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Tips

Miscellaneous tips related to performance, practice, pedagogy, and repertoire.

Tilt, the Secret to Mid-Low Range Power

People are always looking for horn secrets. One difficult range for many players is the “cash register” just below the staff, getting the notes...

Book Excerpt: Tips Toward Playing More Musically

Every so often I get a big idea. A recent one was to update the best of my publications into new editions and sell...

Tips for Educators, and an Evolving Pedagogy

Recently, as part of a session with brass colleagues at our AMEA all-state, I presented a session for music educators, "Tips to Improve your...

Is it a Reality Show? Tips on Auditions

This article of tips on taking auditions was originally posted to the site in early 2009, but was later cut (along with a large group...

On Calculating Timings of Works of Music

I am working toward a trio recording project now, and as a part of planning for that I needed to come up with timings...

An Interview on Orchestral Horn Auditions. Part IV, the Future and...

This article concludes an interview conducted 2/13/13 with Ashley Cumming, a Doctoral student at Indiana University. Part I starts here. With increased numbers of people...

Tip of the Week: Play to the End of Time

Many years ago (in a location I cannot remember) I attended a concert of the Munich Philharmonic while they were on an American tour....

Why Does my Hand Turn Green?

It was a long weekend of playing, as evidenced by a green-stained right hand in the picture below. Have you ever wondered why this happens?...

Tip of the Week: Improving Transposition Skills with ‘I-IV-V-I’ Practice

One of the most popular PDF downloads from the Horn Matters site is a transposition chart, located within our Resources area. Roughly defined, music transposition in performance requires a player...

Tip of the Week: Think About the Ends of Notes

I had a teacher long ago tell me that when it came to producing quality notes on a musical instrument, there were four parts...