A practical introduction to descant and triple horns, tools available to the modern hornist for more secure high range performance. This volume covers many topics related to these instruments including fingerings, mouthpiece choices, and music to study and perform, while also touching on the history of the instruments. This second edition includes expanded coverage related to high range production along with tips and excerpts from important solos and orchestral works.
The well-known standard for all questions concerning the technique and playing of the horn - now in English translation. The work is relevant to professionals as well as students. Apart from issues of daily practice and playing, it also deals with topics that haven't been covered within horn literature until recently: playing the high F-horn or the Wagner-tuba, the arrangement of the cadenza in the solo concertos (including cadenzas of all established concertos), personal management as a performer, and other subjects. The German edition has received the German award "Best Edition" 2000.
A concise, modern method for the natural horn, developed with the needs of horn players in mind. This updated second edition is focused toward introducing the natural horn effectively for players who already play the valved horn and wish to learn the older instrument. Topics covered include equipment choices, hand positions, and much more, presented in a practical manner. Short exercises and etudes are included to build technique, making this an ideal resource for learning to play the natural horn.
A volume of effective materials for initial low horn study, this expanded second edition includes text on low range development and a special edition of the classic Bordogni Vocalises. This version is based on a 19th century vocal edition by Ferdinand Gumbert, presented in low treble clef and low bass clef. The low bass clef version is a fourth lower than that widely used on the trombone, with the low treble clef version providing a logical stepping stone toward developing the lowest range of the horn.
First to be published in the series was The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, now Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at Indiana University. In 1956, when Summy-Birchard published Farkas's book, he was a solo horn player for the Chicago Symphony and had held similar positions with other orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Kansas City Conservatory, DePaul University, Northwestern University, and Roosevelt University in Chicago. The Art of French Horn Playing set the pattern, and other books in the series soon followed, offering help to students in learning to master their instruments and achieve their goals.
The topic of warming up needs little introduction; hornists who wish to excel should plan to warm up every time they get the horn out of the case to play. This practical and effective collection brings together the warmup materials and technical exercises presented in four recent publications -- Introducing the Horn, A Mello Catechism, The Low Horn Boot Camp, and Playing Descant and Triple Horns - with additional exercises designed for the improvement of breathing and intonation.
This book is a result of Eli Epstein's 18 years in the Cleveland Orchestra and 30 years of Conservatoire teaching. It breaks down into four parts, dealing with Technique, Musicianship, Warm up and Exercises and finally Applying the Method. It is both innovative and inspiring and presents his theories in a clear and understandable way, which gives the reader much to think about and practical ideas to help improve one's playing. An excellent addition to any horn enthusiast's collection.The third edition presents MRI images and data of an elite group of horn players, including Stefan Dohr, Fergus McWilliam, Sarah Willis, Stefan Jezierski (all of the Berlin Philharmonic), Marie-Luise Neunecker, Jeff Nelsen, and others. MRI films confirm that what we do internally, inside the mouth, pharynx, and thoracic cavity is just as important as what we do externally. And, just as there are hallmarks of healthy embouchures that most professional horn players employ, there are many consistent internal movement patterns among the elite group. Epstein presents tried and true methods to learn and teach these exemplary biomechanics. "Without a doubt the most physiologically correct book ever published on horn playing." ~John Ericson, Horn Matters
The horn (AKA the French horn) is a captivating concatenation of curving copper that is renowned for being perhaps the most beautiful of musical instruments in its shape and sound, but also the scariest and most unpredictable to play. This book (fifteen years in the making) is a new look at how this beautiful beast really works. Horn players are blessed for the quantity and quality of repertoire and pedagogical materials in their tradition, but cursed at the same time for letting that tradition mute curiosity about what is still missing and what should be part of horn study in this new millennium. Horn Technique is a detailed, thoughtful (and occasionally tongue-in-cheek) look at ways old and new to get from one note to another, plus many musical examples and exercises detailing the most efficient ways to teach the instrument to students at any level. It is a comprehensive resource for teachers, and a combination road map and gold mine of information for serious students. Above all, it encourages the reader/player to combine the book's approach with what they already do, and, fueled by curiosity and imagination, to use the book as a springboard to make new discoveries about the best ways to master this ancient and amazing instrument.
With the growing interest in hand horn (natural horn) and jazz horn, Extended Techniques for the Horn by Douglas Hill is an important text in horn repertory. Virtually all the sound possibilities of the horn are included in this one book, with clearly and concisely organized descriptions, notation and comments to both performers and composers of horn music.
