps the lip growing in strength and control.
Consider shorter, more concentrated periods
To close our installment for today, Frøydis Ree Wekre weighs in on the topic of how much to practice in Thoughts on Playing the Horn Well.
How much to practise, how much at a time, and how often are common questions. On concert days it may be wise to take it somewhat easy, but otherwise I recommend practising quite often and in shorter, very concentrated periods. A daily total of three hours playing time is good (remember to subtract all the little breaks when you add up the time). Four hours is fantastic, when spread over the entire day.
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