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John Ericson

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The Top Ten Orchestral Works for Horn (the last one might surprise you!)

I recently had a question come in on what were the most important horn excerpts. Back when I was first at Arizona State I...

The World’s Toughest Woodwind Quintet

Years ago I first saw this record cover at the apartment of a friend, and finally I now own a copy that is proudly...

Horn Section Placement on the Stage or in the Pit

I believe that am the type of person who can generally get along with most anyone. The most heated argument I have got into...

A Look at Giardinelli Horn Mouthpieces Through the Ages

One of the classic, old standard brands of mouthpieces in the United States has been the series produced by Giardinelli. Giardinelli Band Instrument Company...

Mean Horn Teachers who wrote Etudes

There are some really great etudes out there that have a few things in common, besides being hard. The main thing is they have...

The Mouthpiece Wheel of Doom

The topic of Episode 94 of The Mellocast is the Mouthpiece Wheel of Doom. It is a term jazz hornist Mark Taylor uses relating...

Farkas and a Blood Oath to use the F Horn?

The Nancy Jordan Fako book Philip Farkas & His Horn has quite a few little known facts and scenes from the career and training...

Got Dimes?

Many players struggle along to varying degrees with an instrument that does not fit their hands well. The instrument may actually feel “normal” but...

Improvise your Cadenza

One thing that students hate to do is write their own cadenza. Once they get going they usually find it is not that hard...

Muted or Open (or Stopped?) in Symphonie Fantastique?

Following up on the topic of stopped horn in Brahms, there is a related issue in the famous "March to the Scaffold" movement of...