Jonathan West wrote:
On 25/09/2007, Steve Freides <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I
> know my son's teacher wanted him to learn a single fingering for every note
> on the horn to avoid confusion.
Unless there is more to it than you have described here, I would
respectfully suggest that the teacher's approach is ill-advised,
-----------
When I was in college and studying with Nolan Miller of the Philadelphia orchestra, I would sometimes stumble when playing because, knowing and using all the available fingerings, I would freeze trying to pick the right one, even after practicing a piece numerous times. His recommendation was to lock into a standard fingering pattern and to only deviate from it for purposes of improved tuning or special effects. For better or worse, I took his advise and have the switch points firmly embedded in my playing habits ever since. Only in the last few years have I started to vary from what I set in place over 40 years ago.
One of the consequences was that when I tried to reverse the Bb/F valve of my
double horns so I could use a descant more consistently, I couldn't do it - I
tried for nearly three years, but was constantly stumbling. Paradoxically, when
I play my descant, which stands in Bb, I have relatively few fingering
conflicts.
Some players can switch around different fingering systems with little apparent
conflict; I can't. But I do OK.
Richard Hirsh
Principal horn, Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra of Chicago
Principal horn and some time section viola, Northwest Chicago Symphony
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