John Ericson

Brief Review: Corno da Capo: The Life and Adventures of an 18th Century Horn...

Let me get straight to the point: If you like books, you should read this book. Corno da Capo by Richard Seraphinoff is certainly...

Vintage Mellophone Bells — and Natural Horns?

My big idea project over winter break was to build the natural horn seen below, using a 1930 Conn mellophone bell I had found...

Brief Review: International Horn Society: The First 50 Years

A very big book that came out in late 2021, International Horn Society: The First 50 Years contains an amazingly complete look at the...

Commentary: The missing articulations

A topic I think about every year when I hear college auditions is that of the “missing articulations.” Often it is a function of...

When “more air” is too much air — and causes problems

Standard issue brass playing advice – for practically any problem! – is to use “more air.” For some brass teachers (especially low brass), breathing...

A correct approach to Till, from Farkas

Till is one of those essential excerpts we all learn, and it has a correct interpretation. One person who got the correct interpretation directly...

Could the Kruspe style horn come back?

At one time Kruspe style double horns (especially the Conn 8D) were a dominant horn type among professional hornists in the USA. That market...

Pro tips as you get back into ensemble rehearsals

With the beginning of ensemble rehearsals after the long break for COVID, it is great time to revisit some of the challenges for horn...

On the topic of phrasing

As we come back from over a year of spotty, Covid era practice, one thing I have observed is a lack of dynamics and...

Sabbatical Extra: Comparisons of the finished horns, and a video

During and immediately following my sabbatical semester from ASU I completed four major horn rebuilding projects, documented in this series of articles on Horn...