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Concentration is not a topic touched on directly by many horn teachers. However, the ability to focus is a key fundamental for effective practice and successful performances, highly worthy of inclusion as number 13 on the list of fundamentals put together by Douglas Hill and presented in his Collected Thoughts book.
Are we are “wired” differently?
Looking at the French horn world generally first, the ability to concentrate is an interesting topic.
There are probably personality types that are attracted to the horn. One thing I’ve observed is that good horn players are different than the average person or even average brass player. How so? It’s like we have a personality flaw, we could have done something easier than play horn, but here we are. Doing something that is hard, day after day, enjoying on some level the challenge, but also on some other level somewhat beat down by the challenge.
Thinking of myself, I know that in some situations I personally can really dial it in and concentrate, and in other situations my mind seemingly goes all over the place. Probably that is part of the human condition, with different people having differing abilities in terms of concentration. Fortunately, when I’m playing horn I know I have a very strong ability to concentrate.
The importance of taking mental breaks
Before getting directly to concentration, there is a tactic you should consider – the tactic of not counting long rests.
What? Yes, this sounds risky. But you can’t concentrate constantly in every piece on every concert, you’ll burn yourself out.
In many pieces, especially orchestral, there are long sections of rest that end at easily recognizable structural points. Don’t count those long rests, just be aware of when the next structural point is and start counting again then. Write in extra cues if it helps. With a little practice this tactic is not nearly as risky as it sounds, and your brain will appreciate the break.
Building your ability to concentrate
Which brings me back to our main topic; how do you build up your ability to concentrate? Looking around online, I see mostly very generic advice. Although, if you are eating badly, not sleeping enough, etc. you have plenty of reasons to not be able to concentrate very well. Keeping healthy routines will help.
I’d suggest strongly that if you want to build up your ability to concentrate, look into sports psychology resources. There are tactics to bring your focus into the exact present moment, not on what just happened or what you hope to do shortly. I know personally I found tactics presented in The Inner Game of Tennis (a classic book on sports psychology) to be helpful with building my concentration and focus before auditions and for general performance.
One thing I often mention to students is at one point, while not that into baseball, I picked up a couple books on the psychology of pitching. Professional baseball pitchers in particular, they have to concentrate at an extremely high level in a high stress, high distraction environment. Lots of money rides on their ability to focus and perform at their peak! A whole industry exists around pitching and also around all sorts of other professional sports activities. The materials you can find on these topics are often very focused and practical, and can be easily translated to horn.
If you have never read The Inner Game of Tennis, more thoughts on this publication may be found here. A highly recommended read!
When we continue the topic will be a fun one: lip trills.
Continue reading the Fundamentals series
