by Joshua Pantoja

I consider myself to be passionate about the horn, regardless of the style or genre being performed; from symphonic music to popular music, my personal interest has always been to transmit music of the highest level, the type of ensemble notwithstanding, to break the stereotype of the horn as an instrument used exclusively for symphonic music, and to allow the world to see it as the versatile instrument that it really is. Since my early days in music, I have found it fascinating to be able to play without having to have something written down, to create from within and develop an idea through creativity. My admiration for great trumpeters such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, and Arturo Sandoval, motivated me to try to bring their way of playing to the horn, and that's how I began to explore the world of improvisation, both empirically and intuitively, since my main focus had been classical music and my training as an orchestral musician.

Five years ago, I finally decided to begin to give shape to my idea of using the horn in jazz in a structured way, and that's how I got to know my teacher and friend Julio "Julito" Alvarado, one of the most widely-recognized trumpet players in Puerto Rico, known for his contribution to jazz and Caribbean music. With him, I began my formal learning process of jazz, and at the same time I began to investigate how I could share this knowledge with classically trained musicians in a clear way that is familiar to those who have not had the opportunity to have contact with the world of improvisation. Thus, I came up with the idea of writing my first book, From Classical to Jazz, an Improvisation Method, in which I compiled practice exercises that I have used as improvisation tools, presented in a simple language for players of any instrument. It is based on different scales and chords and their structures, allowing for the learning of these resources in a gradual manner, making use of the circle of fourths. As an additional tool, I created individual tracks for each exercise; this makes the process more fun and complete as it expands the aural aspect to new sonorities. The book contributes and enriches the creative possibilities when improvising, giving the musician the freedom to create without the need for a score.   

Musicians around the world have begun to look for ways to diversify and have found, to my great satisfaction, a possibility in my book. We have created a community through the Facebook group “From Classical to Jazz, an Improvisation Method” and through my website www.joshuapantoja.com, where we discuss the book, analyze its exercises and work on jazz standards in a simple way. In addition, I have had the honor of visiting several universities in the United States, where I have been able to teach virtual master classes and individual lessons for the purpose of sharing all these tools with as many musicians as possible. More and more people are receiving this information and are beginning to explore improvisation as another possibility in their musical training. 

I would like to close by saying that music is an infinite world, where learning is limitless, in which the more skills we develop, the more opportunities we will have at a professional level. To me, jazz has been an infinitely enriching experience that has opened my mind, and expanded my creativity and my way of listening to and enjoying music. I invite you all to rediscover yourselves, to dare to experiment and not set limits for yourselves.

by Jeffrey L. Snedeker

Hand and/or Valve: Horn Teaching at the Paris Conservatoire in the 19th Century, and the Transition from Natural Horn to Valved Horn

The transition from the natural horn to the valved horn in 19th-century Paris was different from similar transitions in other countries. While valve technology was received happily by players of other members of the brass family, strong support for the natural horn, with its varied color palette and virtuoso performance traditions, slowed the reception and application of the valve to the horn. Nowhere was this support more evident than at the Paris Conservatoire.

The traditions of virtuoso natural horn playing at the Conservatoire were established by its first teachers, in particular Frédéric Duvernoy and Heinrich Domnich, but even they presented the horn in different lights. Duvernoy was a noted soloist whose method emphasized the development of hand technique that produced even tone colors over a three-octave range. Domnich, a student of Punto, was more of a pedagogue, producing a method that was more comprehensive in support of the traditions of high horn and low horn playing as well as the development of a chromatic range covering more than four octaves. Domnich also promoted even tone colors throughout the range yet celebrated the variety of colors as a benefit to the horn’s expressive potential. The successor to both teachers was the Domnich’s former student Louis François Dauprat, who took Domnich’s ideas and expanded them. It is clear that Dauprat’s method is a significant step forward—482 pages long and divided into three large sections, it contains not only numerous exercises for technical development but also extensive written discussions on topics that range from mechanics of playing technique and horn construction to practical suggestions for performing practices (e.g., ornamentation), as well as advice to students, teachers, and composers regarding styles, taste, and performance. Dauprat’s method still casts a shadow over all method books that have appeared since it was first published in 1824. Dauprat’s two successors on natural horn, Jacques-François Gallay, who joined the Conservatoire faculty in 1842, and Jean Baptiste Victor Mohr, who was appointed Gallay’s successor in 1864, carried Dauprat’s work forward and built on it.

Valved brass instruments first appeared in Paris in 1826, and their reception was mixed. Applications to soprano instruments, like trumpets, and later to bass instruments, like tubas and saxhorns, were more readily embraced, especially in military music, but their inclusion in the orchestra and even in solo repertoire moved more slowly for a variety of reasons. The obvious advantages in applying valves to the horn, e.g., more open notes in the middle and low ranges, were countered with preferences for the variety of colors available on the natural horn that worked well with other instruments and offered opportunities for a wider range of personal expression, at least in the opinions of some commentators. The first successful application of valves to the horn in Paris involved a mixed technique that simultaneously combined hand technique with options in fingerings to encourage performers to pursue nuanced and personalized performing practices (thus, hand AND valve). The promoter of this approach, Joseph Émile Meifred, became the first valved horn teacher at the Conservatoire in 1833. His approach was embraced and supported actively by Dauprat, and Meifred continued to teach at the Conservatoire until his retirement in 1864. 1864 was also the year that Gallay died and thus a natural horn teacher was also needed.

Clearly at a crossroads, the Conservatoire administration had choices, one of which would have been to hire replacements for both teachers/classes. They didn’t. They could have looked to the future and chosen to hire a valved horn teacher and let the traditions of the natural horn fade away. They didn’t. What they did do was to hire Mohr, not only a natural horn specialist but also a former student of Gallay apparently committed to maintaining the traditional instrument. There are several possible reasons for this decision. First, of course, was budget cuts. Still, one might think that hiring a valved horn specialist who could play some natural horn (or vice versa) would make the most sense in terms of horn activity at the time. Another possibility is a strong preference for the natural horn, which was still deemed appropriate for older repertoire that was popular at the time. Still, there was plenty of new repertoire that would support looking ahead. Yet another possibility is that other studio classes might have been able to handle general valved brass study. In the 1850s, the Conservatoire had decided to pick up the musical slack from the difficulties experienced by the Gymnase de musique militaire (Military Music School) and hired additional teachers to provide instruction on “modern” brass instruments for military musicians. It is possible that valved horn could have been viewed as “close enough” to be included in those studios.

Mohr, however, was the only official horn teacher at the Conservatoire from 1864 to 1891, and it appears the natural horn was the only type of horn taught. Over the course of Mohr’s tenure, calls for valved horn teaching increased, especially as performance repertoire became more chromatic/complex and the requirement of valves in professional circles became more prevalent. As the Conservatoire administration considered a change, a commission to examine the possibility of valved horn instruction was suggested and then formed. The result, accelerated by Mohr’s unexpected passing in 1891, was the hiring of François Brémond, an accomplished performer sympathetic to the traditions of the natural horn and well versed in the advantages of the valved instrument—the perfect person to guide the transition from the past to the present. His approach, as evidenced in his method books, encouraged the study of both natural horn and valved horn but treated separately (thus, hand OR valve). The pieces promoted by Brémond for study at the Conservatoire included separate sections for natural horn and for valved horn, e.g., Paul Dukas’ Villanelle (1906). This was not the same approach as Meifred’s method of combining hand technique and valves simultaneously. Comparing the approaches of Meifred and Brémond offers interesting insights into the way two different time periods viewed the horn and its attributes.

For those who are interested in learning more about this time and place in horn history, please come to my presentation at IHS 54 where I will be discussing these two approaches to the valved horn. Here is a preview:

If you would like even more detailed discussions of both valved horn and natural horn teaching at the Conservatoire in the 19th century, please consider reading my book, Horn Teaching at the Paris Conservatoire, 1792 to 1903: The Transition from Natural Horn to Valved Horn (Routledge, 2021). 

“The book is very well researched, very well written, and will be a substantial contribution to the history of the horn. In structure and scope, this book goes deeper into the history of the horn in France in the nineteenth century than anything written previously. Highly recommended.” Professor Richard Seraphinoff, IU Jacobs School of Music, USA

Dr. Jeffrey Snedeker has taught in the Music Department of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, since 1991. Jeff is active in several national and international organizations, having served on the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society (including three terms as President), the Board of Directors of the Historic Brass Society, and the Washington Music Educators Association Advisory Board (elected to two terms as Higher Education Curriculum Officer). Jeff currently serves as Principal Horn with the Yakima Symphony. Jeff has published over 50 articles on a variety of musical topics in scholarly and popular journals, including seven entries in the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary/Grove Music Online.

by Félix Dervaux

Félix Dervaux is a horn player from France. He is the former solo horn of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He currently enjoys a solo and chamber music career, and lives in Vienna, Austria. I interviewed him about his upbringing as a horn player and his advice to students. The essay below puts Félix’s words into a narrative flow about horn playing and pedagogy. This is the first of a two-part article.

--Daniel Grabois

I grew up in the north of France, 200 km north of Paris, where there are many municipal bands and orchestras. That’s where I started playing; wind bands are an important social tradition in northern France, with origins in the working classes. I went to college at the CNSMD (Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse) in Lyon, studying with David Guerrier and Michel Molinaro. David is an excellent horn and trumpet player: he had won first prize in the Munich Competition on trumpet, but then played principal horn in the Orchestre National de France before starting a solo career, and then coming back to play principal trumpet in the orchestra of Radio France a couple of years ago.

He had many different points of view because of his playing career. I was a good but not excellent player when I entered music school, and Guerrier explained that I had to fix all the parts of my playing that were not excellent. He was demanding, especially concerning my low register, which I had trouble with at that time. Both of my teachers were very strict with me about that. They insisted that I should not only aim to be a good high horn player but, rather, to be good in all possible registers, and therefore assigning me all kinds of low register pieces. I could not even play the Till Eulenspiegel opening call at the time. The solution I found to get better in all registers was to teach myself to be a low horn player and then "attach" my high register to the low register since the high register came naturally to me. The contrary is probably also true: for players who are naturally comfortable in the low range, they should work carefully on their high register first and "attach" their low register to that. I played many of the Neuling Etudes—which I liked because they are not only technical but also musical, which helps prevent one from getting bored too quickly. (If you are continually bored when you practice, “boring” becomes a part of your playing.) That hard work has proven to be effective for me. I even had to play the Till Eulenspiegel solo in the first round of my Concertgebouw audition, so there is always some hope!

I kept (and still keep) myself enthusiastic and motivated by inventing challenges for myself. I always try to map out little steps. Everybody’s little steps will be different, but once you put yourself on that path and it actually works, you stay motivated. To build my technical background, I practiced a comprehensive and thorough one-hour routine every day. I usually went through it right after I woke up, because if I didn’t do it then, I couldn't find the motivation to do it later in the day.

If you want to be a good teacher, you need to really know your students. Everyone reacts differently to teaching. You must be a coach and a psychologist at the same time. I believe there are different steps in a horn player's life toward learning the instrument. First, when you are young, you just play to have a good time. It’s fun and a good social experience. You do that for a couple of years, and it starts your learning process. Then, the next step is to correct mistakes and bad habits as soon as possible. You go to music school, and you start making your playing right. You should aim for great horn playing, but you should not be frightened, because the horn has become something fun in your life. You must correct bad habits at this time. A great example is making sure your embouchure is correct: the mouthpiece is placed at the right spot on the lips with the angle of the mouthpiece coming out from your mouth also correct. These things become harder and harder to correct later (I had to correct my mouthpiece placement while at the university, so I know how hard this is). When I changed my playing, I spent a few months just working with the new mouthpiece placement, especially in the low register.

Some tips: when you are a music student, devote a huge amount of your time to music. It is not just the practicing: think and talk about horn and music, listen to music, listen to great horn players in recordings, and go to concerts. Listening is absolutely crucial: listen all the time! I especially recommend finding a horn player you love, who, ideally has a large discography, and listen to that player’s recordings of different repertoire. How does that player attack, sustain, and so on? Once you have found a player you like, make a playlist, and listen over and over. You will improve just by doing this.

I also spent a lot of time learning to play the accompaniments of horn pieces on the piano. It is yet another way to learn the repertoire without over-practicing. You can also practice visualization, or work by heart while singing. These are just a few ways of practicing away from the horn. People don’t like to say this, but it is possible to practice the horn too much. Many fail at auditions because they play too much. Immerse yourself in music, but don’t over-practice, and don’t hurt yourself. Find a balance.

by Mars Gelfo

June 2014. I sat on a red couch in Hong Kong, calculating hour estimates in a spreadsheet. How much had I practiced horn since the beginning? 9,980 hours was my best guess.

Seven music school rejections; degrees in cognitive science and computer science far behind me; why was I leaving my position in the Hong Kong Philharmonic after six seasons of hard-earned dreams come true?

"If anything, I've mastered being self-critical while endeavoring to play horn well," I admitted.

I decided my next 10,000 hours would be dedicated to something different.

Here is your invitation to consider: What will your next 10K hours be devoted to mastering? and how will you get there? 

Because realize it or not, in every moment you are practicing something.  

In my case, after a post-audition hospitalization, I knew that music needed to be a practice and path of wellness for me.

I traveled the world working not just with great brass & voice teachers but with mindset coaches, hypnotherapists, yogis, psychotherapists, bodyworkers, shamanic healers, kung fu masters, and more…

…and it worked.

Dreams came true – international tours with San Francisco Symphony, a sizzling performance playing principal horn on Mahler 5 in front of thousands…even dreams I could never have imagined…like jamming with the Costa Rican Minister of Culture on calypso music during a Caribbean surfing and permaculture immersion trip. 

Transformational music practice indeed!

If you could transform your musical life, what would you choose? 

I’ve always been a natural teacher. Ask me to break anything down into its component steps and operationalize a plan – it’s something I do for fun!

So when a San Francisco Symphony trombonist asked me to share some of my magic and coach him for the International Tchaikovsky Competition, a new livelihood began. 

Our work together covered not just cutting-edge practice techniques and biohacking for stage charisma, it also involved exploring ancestral patterns, daily energy management, social media synergy, and much more. Unlocking a dramatically easier high register was just a side effect. 

That was several years ago. I was deep in Silicon Valley tech startup culture building a music practice platform called Modacity. Could my team bring focused, well-organized deliberate practice to anyone with a phone? More than 30,000 people have since used Modacity, but eventually I saw something critical missing.

Productive practice is not very meaningful without personal transformation.

…and we aren’t meant to do it alone.

What I’m most passionate about these days is helping other musicians get past the inevitable blocks and blind spots, to live a musical life of their own design.

There are three main focus points in this work:

• Identity & inner transformation
• Radically efficient practice strategies
• Productivity & energy management

None of these succeed without the other:

It can feel amazing to resolve an emotional block or to connect with a vision of what’s possible, but without a practical path to integrate that, you’re not getting very far.

You could be learning music or techniques very effectively, but if it’s not serving your personal path forward, what’s the point?

You might be great with time management and show up consistently for hours of practice, but are you practicing bad habits into permanence?

The integration of the three focus points is where true power emerges.

When you know who you are and can be; when you walk a path of actualization by using your time and life force effectively; when your practice progressively builds skill in a healthy and cognitively optimized way – in a direction that is meaningful – that’s when we all win.

What is most beautiful is that your thriving as a musician creates a collective spiral of abundance. “A rising tide lifts all boats.” The more our musical community is filled with happy, flourishing, self-expressed musicians, the more everyone thrives.

So here’s my challenge to you:

Become a champion of your own actualization. 

Do the one thing that every single Olympic athlete has in common. Get a coach, a mentor, someone who inspires and helps elevate you. Find out what’s possible!

Mars Gelfo is an artistic actualization coach and internationally performing hornist. Integrating cognitive science, peak performance, embodied spirituality, regenerative design, and other fun fancy concepts, he is passionate about turning information into transformation, for the benefit of all beings.

Learn more about Mars, watch some wonky multiphonics videos, or get in touch for a complimentary coaching consultation at https://marsgelfo.com.