The Best of Both Worlds
by Steve Park
It is probably assumed that most people who play horn at a professional level would choose to do it for a living. But that may not always be the best path to take. I have chosen a different path than most and have really been happy with the results.
I have always been good at playing horn. While I was still in junior high school, the high school band director recruited me to play in his band. They were preparing to perform at the Mid-west Clinic in Chicago, which means that they were one of the top bands in the country. They already had 5 horns, so they really didn’t need me. But the band director recognized that I played really well and offered me the opportunity.
I was first chair in All-state band. There were 8 horns in the section. As a senior in high school, I played 3rd horn in the orchestra and brass choir at the University of Utah. Both groups met in the afternoon on alternate days. I was able to arrange my schedule so that I could leave the high school early each day to make the rehearsals.
As a freshman at the University of Utah I had a full tuition music scholarship and played first horn in all the groups. I also got my first taste of studio recording. We recorded the theme music for the KSL Channel 5 News. The horn part was dominant in the music, and for the next couple of years I got to hear myself every time my parents watched the evening news. Today I do studio recording sessions on a regular basis and play in most of the contract orchestra gigs in the Salt Lake City area. At a recording session a couple of years ago, one of the Utah Symphony horn players asked me why I didn’t play professionally.
Lessons from Building a Successful Career as a Teacher and Hornist
by Brad Tatum
As hornists, we live in a society full of musicians who are aspiring to win that position with a full-time orchestra or other performing arts organization. It is easy for musicians who are fresh out of college to feel a sense of failure if they have not yet achieved this. Sadly, the old and inappropriate adage that those who can’t, teach, has always seemed truer for musicians than any other field. However, I am fortunate that at this stage in my life I have achieved a degree of success as a teacher and performer and find that they are quite complementary to each other. In this article, I hope to share some lessons I have learned along the way of how to be successful doing both, and to demonstrate how teaching can make you a better performer and vice-versa.
In addition to being blessed with a wife and two kids, I currently teach band and orchestra full time at Elizabeth Seton High School, play principal natural horn for the Washington Bach Consort, instruct a large studio of horn players, give recitals and masterclasses at universities, and freelance in the Washington, DC area. Most recently, I had the wonderful experience of hosting the first ever D.C. Horn Choir Camp at my high school. It was a terrific way to use my skills as a hornist and band director to benefit others.
I started my teaching career while completing my DMA at Maryland, and I have been teaching for nine years. My struggles to be a good music teacher and hornist have always seemed to coincide; so far, success in one has brought success in the other. It is safe to say it all began when I established a routine of practicing first thing in the morning before school. Not only has this created a great habit, but also it has made me a better music teacher. Some days this was my only chance to practice, and on the days I got distracted by other tasks, I always wished I had practiced first. It forced me to use my time wisely and to learn to practice with an emphasis on quality over quantity. It also helps me wake up and feel more focused before my school day begins.
Chops/Life Balance
IHS Members Only feature
by Tom Varner
Special thanks to Gabiella Ibarra for the Spanish translation 
Informal thoughts and a survey: How do we keep up our chops AND keep our sanity intact when we are horn players AND full-time teachers, and have other commitments (spouse, kids, aging parents) as well?
Dear IHS friends,
When Mike Harcrow and Kristina Mascher-Turner asked me to contribute something for the August 2017 E-Newsletter, exploring the subject of that old teaching/playing/life juggling act came to mind, and so I ran with it. I’ve been a “jazz/improvised music/everything” free-lance hornist and bandleader my whole adult life, but I’ve only been a full-time college music teacher for five years now (going on six, and eight if you count the time as an adjunct as well). Frankly, the past five years have truly been a challenge in a way that they never had been before, in terms of keeping up playing chops while teaching a full-time load and having a family (now with two busy teenagers). Not that I am complaining, as I am very grateful to have my job, and I love my students and fellow teachers, but wow, this balancing act is not easy. (Horn-playing teachers who have been doing this for 10, 20, 30 years, feel free to laugh at me!)
If I Could See Me Now
by Joy Cox
My ten-year-old self would be so disappointed by my thirty-year-old self. I was going to be the greatest horn player of my time. I wept on my bedroom floor when I read the fingering chart incorrectly and tried to play A-flat with fingers one and two. It didn’t sound right. There was something wrong with me! I would never be the greatest because I can’t play A-flat! Obviously I got that figured out. Barry Tuckwell was my hero; I even named my goldfish “Barry.” When at last it was time for college, I figured I had better go to music conservatory because who really has time for math and English? Must practice. I did everything I could to pursue a career in performing and things went well. I won a small, but professional, audition during college and had enough free-lance work to support myself.
Fast forward about ten years. I have around 150 students ranging from preschool to high school age. My classes are general music, band, choir, and handbells. I’ll admit, it’s kind of crazy but I had been pulled into teaching little by little. It started with giving piano lessons and doing after school tutoring on the side and that was it, I was sold! When presented with the opportunity to teach a subject I was passionate about, I could hardly turn it down. I found myself sharing the most basic elements of music in a more interactive way than I had before. For the most part, it seemed that my students were enjoying music and growing from the relationships we were building. We were all being challenged.
Pedagogy — “Do you want a career in music, or a life in music?”
by Dr. Brian McLaughlin
“Do you want a career in music, or a life in music?” Henry Mancini’s question is still valid after all these years. Our colleges, universities, and conservatories are filled with young horn players who imagine that they will one day grace the sections of America’s orchestras. Performance majors walk the halls of every institution, and over the years I have heard many of them tell me thatthey are absolutely certain that they will never teach. “I just want to play,” they say. But all of us are part of a long tradition of teaching. The great players of our craft only got that way because someone taught them, and 99% of them teach as a part of their performing careers. It is a responsibility for us, as participants in the genealogy of the horn, to pass on what we have learned. We all are keepers of the flame.
So what does a “life in music” look like? For most of us who make our living as musicians, it is a patchwork of various musical activities, including performing, teaching, writing, arranging, conducting, and more. Each person emphasizes their strengths, and various components may take center stage for a while as the demands of our lives change. For those of us who will make teaching a major part of our musical lives, there are three interdependent topics that are good to keep in mind: musicianship, standard of acceptability, and musical imagination.
The essential thing for everyone who strives to be a good teacher is that they also strive to become a fine musician. While there are some great teachers out there who, for a variety of reasons, no longer perform, there are none who are not outstanding musicians. Learn all you can about theory, form, and history. Learn about the lives of composers. Learn about the lives of the great horn players of the past. Listen to performances of great violinists, pianists, vocalists, and other wind instrumentalists so that you can go beyond the mechanics of horn playing. Listen to the way they phrase their lines. Educate yourself so that your interpretation is informed. Let the music guide your musical decisions, rather than letting the difficulties of horn playing dictate them. Our instrument is so technically demanding that it is easy to get caught up in getting the notes out and miss the emotional communication of which the horn is capable. For students involved in a music education degree, this is your primary goal: while you are in school, do all you can to become the best musician possible.
Symposium Video
Video Highlights and a slideshow from IHS 49
Pedagogy - Günter Högner
English versionEin Statement für das Wiener Horn
Als langjähriger Musiker und 1. Hornist der Wiener Philharmoniker (in Wien gibt es kein „Solohorn“) – wie auch als Lehrer an der Musikuniversität Graz, war und ist für mich der Klang das Allerwichtigste am Musizieren.
Wie allgemein bekannt, liegt die herausragende Bedeutung des Wiener F-Horns weniger an der technischen Spielbarkeit als an der Tonqualität – insbesondere werden die weichen Bindungen so geschätzt und bewundert.
Doch woher rührt die Qualität des „Wiener Horn-Klanges“?
Die Weichheit des Tons hat einerseits mit der Länge des Instruments zu tun; es schwingen mehr Obertöne mit – und dadurch klingt es voller. Zum anderen liegt sie an der Mensur. Und als weitere Faktoren sind zu nennen: die Luftführung; ebenso der Stoß, der nicht zu hart sein darf. Und natürlich kommt es auf die Bindungen an, die beim Wiener Horn besonders schön sein können.
Die meisten Menschen glauben, dass die Möglichkeit, so weiche Bindungen zu spielen, von den Ventilen abhängt, das stimmt aber nicht. Die Qualität der Bindung liegt an der Rohrlänge, die zwischen dem Mundstück und den Ventilen liegt. Die Länge der Luftsäule vom Mundstück bis zum Ventil ist beim F-Horn ca. 1m 60cm / 1m 80cm lang; wohingegen es beim B-Horn (beim Doppelhorn) so um die 40cm oder 30 oder 20cm sind. Eine so kurze Luftsäule kann freilich nicht so komprimiert werden wie eine fast 2m lange, die ist beweglicher. Dadurch klingen die Bindungen am Wiener Horn so viel weicher. – Aber man muss natürlich auch wissen, wie man das macht, also wie man die Töne anblasen bzw. den Luftstrom bei der Bindung „führen“ muss. (Und das alles muss man „üben, üben, üben…“)
Aber auch die Form des Mundstücks (und hieran ist vor allem die innere Form hervorzuheben) ist ein wenig anders als bei einem Doppelhorn-Mundstück; sie ist nicht so bauchig, kesselartig, sondern trichterförmig. Des Weiteren kommt es auf die „Seele“ des Mundstücks an, also auf seinen mittleren Teil [die „Seele“ ist der zylindrische Teil des Mundstücks], und die ist beim Wiener Mundstück sehr lang und endet am Schluss dann wieder trichterförmig.
