On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 9:03 AM, Milton Kicklighter <[email protected]> wrote:
> I did kind of make light of playing after beats with my "military band" > comment, > but over the years I have found that there are many that have much trouble > playing after beats. It has kind of come natural to me, and many other horn > players, because of my experience playing in a band. Oh the many many > marches > where there was nothing but after beats. And if you would like to have the > "greatest" experience in playing.... tongue in cheek..... play the horn... > marching... on a rough field!!! Now that is the way to learn how to > play after > beats. :) In the "for what it's worth" department, having to play parts like this is the biggest reason I quit playing French Horn in our local community band. Although one encounters writing like this in an orchestra, you get it _much_ more in a band, and it's just awful to play, particularly for an amateur like me who has only so many notes in my breath and in my embouchure in a given day. I like Hans' sentiment here - practice melody. My favorite things to practice on the horn are those "Twenty Four Italian Songs" http://tinyurl.com/24ItalianSongs (The full link is below.) http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/search?id=288755&q=twenty-four+italian+songs+and+arias+-+medium+high+voice+%28book%2Fcd%29 That's the high voice edition, and one must be able to play horn in C, but they're wonderful - I usually play them as a tenor would sing them, sounding 1 octave below written pitch, and the slower song are perfect for an intermediate player. Sometimes, when my upper register is feeling good, I play the low voice edition at pitch and, if I'm playing them without an accompanist, I play them in whatever key I feel like. My recommendation to Daniel - hold the horn almost but not touching your face, and sing your part on solfege! (Just kidding.) -S- _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
