I would like to ask some questions: 1. Is it easier for the young player to start with Bb-horn, or is it just easier for the teacher´s ears? There are so many "good" teachers who like to talk about music and they don´t listen scales and transpositions because it get´s quite boring. The young student, of course, is only happy that he doesn´t have to work on these seemingly boring matters. Then the student is in a deep trouble if he/she want´s to be a professional hornplayer some day, and only because this "good" teacher doesn´t want to listen all these boring scales and etydes. 2. Is it easier when your student starts on Bb-horn, because you as a teacher can´t help the student to play well on F-horn? 3. Professor Pizka´s advice is to use the more F-horn in the orchestra. It is a good advice, the problem is that so many players have neglected the F-side so that the sound on the F-horn (especially in the high register) is much worse than the sound on B-horn. It should quite the opposite. The F-horn should be used in the orchestra when it helps you to sound better, not worse. The poor F-horn sound in the high register has nothing to do with real F-horn. When properly studied, F-horn will always sound better than B-horn no matter what register we are playing. The B-horn is used for security but the real Horn Sound is the F-horn sound. Too bad one doesn´t get to hear good F-horn playing often, perhaps due to "good" teachers. So the question would be, Is it common that students practise the F-horn in the high register really thinking how to get the real beatiful sound out of the horn instead of the bad sound so many have in the F-horn upper register? Do teachers demand that? If the F-horn sound in the middle and higher register is free and round, then the player must have a wonderful embouchure. 5. I am happy to work with a teacher who listens to the scales every week. The idea is to play a scale first on F-horn with legato and with tongue to get the right sound ideal. Then the scale is played with F/Bb-horn combination fingerings with legato and with tongue. it is played on the Bb-horn with double tongue and triplet tongue. And always playing as if the scale is the most wonderful piece of music. The system works very well. When I´m supposed to play scales and transpositions every week I well practise, because it is really embaressing to play something when it is obvious that I haven´t practised. Works really well, the teacher doesn´t have to say anything because I know that next week it will be the same situation. And the next week, and the next. He listens because that is part of his job, even he has heard the same etydes a thousand times, and the same excuses. It isn´t always the nicest job but that is one of the things he is getting paid. Is it up to the student to control all the basic exercises, when every bad manner he learns by playing the scales or flexibility exercises badly will naturally transform into the "real" music? I´m very interested to hear your comments, on or off the list! Jaakko Välimäki [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sibelius-Academy student Finland BTW. I started playing with the "normal" mixed fingerings, using both F-horn and B-horn. It would have been better if I would have started on the F-horn I think. I´m only happy that my first teacher had a marvelous sound, a real Horn Sound so at least my sound ideal was the best possible from the very beginning.
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