Tag: horn playing
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Minimum Viable Warm-up – Never Feel Unprepared for Playing!
Most brass players know the importance of a good warm-up. This is probably the single most important session of playing that you do each day since it gives you a chance to focus on the basics of playing. If you’re curious about some of the exercises that I use with my students, I have some…
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In a Practice Slump? This 5-minute Video Can Help
If you’re like most people, at times you’ve struggled with making progress in the practice room. Sometimes it seems that you can slave away for hours, days, or weeks and make little to no progress (or even regress!). When you feel like your in a practice slump like this, I find that the most effective…
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App Review: TonalEnergy
While it’s been awhile since I’ve done a tuner/metronome app review, I’ve been wanting to do a write-up of TonalEnergy for a while. It is an incredibly popular app for all levels of musicians, and it may be most commonly known as the app that has a smiley face when you play a note in…
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Make Practice More Enjoyable in One Simple Step
If you’re like most music students, the activity of practice doesn’t thrill you. While it’s great fun to get better on your instrument and be able to perform more challenging repertoire at a higher level, the actual day-in-and-day-out practice regime isn’t exactly exciting or glamorous. One Solution From The World Of Fitness A relatively recent…
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Fix Your Focus, Improve Your Playing
Focus, especially when playing a piece with many challenging sections, can often make the difference between a successful performance and a not-quite-successful performance. However according to a recent study on golf, where you should focus matters just as much as if you focus. The Golf Study According to this blog post on the Bulletproof Musician, a study…
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Erik Ralske Interview: Playing in the Met and the Dangers of Over-Hydration
The International Horn Society website has just posted an interview with Erik Ralske, former 3rd horn and then Associate Principal with the New York Philharmonic, and now principal horn with the Met Opera Orchestra. In addition to playing with the NY Phil and the Met, Mr. Ralske has also played with Houston (Associate Principal), Vancouver,…
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New Metronome Practice Idea: No Instrument Necessary!
“Have you practiced this with a metronome?” Just about every music student has heard this from their teacher at least once. There’s a very good reason for this – being able to maintain a steady tempo is very important. If you can’t stay in time, you won’t play well with others! Protip: If your teacher…
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Kendall Betts, Former Principal Horn of MSO, Dies
Some sad news in the horn world today, as it was just announced the Kendall Betts – former principal horn of the Minnesota Orchestra (1979-2004), founder and director the Kendall Betts Horn Camp, and the current owner of Lawson horns – passed away on August 16 at the age of 68. In addition to a…
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Quick Feedback From Teachers May Slow Progress
As a horn teacher, I often say to my students that my ultimate goal is to put myself out of a job. That is, I want them to have a strong knowledge of their own strengths and weaknesses so they are able to practice and improve without my constant nagging…err..feedback. My Method… One of my favorite ways to try…