John Ericson
Lessons in Vienna, part V: Tchaikovsky 5 (and Beethoven)
This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977.
After having worked on several slower, lyric...
Lessons in Vienna, part IV: Brahms 3
This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977.
After finishing with the solos in the...
Lessons in Vienna, part III: Brahms 2 in depth
This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977.
Next he wanted to hear the Brahms...
Lessons in Vienna, part II: Till Eulenspiegel
This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977.
He told me to pull out Till...
Lessons in Vienna, part I: Setting up Lessons with Roland Berger
American hornist and pedagogue Nicholas Smith was able to briefly study in 1977 with Roland Berger (b. 1937), longtime solo hornist of the Vienna...
Remembering my teacher, Mike Hatfield
Who was your most influential teacher? It took me years to realize it, but my most influential teacher was F. Michael Hatfield (1936-2020), my...
Bad Conventional Wisdom, part 5: The mouthpiece
If there is one single piece of advice that has held back more players, it might be this quote from the Farkas book: “If...
Bad Conventional Wisdom, part 4: “Dropping the jaw” in the low range?
Some players seem to think this is bad conventional wisdom at least, as they found that “dropping the jaw” did not work for them....
Bad Conventional Wisdom, part 3: The dreaded topic of too much mouthpiece pressure
Another topic I want to address in this series is mouthpiece pressure. We have all seen the page in the Farkas book where he...
Bad Conventional Wisdom, part 2: Tonguing misconceptions
Returning to the story of 2008 and my teaching and playing, I faced a reality that I did not do what I thought I...