John Ericson

Introducing the Hosaphone™ Travel Horn

When I was a Doctoral student I traveled one time from IU to the Historic Brass Society event in Amherst with Rick Seraphinoff and...

Caruso Studies and the Horn

Many brass players have been introduced over the years to the brass teaching of Carmine Caruso (1904-1987). He was a saxophone player but earned a...

4 Issues that point to a composer not knowing how to write for the...

As horn players we see a lot of horn parts written by composers who don’t really know how to write for the horn. First,...

The Issue of Weight and Different Horns

This summer I have several projects and performances in preparation. Besides presenting on the Wagner tuba at the IHS event in Denver I will...

The Non-measured Preludes of Jacques-François Gallay

One of the most recognized nineteenth-century horn teachers is Jacques-François Gallay (1795-1864). Gallay studied with Louis-François Dauprat (1787-1868) at the Paris Conservatory, entering his...

Friedrich Gumpert, Master Teacher of the Horn

Often hornists will look back on their “genealogy” in terms of who their teachers were, the teachers of their teachers, etc. A number of...

Lips, the Mouthpiece, and Aging

In the most recent issue of The Horn Call (May, 2008) there is an interesting article by Frøydis Ree Wekre on horn playing and...

Hermann Neuling, Low Horn Master

I love the low horn etudes by Hermann Neuling; I feel certain that these made a big difference in my playing. I have had...

Brief Notes on Piston Valve Horns

An unexpected benefit of teaching at ASU is that they own a pair of piston valved horns, an early 20th century Hawkes single horn...

My Crooked Rotary Valve Horn

As I think back on it many summers I have had a “project” of some sort. This summer I plan to play quite a...