Horn Player/Web Developer

Category: Horn

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  • What do “playing musically” and the mellophone have in common?

    What do “playing musically” and the mellophone have in common?

    Nothing. Well, almost nothing (I kid – mostly). John Ericson, Horn Professor at Arizona State University, and one of the founders of the French horn website HornMatters.com, has a book about playing the various marching horns called A Mello Catechism: A Guide to the World of Mellophones and Marching Horns. This book discusses the history, technique,…

  • 20+ Warm-up Routines Available Online

    Most intermediate to advanced horn players have at least some sort of warm-up routine. While warm-up routines are great for maintaining and improving your playing, I find that periodically mixing things up can really highlight blind spots in your playing or help with certain repertoire demands that aren’t encountered on a daily basis. While you…

  • Being (or Feeling) Rushed Can Hurt Your Practice

    Being (or Feeling) Rushed Can Hurt Your Practice

    Carrying on from my post a couple of weeks ago about finding time to practice (and just about anything else you need or want to do), this post from Bulletproof Musician illustrates some of the downsides of being rushed. The Iowa Gambling Task The article goes into more detail (definitely check it out), but basically…

  • Don’t want to practice? Listen to this instead.

    If you’ve never heard of Seth Godin, and you’re in any type of entrepreneurial or customer-focused field (like musicians and teachers), you should check him out. His daily blog entries are both incredibly insightful and ridiculously short. Take this 7-sentence entry posted a few weeks ago as an example. Short, to-the-point, and incredibly insightful. A…

  • No time to practice? Here’s how to do it!

    No time to practice? Here’s how to do it!

    The past couple of years, I’ve been on a pretty big productivity kick. I’ve read books, blogs, downloaded apps, and watched Youtube videos, all in an effort to try to maximize my ability to do things quickly and effectively. I’m still pretty far from where I feel I should be – productivity wise – but…

  • Up Your Intonation Game With Drones

    Up Your Intonation Game With Drones

    Playing in tune is one of the most fundamental skills for any wind or string player. However, in tune is not as simple as just getting a tuner needle to point straight up and setting your slides in one place. Different instrument tendencies, different tuning systems, temperature variations, and melodic vs. harmonic tuning, all affect how individual tones…

  • A New (To Me) Resource for Brass Players

    I recently stumbled across TromboneTools.com, a website by David Vining. David Vining is the trombone professor at the University of Northern Arizona and a co-owner of Mountain Peak Music, as well as a member of the Flagstaff Symphony and a freelance trombonist. Although (obviously) geared toward trombone players, TromboneTools.com features lots of great resources and…

  • [UPDATE: Not Dead Yet] Moosewood Mouthpieces: Closed

    Update: While it looks like Tom Greer (the creator of Moosewood Mouthpieces) may be backing out of the mouthpiece manufacturing game, Mark Atkinson and Atkinson Horns will be carrying on Tom’s fabulous line of mouthpieces. It looks like Tom’s excellent craftsmanship will continue to be available. Original Post: Some sad news for all sorts of…

  • Reducing Frustration and Rage Quitting During Practice

    Reducing Frustration and Rage Quitting During Practice

    Like I mentioned in my post a few days ago about optimizing your practice sessions by using ship dates, the All-District auditions for Kentucky are happening over the next couple of weeks, with lots of playing tests and chair auditions occurring around the same time (and usually on the same music). Right after Thanksgiving, those students…

  • Practice Strategy: Use Ship Dates to Optimize Practice Time

    Practice Strategy: Use Ship Dates to Optimize Practice Time

    It’s getting pretty close to All-District and All-State auditions here in Kentucky. That means that lots of students are starting to feel the pressure to get their audition music finalized. Of course, these students that are stressing most about the audition are the same students that have been practicing in an unorganized way (or not…