Wendell, have you found the use of hand in bell for centering upper register notes more important with certain horn types? I saw a master class taught by Gail Williams. The student playing an 8D and was struggling with the upper register. When Gail had her "use more hand" in the bell the upper notes popped right out. The difference was so dramatic, it looked almost "staged" but I doubt it was. I haven't personally found such a dramatic difference in hand use for centering the upper register of the horns I've played (Yamaha 667, Holton 179, Holton Merker with medium, and Holton Merker with large bell throat).
What say you? Valerie Wells ---------------- Hi Bob, I realize all the focus on this topic has been about intonation adjustments, but what about her upper register? I'm talking about from the top of the staff up. Maybe she is too young to be there yet, but the hand plays a huge part in focussing and stabilizing the notes above the staff. No valve horn is designed to play these notes well without the hand in the bell. I don't know how many hornists i have taught or watched who play with their hand too far out of the bell to really stabilize these notes, and many of them struggle because of it. Others are just moving the hand all over the place when they should find a good position and leave it there. There are several issues involved with hand position, not just intonation adjustments. I'm sure you will help her find solutions to this. For a demonstration of the effects of hand position on the upper register, one can look on the early part of the first DVD in my 2 DVD set about playing the horn using my book. A stable, effective hand position is one of the keys to playing the horn well. Many , many people are not that up on this subject. Sincerely, Wendell -- Valerie Wells The Balanced Embouchure Method http://bebabe.wordpress.com/ http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
