Musician, Heal Thyself

A Self-Help Guide for Hornists

Intended to help you find ways to help yourself, this book is an assemblage of resources,
drills and exercises, and collected wisdom in a concise and easy to use format. Remember, you are
the very best teacher you will ever have. Figuring out how to overcome difficult obstacles will
make you stronger, wiser, and more resilient.
Take this book with you to the practice room and work with purpose, good sense, and
efficiency. Approach problems with intelligence, optimism, and tenacity. Custom design your own
warm up, practice plan, and audition plan using the template overviews I have provided. Blank
pages in each of the drill sections are for you to add your own notes and other favorite drills that
you have collected or composed yourself.
Great horn playing is a physical art which requires extraordinary focus and mental
discipline. To support a healthy approach to meeting the challenges hornists face in this regard, I
have included chapters dealing with performance anxiety and musical wellness/injury prevention.
I hope this book is helpful to you in finding ways to solve problems in your playing, practice more
effectively, and achieve your musical goals and aspirations.

Happy practicing!

Chapter 1

The Warm-Up
The warm-up is undoubtedly the most important practice time of your entire day, so dont
skip it. There are no magical routines that will work for everyone. You can refer to my overview
of a basic warm-up on the next page. To find exercises that accomplish the goals of each section,
you may want to refer to the drills and exercises in this book, use the ones you already know, or
write your own.
Change the exercises periodically so that you dont get bored or experience a plateau in
your development. When you warm-up well every day your diligence will be rewarded by healthy
chops, consistent playing, and continual improvement.
I am aware that there are players who do not regularly utilize a warm-up routine; however,
the vast majority of outstanding hornists I have encountered consider it to be essential.
Remember that playing a brass instrument is a physical art. No athlete would consider
participation in his or her sport without a thorough warm-up. Why should the muscles of your
embouchure be any different?
Your warm-up should be evaluated periodically to make sure it is productive and efficient.
In general the warm-up is working if:
The embouchure feels strong and alive after the warm-up and for the rest of the day.
There are few, if any, bad days. Ideally, a good warm-up will repair damage caused by
overwork. (A good nights rest helps, too!)
Range and endurance continues to improve.
One plays as well at 9:30am as at 9:30pm.

Your warm-up should be completed 40-60 minutes before a lesson or rehearsal.

THE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

IDENTIFY a problematic passage by noticing when you have missed a note or a rhythm. If
you have a hard time noticing your errors in the practice room, record yourself and listen back.
Stop immediately and mark the passage with your pencil.

ISOLATE AND DEFINE the problem by going back and deciding exactly what notes are
causing you trouble and why. (difficult fingering, insufficient air, inability to hear an interval, a
difficult leap, etc.) Be as specific as possible; this is a crucial part of excellent practice.

APPLY PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES. Once you know exactly what the problem is, it is
usually not difficult to fix it. Select drills and exercises that will correct the problem and make
note of them in your practice journal. Also note your tempo and the date so that you can keep
track of your progress.

I will use this portion of Etude No. 24 from Sixty Selected Studies for French Horn by C.
Kopprasch as an example of how you can use the problem solving process in your daily practice.

&4

>>
>>
>notes in this

IDENTIFY As
this etude, you notice
that
you are
missing
youare learning

&so you
portion,
stop and write a bracket in pencil around these two measures.

>
>
>
ISOLATE AND DEFINE Exactly which notes are you missing and>why?>When you go back
> slowly,
> you decide insufficient air is the> reason
and play the passage
> you are having difficulty
making the leaps accurately and in time.
>
. . .

You decide to use the. HUH

. exercise

from
& PROBLEM
APPLY
SOLVING TECHNIQUES
.
.
Chapter 4 of this book to help. Setting your metronome
to eighth note = 80, you proceed in the
>
> >
> >
following way:
> >
> >
>
. . . .

.
.
.
.
13

&

>
> >
> >


4

&is4step 1, add slurs and accents.
This

4

& 4 > >

4
& 4 > >
&

> > >

> >
&
This isstep
rhythm.
>>2, vary
>the
> . >

.
.

& . > >

&
. > . >> . >>>

& > . > > >
. . .> .> >
& > >. . .
& .
This isstep
> . >>changed.
. 2with
. >the >.rhythm
>
& > >
. . > . > . >

&
> > >

> >
>

> >
> > >

> >
>>
> . > . >>

. > >

. > . >> . > >

>. >
> >
. . >. >. >>
> >. . .
.
. . > >. > >. >

> >
. . > . > . >

> >

Your practice journal entry might look like this:

Etude #1 Kopprasch bracket.
1. Slowly in slur use HUH (10x).
2. Change rhythm (5x each way).
3.Eighth note equals 80. All slurred. Play correctly 3x then move tempo faster by 2 clicks.
4. When I have reached my goal tempo of quarter =86, I will add my tongue.

14

Monday for step 3, eighth note = 92

Tuesday eighth note = 116

Holding the ball in place

Fast air keeps the ball from falling

The Paper Test

Hold a standard size piece of paper an arms length straight in from of you. Take a very big breath and
expel your breath as fast as you can making an HHHH sound as you exhale. You should be able to make
the paper bend in half using only your air.

AIR EXERCISES TO BE USED AS PRACTICE TECHNIQUE

The Windy Method
T his is a g reat practice
technique that I observed in a
masterclass with Andrew Bain,
principal horn in the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. It is especially helpful
in the upper register because it
enables you to practice correct air
usage, articulation, and finger work
without tiring your embouchure.
Take your mouthpiece and turn it
around so that the small end goes
between your lips and the large end rests on the leadpipe.

The Windy Method

19

PREVENTION

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - Ben Franklin

It is impossible to overstate the

importance of proper playing posture. Here is
my list of checkpoints: sit up straight, position
shoulders back and down, and bring your
instrument to your body. Do not bring your
body forward to meet your instrument. If you
play with your bell on your leg, be sure the
horn meets your embouchure without any
slouching or bending of the neck. If this is not
comfortable for you, consider purchasing a
bell extender. This can be made of wood or
plastic and attaches to your bell so that the
horn can reach your leg comfortably when
you are sitting down. Be sure to keep your
shoulders as relaxed as possible and avoid any
unnecessary tension in your right arm.

Correct wrist position should be straight with fingers curved. The bent wrist puts the
tendons and nerves of your fingers into a very unnatural position. Hours spent holding the
body this way can lead to pain and possible damage to tendons and the Ulnar nerve. Your
left elbow should be relaxed and close to your body. To make sure your playing posture is
optimal, practice in front of a mirror or use your phone to video yourself. Do this often as
bad habits can gradually creep into our playing, escaping our notice.

Rest
Practice intelligently and consistently. Warm up every day and practice in intervals that
do not exceed 45 minutes. Rest at least 15 minutes in between intervals.
Taking time off from the horn is a very good idea, but make sure you have returned to
peak levels of fitness before taking on any strenuous playing. Too often, hornists have
experienced an injury after enjoying a vacation away from the horn but having failed to plan
enough time to get back into shape. Another unfortunate and preventable injury is one
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