Michael, Michael, please, please, you are just at the beginning of horn playing, please do not comment on such matter.
Instead of this, continue to prepare learning scales, but in a systematic way, one after the other, major & minor, so your fingers can work alone with not much brain involved. It must be in a way, that reading the music & fingering & adjusting lips, tongue & whatever is necessary does work (nearly) without involving the brain much, so to say "semi-automatic". Hammering in every complicated phrase is not the right way as it leads to cramp in the fingers & in the brain. Cramp means making things rigid, or so much fixed that you hardly can change things if needed. Along with these scale studies (in all kinds of rhythm, expression, dynamics, slurred, tongued, staccato, etc.), you must practise all kind of studies, but from ground floor up to tenth floor, not picking here & there just because finding Maxime-Alphonse book no.6 "cool". Get the Kopprasch first, Mueller & Paudert, de Grave, - well, see the full list on my home page, accompanied with easy & one by one more demanding pieces. But hands off Strauss or Weber. These pieces will come after you had passed all the others. If you begin studying the great concertos before you are prepared technically, you will waste much time, as you have to learn them measure by measure, committing the same mistakes over & over. Go the best way, which is "STEP BY STEP", NO RUSH, ABSOLUTELY NO RUSH. Study etudes as many as you can get. This is the best preparation for the right technique. Study these etudes musically. Hands off any excerpt books, if you are not ready technically. It is absolute nonsense, to practise Till or Siegfried or Heldenleben, when every second note will come as a clam, but playing it over & over & over again with the same disappointing result. After you are prepared technically by all the exercises recommended above plus other exercises, you will master these excerpts with a minimum of effort. You did not understand Graeme Evans letter seemingly. Yes, he recommended practising more to master the technical challenges, but he also assumed that the player in question is ready qualified for the task. The emphasis here is on "qualified". The greater practising effort will make sense then, but not if the player is not qualified for these complicated & demanding tasks. If the player is not qualified to play "Oberon Ouverture" on first horn, but if he or she will practise this solo for one thousand times, the solo will remain a nightmare for this particular player. Do the home work first to acquire the necessary skill first to be qualified, but invest some time to clean out some flaws in e.g. rapid passages also - and this time is not wasted then. If you have to practise such spots over & over anytime you have to play them, then this might point you to the fact that you are either not qualified for the piece or that you have not practised the "hot spot" properly with brain involved, so it does not remain in your fingers or your brain. =========================================================== -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 8:30 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Hornlist] RE: Horn in C# Hello list, Even though im not a pro or an amatuer, just a Highschool student, i agree with Mr. Evans on this. I would think that by slowly practising and slowly speed up these difficult quick fingerings it helps and IS NOT a waste of time. It almost becomes etched in your brian. If you have your embouchre cordinated with the playing but your fingers arent together, it wont sound right. It will sounded muddy and unclear and unpleasing for that matter. Even if your putting rubbish together with your fingers while playing a fast part, the same. Why should it be a waste of time? If you have trouble with quick fingering and take it slowly, and "hammer it in" and it WORKS... nothing is wrong. If it works WHY is it a WASTE? You can't run before you learn how to crawl. We look for what works for us. If it isnt broken, dont fix it. Do whatever method works for you...I think this one works for me and most of the people I know. All the best, Michael Kolaghassi _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
