I sincerely hope that you are not confusing 'seeking advice' with 'not being able to learn for yourself'.
I'm certainly willing to do what's required to improve my playing, just as I've always been willing to do what's required to improve my career. I certainly do not feel that asking others for advice is identical to being unwilling to learn for one's self. I also hope you realize (as does everyone else) that I not once asked for everyone to improve my own playing without me doing any work. I never asked anyone to do my homework for me. I also do value the skill of learning on one's own, but at the same time we do not live in a vacuum, and we must always be open to the work of others. There's no sense in re-inventing the wheel. Other people have learned how to play accurately, and so it doesn't hurt to ask what they did or learn by their work. In my job/career, we often re-cycle the work of others while giving them full credit simply because we know that we can learn a lot from the tedious work others have done. This in no way replaces the learning that you must do on your own, of course, but it becomes a valuable compliment. I certainly hope that my post does not give you the wrong impression of who I am. As far as the 'magic bullet' to accuracy being concentration: While I do believe and accept that concentration is important, it would then stand to reason that it has to be a skill that is workable, and if so, how do you improve it? Some people naturally have difficulty concentrating, some don't, and it is not always clear on how to improve it. There are few books/exercises that actually work in improving that, and that's why there exist medications like Aderall. Plus, I don't see how that alone will cut it. It would help, sure, but you have to get the muscles to work properly and the air to work properly. A good parallel to this is running. I've started to train myself to run (and have gotten to an average of 10 km a day in less than an hour and it took about a year or two) and I find that concentration helps but it in no way replaces interval training, being meticulous, treating the muscles with care, breathing correctly, balance, etc. In other words, for horn playing, my qualms are with training the muscles and air so that they are within the correct margins before I start the note - hence why my suggestion of playing F horn only for a while was posted. Needless to say, I agree a lot with your post, Ralph, and thank you for posting it. However, I did want to clarify what I said and what I meant in hopes that you didn't get the wrong impression. -William -----Original Message----- From: Ralph Hall <ra...@brasshausmusic.com> To: The Horn List <horn@memphis.edu> Sent: Fri, Aug 26, 2011 3:53 am Subject: [Hornlist] Accuracy Ralph R. Hall ra...@brasshausmusic.com Ralph R. Hall http://www.brasshausmusic.com Predominantly, this posting has revealed what I've suspected since being a member of the list: the majority are looking for external influences/assistance to improve their playing, whereas my thesis has always been that the biggest influence comes from within. An analogy might be that most of today's youth get their gratification from external devices such as the TV, Nintendos, PC's, smart phones etc. Maroon them on a desert island and they couldn't hack it because they have very little of use in their heads and nor do they have the machinery of imagination to sustain them in their solitude.. The horn equivalent is the desperate search for the best instrument, the perfect mouthpiece, the definitive sound, the study that, miraculously, will improve accuracy. All these are externals that bypass what should be coming from within. I'm intrigued whenever I go to a horn festival/gathering that most of the amateurs arriving to participate have better instruments (at least younger!) than I've got and that they are the same who are earnestly trying every instrument/ mouthpiece on display looking for the Holy Grail that is unattainable without a basic ability level and the self-help, imagination and diligence to exploit it. The common thread in the sensible advice coming from certain postings is that accuracy is unachievable without maximum concentration. There are no specific etudes that will do this for you and no concentration switch that turns it on for a performance. Therefore, the only way to train yourself to concentrate when it's really necessary, is to concentrate all the time, from mouthpiece buzzing, through warm - up, practise and rehearsals. Farkas says that to achieve anything as a player you have to have spent at least a monastic 6 months dedicating yourself absolutely to the horn and its mastery. For most, it seems to be mystery not mastery. It's quite simple; it doesn't matter what you're playing and which mouthpiece or instrument you're playing on - make every note count as if your life depended on it. Eventually you will reach that euphoric state of 'relaxed concentration' that is necessary to survive the rigours, both mental and physical, that are an inevitable adjunct of playing to any sort of respectable standard. Ralph R. Hall _______________________________________________ post: horn@memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/valkhorn%40aol.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
