OK Hans, you asked for it. Oh, no, I don't mean a fight. Never. Just
some friendly banter. Pardon me if I slice and dice a bit, though.
from: "hans" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
subject: RE: [Hornlist] 2 Octave jump
Wendell, Wendell, Wendell, why starting with the formula one
car, if one does not know the very simple driving rules, why
conducting a complicate Strawinsky (sorry, we spell his name
that like) if even ending a simple menuetto would give head
ache.
I appreciate the eloquent prose. Really, there is so little of it
left in the world. I only want to point out that I was merely adding
to the most informative and practical advice that others, including
yourself, had already so kindly offered.
I will just point to the old fashion method by Josef
Schantl with his method of the different intervals. All goes
step by step. If all different intervals within one octave
work well, from the second, third & fourth up to the octave,
slured or tongued or staccato, slow & fast, with crescendo
up & decrescendo down or decrescendo up & crescendo down,
extend the exercises further until reaching the double
octave, but all not on the Bb-horn but on the F-horn.
I'm pretty sure I said to start this on F horn. Schantl exercises are
great- I'm all for them, really. I was adding THIS to the discussion:
"The Glissando Principle." If you would like the complete context of
this technique you should buy my book. Actually Hans, I have meant to
ask you if you would like to sell my book on your website- I'm
looking for European distributors. But we can discuss that later. I'm
all for gradual steps in learning. If you have read my book... : )
Nothing is more gradual than a glissando. And glissandos are one of
the primary keys for learning to play high and making intervals like
this seem like child's' play.
Yes, one can, and should always start with intervals that one is
capable of doing and go from there. In the interest of brevity,
which, as many of you might opine, is something that I can stand to
work on when writing forum letters, I decided to make it as simple
and to the point as possible.
Well go further then & do the same exercises playing the
lower note on the F-side & use the trigger to play the
higher note on the Bb-side.
You are quoting me here? That is what I said to do.
Here your recommendation with
the glissandi etc. is of great help. But one will see, that
it is much better to "trigger" upwards than to
"untrigger"(=release) downwards or upwards if the horn is
set to Bb/F, a common error.
I'm sorry, but i don't understand this. Where did a Bb/F horn come
into this discussion?
"Trigger" is much faster than
"untrigger". Try it.
The point isn't to learn to trigger one way or the other. The point
is to learn to do glissandos between notes to find the easiest,
shortest and most connected way to play those intervals. The
triggering and fingerings are just details in a larger picture, which
hadn't been presented before. Remember, I suggested leaving the
trigger out of it all together in the final stage. What I am
suggesting is to learn the feel of one's horn like they did in the
old valveless days- by learning the harmonics and using them to
master the instrument. F horn, Bb horn, it's all part of the same
principle, except you have more and closer harmonics to work with on
F horn.
After a while of exercises, the two octave jump will work -
perhaps by pushing a bit with air or tongue or both. But if
one has never learned that technique properly, it will be
some hard way.
Well, whatever technique you are talking about, I'm sure it's great.
What I am talking about is an exact methodology for doing what the
original poster wanted to do; making it simple, easy, fundamentally
sound and I'm throwing in the secret for playing up high in the
process. Such a deal! (And for $30, you can get SO much more. For you
Hans, a special discount, too low to mention here.)
And finally, a composer using the perhaps most instable note
on any horn, the a-flat - instable because of the great
length involved & the combination of valves, (as T2 only
results low) - , using a two octave jump on this note, this
composer does not show a great knowledge of the instrument -
or is a "sadist".
I'll definitely drink to that. It's been a while since we had a drink
together. I'll buy next time. Remind me, OK? Actually, T23 is not the
greatest note in many ways. It's on the High C harmonic, which is
strong, but the twists and turns take away form that. It is also
SHARP- just as sharp, or more, as T2 is flat because of the multiple
valve principle. T2 is two harmonics lower on the harmonic scale and
is a very strong note, only as flat as the Db below it is on second
valve on F horn- not that much. The reason most people find this note
so flat is that they are used to playing it sharp on T23. Not all
horns are the same, but it is always worth trying to learn to play
this note T2 and the A above T0. They are stronger, bigger and lower
(in harmonic position) targets. When I was young, I had a horn that
didn't even have a T23 high Ab.
Richard Strauss knew how to use this note, special in
Rosenkavalier. He prepared the player to it by the
preceeding notes or the notes in the other instruments
(Rosenuebergabe, 2nd act, 3rd horn). Todays composers often
just smear something on paper or type it into the computer,
neither musical organic nor practicable - with very few
exceptions.
Let's raise a toast to Richard Strauss for sure. Another drink, my
friend. Some composers like Strauss, Brahms, Sibelius, Jerry
Goldsmith and Mahler make it fun to be a horn player. Now, about my
book....
Sincerely,
Wendell Rider
For information about my book, "Real World Horn Playing", the Summer
Seminar and Internet Horn Lessons go to my website: www.wendellworld.com
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