John Ericson
Fundamentals 9. Ranges: extremes, clear controlled sounds (high, middle, mid-low, low)
Ranges are fundamental. This prompt from the Douglas Hill book is pretty broad, but focuses on two elements; extreme ranges and good control in...
Fundamentals 8. Tone quality: centered resonance, consistency in all registers, varieties of timbre
Tone quality is a very important fundamental! If you have a good tone, you are likely doing a lot of things correctly. Strive for...
Revisiting the Moosewoods
I’ve made some equipment changes recently. As I noted in this article, I recently found a particular passage I was recording to be VERY...
Fundamentals 7. Slurring: various intervals, various dynamics, register changes
Slurring can be a problem, even a major problem. The question you should be asking is this -- is the problem you, or is...
Fundamentals 6. Tonguing: clarity, fluency, variety, double, triple, flutter
And now we have another very big fundamental topic: everything about tonguing. Hill, in his list that we are following for this series, combines...
Brief reviews: New publications on the blues and creativity by Agrell
I’ve been doing few reviews here lately, but Jeff Agrell was kind enough to send two of his recent publications, which I would like...
Fundamentals 5. Embouchure: mouthpiece placement, muscular focus, relationship to air, various ranges
Before turning to all these topics, I would like to remind readers that this series is based on a list of fundamentals found in...
A Quick Look at Mozart Horn Concerto Reconstructions
A large topic that seems little discussed these days is the topic of the unfinished Mozart horn concertos.
Unfinished? Concertos!? What?!?
A movement of one of...
Fundamentals 4. Breathing: efficiency, control, capacity
Continuing our look at fundamentals (based on a list in the Douglas Hill book), the next topic has to do with the whole topic...
A Quick Look at a Nickel Silver Kruspe Single F
Recently I was able to borrow locally this great nickel silver Kruspe single F. It is in the collection, for now, of one of...