Hi Mark,
Yes, that is what I suggest. An orchestra rehearsal is, in general,
three hours long. Ideally, you want to build your endurance to a
point where you can not only last the full three hours, but have some
reserve to spare. There's nothing like having the confidence that
comes with knowing that you have the stamina needed to maintain your
playing at it's highest level for the entire rehearsal and then some.
As Prof. Pizka pointed out in a recent post, if you are going to be
playing some of the longer Wagner opera's such as Die Meistersinger,
etc., or Strauss tone poems, and you can't play longer than two and a
half hours, you will find yourself "in trouble" and struggling to
make it. And believe me-- you don't want to find yourself in those
circumstances. That's when the bad habits creep in-- like pulling too
much with the left hand on the pinkie hook/flipper, pinching and
choking.
As draconian as it might sound, four hours plus per day is not
impossible. Think of the analogy of the long distance runner. The
endurance needed to run a marathon (and horn playing is very much an
athletic pursuit!) is not gained overnight. One must follow a
training plan, which gradually builds up the runner's time to a point
where they can last for the whole race. Same goes for horn playing.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this is not something that you go
out and do all of a sudden; you MUST approach the problem
intelligently, pace yourself, and build up your endurance over time--
weeks, sometimes months. Barring any problems with the embouchure, it
will come with time. In Philip Farkas' book, "The Art of Horn
Playing" he discusses practising; if I remember correctly, he
advocated at least three hours per day. Add rehearsals, band, chamber
music, or whatever, and you can see that you need to have chops
capable of lasting at least that long or longer.
One other thing: if you think 30-35 hrs. per week is a bit much, rest
assured that there are players out there who are already doing it. I
quote from the first-rate book "Horn Technique" written by Gunther
Schuller:
"While on the subject of practising, I should like to utter a word
of warning to those who propose to take the horn seriously and to
make it a career. If you wish to achieve a position prominent enough to
assure you the kind of livelihood you think you deserve, [following
in italics] there must be some time in your student years during
which you put in the six to twelve months of brutal hard work without
which an enduring successful career is not possible. [end italics]
This 'basic training' period is necessary not only in order to refine
your playing to the highest professional level, but to build up the
easily underestimated amount of resistance, both physical and
mental, that the nervous tension of everyday professional playing
demands. Any short cuts in this respect will sooner or later lead to
trouble." (Horn Technique: Schuller, Gunther; Oxford University
Press, 1976. pp.73)
Sincerely,
Martin Bender
On 23-Mar-06, at 3:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Are you really recommending 30-35 hours per week or over 4 hours
per day?
That seems a bit much.
In a message dated 3/23/06 2:53:42 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Hi Tyler
It's true that endurance does come with practice. Having said this,
however, intelligent practice helps even more.
I'll assume you already have a solid embouchure set up. With this in
mind, I suggest you secure a copy of Joseph Singer's fine book of
studies entitled "Embouchure Building" and work some of the long tone
routines found therein, especially the "Heavy Routine". Also, in
Barry Tuckwell's book "Playing the Horn" he advocates long tones
played on every note of the horn over the full range. This is not
something you want to start off with, as it can be extremely tiring;
it's a goal to work towards.
Like a long distance runner, you have to learn to pace yourself. Try
increasing your playing time by five minutes every second day; after
eight days, you will have gained an additional 20 minutes, and so on
with the eventual goal of 30-35 hours per week. Saturdays and Sundays
included.
With time and patience, you will eventually gain the stamina you need
and
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