Transitions—Bon Voyage, Dan Grabois

For the past two-and-a-half years, Dan Grabois has provided the anchor piece of Horn and More, our Pedagogy Column. Now, we say farewell to Dan who took over the Pedagogy Column from Ab Koster. Additional responsibilities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison prevent him from continuing in this significant role. The Column took on a very different look during his tenure with Horn and More, but it held the same gravitas as all that Ab had done for the International Horn Society through the Newsletter. We will miss you, but we are grateful for the legacy you have left the horn community through your many solicitations, personal contributions, and informative interviews. Thank you, Dan!

by Fokke van Heel

During my career as a player and teacher, I have increasingly come to realize how important and essential it is to involve my entire body in my technique. Among other things, I have benefitted greatly from Alexander Technique lessons to gain this awareness. Our instrument needs a balance between strength and flexibility, and in order to continue to develop myself, it was, and continues to be, necessary to try to explore that balance. Moreover, it makes practicing extra interesting and fun.

Below is a simple basic exercise that can be the start of new discoveries every day. Enjoy!

‘Step One-Two-Three’ – an exercise for all

In your practice room, you may want to add the following exercise, applicable to all levels of playing:

Step 1. Play a long tone, preferably a mezzo-forte note in the middle range. 

Step 2. Ask yourself during this tone: “Can I relax anything in my body?”

The shoulders may be the easiest body part to begin with:

Your shoulders relax…great!

But…your intonation drops and your tone gets softer…not so great.

Step 3. Restore Intonation and Dynamic

Restore the intonation by lowering your soft palate a bit using the vowel E.

Restore the dynamic by intensifying the airstream. 

Result: same good tone as in step 1, same pitch, same dynamic, but more relaxed shoulders and embouchure.

Simply said, you changed the energy in your playing: same quantity of energy, different quality. This is not the energy from the squeezing in your lips and the tension in your shoulders (step 1), but energy from more effort in your diaphragm and from singing in the back of your oral cavity.

What happened?

Obviously releasing the tension in your shoulders (or, in this exercise, any other part of your body) was helpful in step 1 to obtain a controlled and stable tone. But in step 2, we learn that these ‘helpful’ shoulders also cause tension in your lips and in your diaphragm, otherwise the pitch and dynamic would not have dropped.

Now both diaphragm and lips are more relaxed, but also less powerful.

To regain the steady tone you had in step 1, you need the new activity in step 3:

• In the embouchure: muscles towards and in your cheeks will be activated by saying the E-vowel in the soft palate. Challenged by the faster airstream, they take over the work of your central lip muscles.
• In the diaphragm: new, subtly different muscles will be activated to create a faster, less forced airstream.

Both new activities take a while to become strong and energetic enough, but when this has become your normal way of playing then this is your new step 1 and you can start over again…a never ending voyage of discovery! 

A couple of tips:

• In a way, step 1 is the most important. Play your note like you always do, almost without thinking.
• Do not already compensate in step 2, let it happen and listen.
• If you find it hard to relax specific muscles (e.g. your buttocks or in your pelvis area), then first give those muscles even more tension, then relax, and now you feel where to relax even a bit further.
• Since, in step 3, you are using more of the vowel E, your sound may initially get too bright and lose a bit of warmth. After a while (day/days), you will regain the balance in your embouchure (between central and decentralized), and your sound will be back, with more overtones as a result of the relaxation.
• Direct the faster airstream to your soft palate rather than to your lips.
• At first, this exercise needs one long tone, but it can also be done in approx. 4 seconds.
• Once happy with step 3 (same pitch, same dynamic), try to stay in that position and challenge the new muscles. Make sure to take many pauses!
• Preferably, do not do this exercise before a performance but rather at the end of the day. Give your developing muscles time to recover overnight.

If you do not like to reflect on your playing through this exercise, I completely understand; it comes with temporary instability and your embouchure will change.

However, with curiosity you will discover and improve endlessly! 

Fokke van Heel has served as principal horn in the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra/Netherlands Chamber Orchestra since 1998. He was professor at the Artez Conservatory in Zwolle and is currently teaching at the Sweelinck Academy of the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He has been a member of the faculty of the Prisma Festival in British Columbia, Canada, since 2015.

by Ian Zook

Volume 18 — Edmond Leloir

As readers of this column may agree, there are many joys in listening to and researching recordings of the past. It is that much more rewarding when there are unexpected surprises, such as we get to share together this month! I had sourced an album of Belgian hornist Edmond Leloir performing Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70, certainly one of our most celebrated standards of the repertoire. What I didn’t realize until I read the reverse album jacket and listened to the record, is that the famed conductor Ernest Ansermet orchestrated Schumann’s piece, and Edmond Leloir serves as soloist. Released in 1958 on London Records, this recording features L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Ansermet.

Briefly, Edmond Leloir (1912-2003) was born in Brussels, Belgium and made his performance career in Switzerland. He performed in Bern, Winterthur, and Zürich, before attaining the position of solo horn of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR). He retired from the orchestra in 1977, having invested 31 years leading the horn section. Additionally, Leloir was very well known as an editor and publisher of a vast catalog of music, rediscovering numerous out-of-print or otherwise forgotten works. He was recognized as an Honorary Member of the IHS in 1983. For a much more detailed account of his life and contributions, I recommed reading his listing on the IHS website along with Jeroen Billiet’s fascinating dissertation Brave Belgians of the Belle Époque: a study in the late-romantic Ghent horn playing tradition.

To understand why Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro would be orchestrated, it’s valuable to learn about the interests and influence of Ernest Ansermet. A math professor early in his career, he transitioned into conducting, cutting his teeth with Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He founded the OSR in 1918 and then focused the orchestra on interpretations of the difficult contemporary music of that era—works by Stravinsky, Dutilleux, Honegger, Prokofiev, and Britten, among others. Anserment did have a penchant for composition, and also arranged Debussy’s piano duo Six épigraphes antiques. It is likely that Anserment arranged Schumann’s work as a gift to Leloir, as their relationship was rooted in mutual musical respect and admiration.

Schumann’s use of contrast in Adagio and Allegro is evident. He drew inspiration from the fictitious characters Eusabius and Florestan, paeans of the Romantic ideal in both his compositions and in his writing as editor of the New Periodical for Music (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik). Writer Marie C. Miller addresses this topic: “Eusabius was the lyrical, the quiet introspective. Florestan was the more flamboyant, impetuous personality. Florestan, the truer Romantic of the pair, often displayed a mercurial state of mind and quickly changing personality.”

The piece opens with a tender, melancholy horn melody supported in this context by a mixture of arco and pizzicato strings with the oboe answering in dialogue:

As the Adagio section ends, Leloir effectively blends his very broad tone into the cello section countermelody. His launch into the Allegro is vigourous and full-throated, leading to a cadential apex in the strings that is much more reminiscent of Strauss in orchestration:

The transitional section, perhaps another pleading moment from Eusabius, really leans forward in tempo. The string section provides a churning sustain of sound as a noticeable sonic departure from the usual left-hand offbeats in the piano accompaniment:

Known for it’s endurance demands related to phrase length and range, Adagio and Allegro orchestrated as a concert piece is nearly of concerto-like dimensions. Leloir’s playing overall is quite heroic to match. He siezes upon this sonic challenge and truly rides above the weight of the orchestra throughout, even turning it up a notch through the ending:

In summary, it is interesting to listen to this reconception of a treasured staple in our repertoire. A true piece of chamber music, Adagio and Allegro rewards the duo who can malleably merge tones, phrasing, and tempi to give a voice to something unique. Perhaps something is lost in the horn’s necessary projection here with orchestra, or for the need for all involved to follow the interpretation of a conductor rather than listening and responding to one another. In either case, it provides ample room for discussion. Thanks for reading Horn on Record!

by Katy Carnaggio

Sometimes, the only thing standing between you and your best performance is asking, “What if I could?”

Each day, we carry assumptions about what we can and can’t do, often shaped by past performances, insecurities, or judgments. These thoughts can quietly hold us back, keeping us in a box of “I’ve never done that before” or “I’ve never been great at that.” But what if you flipped the script?

Each day, separate yourself from your memories and judgments about who you are, the sounds you make, or what you can do. Instead, look to the part of you that simply can. Ask yourself, “What if I could? And if I could, how would I?” What would that look and feel like today?

• If I could play with a massive, ringing sound, what would I do to create that?
• If I could stay cool, calm, and collected under pressure, what would I do in that moment?

We often have such fixed ideas of what our abilities should be that we become disconnected from what they could be. But when you assume, today, that anything is possible—that you can—you start finding ways to make that assumption true.

And if you can train yourself to walk closer and closer toward that person who can, where you are matters far less than where you’re headed. Direction is more important than location. So, choose a direction and walk towards the you that can!

by Marty Schlenker

Dear Fellow Amateurs,

Several columns ago, I mentioned that John Ericson’s writing on horn embouchure had improved my understanding of the utility of keeping the corners of one’s lips tight, so that the correct balance could be achieved between “pucker” and “smile.” I renewed my focus on where I was setting my corners, generally narrowing them. 

Then, I saw this mind-bending short video of Marc Papeghin playing his horn transcription of the finale of Sibelius’ fabulous Violin Concerto, posted to the “Horn People” Facebook group on August 30. As if the virtuosity wasn't enough, his entire face barely seems to move. His corners don’t show signs of deliberate positioning—they barely seem to be working at all. How I would love to know what’s going on inside the mouthpiece to enable the rest of Marc to appear so relaxed!

Question answered…? Matthew Haislip posted a short but fascinating video to the “Horn People” Facebook group on September 12 showing an embouchure view from inside the mouthpiece. In an earlier column, I stated a hunch that I needed to make my aperture smaller so that air would pass through it faster and I would gain range, flexibility, resonance, etc. This video appears to reinforce that idea, as the player’s aperture appears quite narrow, but Dr. Haislip’s comments about how to achieve this seem counterintuitive to me. To work excessively to manipulate the lip surface inside the mouthpiece, he says, is to fight the horn’s general tendencies.

If I had more practice time, maybe I’d have a more settled perspective. Please contact me with your thoughts on and experiences with this at marty.schlenker@cavaliers.org.

Your servant and kindred spirit,

Marty Schlenker, Amateur Hornist

by Vidhurinda Samaraweera

Origins

What is “Papara?” This article explores a genre of music native to Sri Lanka widely known as either “Papare” or “Papara” (not to be confused with dunking bread popular in Greece and Turkey). The origins of the name Papara can be traced back to the late 1950s. A song named “Dingiri Dingale Meenakshi” (டிங்கிரி டிங்காலே மீனாட்சி) from the Tamil film titled “Anbu Engey” (அன்பு எங்கே, translated, “Where is Love?”), released in 1958, increased in popularity in Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was called back then). Later, this song was adapted in Sinhalese by two local artists, namely Maurice Dahanayake and R. Subasinghe. The tune of this song is still popular, and it instantly reminds us of Papara music. This is owing to the cleverly devised onomatopoeia in the song imitating the playing of a trumpet which goes, “Papara Papà Pàpa Pàpa.”

Instruments Used

A Papara band has two sections: rhythm and melody. The rhythm section consists of percussion instruments specially made for Papara including snare drum, bass drum, and hand cymbals. Numbers vary from occasion to occasion; it could be as low as 1 player per instrument to an army of percussionists. Their role is to maintain tempo or shift it. Often, a Papara piece starts steadily and gradually picks up speed, accelerating into hyper tempos allowing the people gathered to dance with great energy. The melody instruments normally are brass instruments. Trumpets and trombones play an integral role in carrying the tune, but on occasion a euphonium and/or a saxophone may be seen.

Sri Lankan Papara Band (1)	Sri Lankan Papara Band (2)

Check out Papara from a sport spectator’s point of view.

Influences

In one of my previous articles, I delved deep into the influences of horn playing in Sri Lanka. There is evidence to show that Sri Lankan Papara has also been influenced by other cultures. In the article titled, “A Study on the Decline of the West Indian Influence on Sinhalese Music,” the author finds similarities in Sri Lankan Papara and the South Indian traditions of Melam and Kavadi (Wickramarachchi, 2006). Melam is a small group of percussionists and kombu horns found in Southern parts of India which can still be seen at Hindu Temples, and Kavadi is a form of devotional dance performed for a Hindu deity named Skanda Kumar. According to the article, The Rhythm Structure of Melam, a similar tradition is found in Kerala, in India called Chenda Melam, which is an ensemble consisting of instruments including kombu, cymbals, and other Indian percussion instruments (Vishnu Achutha Menon & Boobalakrishnan N., 2020). Hundreds of players may play this music together non-stop for hours with great discipline.

South Indian Melam

Apart from the Indians, the Portuguese who invaded the coastal areas of Sri Lanka in the 16th century also influenced local music. The Portuguese introduced instruments including the ukulele and guitar, and styles such as ballads to the locals. Baila was a style the Portuguese merchants and Kaffir slaves enjoyed. It is underpinned by 6/8 rhythmic patterns ideal for energetic dancing. Baila is heard in all corners of Sri Lanka at weddings, parties, and moments of celebration. Instruments like trumpet and saxophone became increasingly popular among the locals with the formation of the Police Band in 1873 under the British rule (Harish Sagar K., et al, 2021). Since then, with the advent of marching bands and funeral bands, and the influx of foreigners who imparted knowledge to the locals, the social fabric in Sri Lanka changed, and cross-cultural musical ensembles were established. Papara is only one such result combining Western instruments and derivatives of South Indian instruments, making it a uniquely Lankan affair. 

Why no horns?

French horns are never seen in these ensembles for several reasons. One is that horns are expensive instruments not readily available for purchase on the island. (More about this can be read in my previous article, Horn Playing in Sri Lanka.) Secondly, players do not invest time or effort into learning, relegating the horn to a more difficult level. The harmonic series of F, as opposed to B-flat, and the mouthpiece being quite small makes it even more difficult for the players. Neither are hand-horn techniques unique to horn known to many locals. Finally, Papara bands are required to play very loud, mostly over the noise of a large group of people in a vast, open space. It is fair to say the horn would not be as loud as the other brass instruments in the band. Moreover, to play for hours on end, as long as 8–10 hours a day, would be quite taxing. Papara bands that play at cricket games, especially test matches, play close to 8 hours, and some religious parades held in the southern part of the island last for days. The risk of injuries to lips and arms and/or legs are imminent the entire time. Wounded players could be indisposed for days which would threaten their main source of income. Most Papara players engage in odd jobs during performances since income from playing Papara is largely insufficient to sustain a living.   

Watch for Part 2 of this presentation in the next edition of the Horn and More.

by Layne Anspach

Hello musicians!

The next quintet for piano and winds that we will explore is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Quintet in B-flat major for Piano and Winds (1876). As a well-known composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s (1844-1908) biography is easily accessible, and so I will only highlight a limited biographical background. He was part of “The Five,” a group of Russian composers which was strongly against formal training. Rimsky-Korsakov derailed his relationship with “The Five” when he accepted a position at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1871. He wrote a wide range of works and composed several notable transcriptions and arrangements.

In 1876, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the Quintet in B-flat major for a competition, in addition to his Sextet for strings. While the sextet received an award, the quintet did not fare as well. Rimsky-Korsakov, as he noted in his autobiography, claimed that the musicians assigned to perform his work were inferior to those who were assigned to the winning piece. To back up his claim, he noted that a later performance of the quintet at a St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society concert was to “the pleasure of the audience.”

The first movement of the Quintet is marked Allegro con brio and is in sonata form. The movement starts with a repetitive eighth note pattern in the piano with bassoon playing the melody. After an ensemble tutti, the piano carries on alone, building momentum. The second theme features winds alone, eventually incorporating the piano. The development features the first theme in various keys, first with horn then followed by other winds. The recapitulation begins as expected, but the second theme is altered, featuring only the piano, then the bassoon enters to replace the flute. The Poco piu mosso pushes the coda to an energetic conclusion.

The second movement, Andante, features a typical Russian compositional technique where a melodic phrase is repeated while changing the harmonic background. The horn presents the theme throughout while the winds and piano provide the harmonic variations. This technique results in a fair amount of repetition, but a close listen to the changes is a rewarding experience. In this movement, Rimsky-Korsakov incorporates an attractive fugue in b-flat minor.

The third and final movement, Rondo: Allegretto, is supported by a bassoon ostinato throughout which gives a bouncing, playful feel. Atypical of the other movements, Rimsky-Korsakov includes a lengthy fugue for piano alone. An Agitato follows, led by the clarinet and then horn, adding a brooding character which contrasts the more playful sections. If there wasn’t already enough happening in this movement, Rimsky-Korsakov features cadenzas for all voices except bassoon. The bassoon brightens the mood with the final return of the primary theme. Piu vivo and the subsequent Vivace push the entire work to a dramatic conclusion carried by the piano.

The reference recording features hornist Radovan Vlatković.

em português

by Ricardo Matosinhos

Wow, September flew by! I want to thank everyone who contributed to my crowdfunding campaign which far exceeded its initial goal.

I was born in Portugal, and my musical activities are divided between teaching, performing, and composing. The so-called "triangle of musical wholeness," as described by Douglas Hill, is also enriched by research. As a result, many of my compositions are inspired by pedagogical concepts. I am also the author of several articles and books, including a children's book that I adapted as a musical. Creativity is always present, and ultimately, my work is supported by a multifaceted approach.

This CD includes six pieces which I composed. Performing my own music is always special. As a student, I began composing as soon as I started playing the horn, but only for other instruments (and mainly the piano). It took me ten years to have the courage to compose a piece specifically for the horn (my 12 jazzy etudes), and since then, it has been a fantastic journey. There are three solo pieces (Pastoral, Mirage, and Improviso), which are consecutive opus numbers but which exhibit different characters, as they were written for different players. Then, there are two works for Wagner tuba and piano: Siegfried and Fafnir, heroic in nature; and finally, Song Without Words presents this instrument of the gods of Valhalla with a jazz vibe. This last piece was premiered by Robert Palmer at IHS 51 in Ghent, and those who attended IHS 54 might remember hearing me perform it on a horn. Additionally, there is a piece for horn and piano, Song for Emma, written for Australian horn player and composer Emma Gregan, as a token of appreciation for her acceptance to write the piece Rose-Colored Glasses.

To celebrate the release of this CD for horn (including Wagner tuba) and piano, I have decided to organize a small online contest for subscribers of Horn and More, the newsletter of the International Horn Society. I already gave away two CDs for the September edition to Veronika Redfern and Wendy Anne Bartel. If you missed it, don’t worry! I will offer two more CDs to the first two people who correctly answer the questions in the October and November editions. If you were one of the September winners, you can participate again, but if you place in the top two, the CD will go to the next person on the list.

Click here to participate

Ein Waldhorn Lustig

by Caiti Beth McKinney

Hello all!

Happy Fall! This month I would love to share with you the music of French composer Odette Gartenlaub (1922-2014). Her work for horn and piano, Pour le Cour (1968) is quickly becoming a staple in our repertoire, and her accomplishments during her lifetime are well worthy of remembrance. 

Not much is now known about Odette’s early years, other than the fact that she was an incredibly skilled pianist at a young age, winning a first-place performance award at the Paris Conservatoire when she was only fourteen. She continued studying at this prestigious institution until 1941, learning composition from Darius Milhaud, Olivier Messiaen, and others; however, in 1940, the Nazis occupied Paris and began enforcing strict bans aimed at anyone of Jewish heritage. As a result, Gartenlaub was no longer able to continue her musical education. After the war, Odette once again earned professional success and acclaim, becoming the sixth woman to ever win the famous Prix de Rome competition in composition. She even went on to become a professor at the Conservatoire in 1959, the very school which had once been forced to bar her access.

Pour le Cour follows in the grand tradition of French compositions for horn, with great technical challenges interspersed with lyrical lines. The piece begins with an eerie extended passage for horn alone, with the eventual entrance of an equally spooky piano accompaniment, all leading to a long, dramatic lip trill which propels the work into a frenzied second section. Filled with large leaps, glissandi, and movement up and down the horn’s register, this piece shows off just about every skill a horn player can possess, and it makes a great challenge for anyone looking to tackle such a satisfying work. Enjoy! 

A different approach to building an embouchure: mapping out the way your lips are spread out from the point where the vibration starts outwards.

by Denys Derome

I have been teaching horn at McGill University for close to 25 years. Like many of you, when I started playing the horn, my first teacher was rather vague in terms of step-by-step indications. My main instructions were to put the horn mouthpiece on my lips, avoid puffing my cheeks, focus on firmly tensing up my chin and the muscles at the corners of my lips, and build more power in my corner lip muscles through consistent horn practice. As the years have passed and I have spent time observing my own playing and working with students, I have come to realize that we often tense up certain facial muscles too much and end up preventing other muscles from doing their work more efficiently. Small changes to how you use the embouchure muscles can lead to greater results in tone quality, stamina, efficiency, and frankly, much more enjoyment. Obviously, not everyone reading this will want to urgently make changes to the way they produce sounds on the horn. If what you are doing is working for you, please, forget this presentation and let me salute your joy for playing the horn and wish you continued success. On the other hand, if you are curious to see how building an embouchure could be done a bit differently, if you have a problem with students sometimes rolling in their bottom lips in the high register, or if you sometimes wonder if a student might be better served with by a mouthpiece with a wider diameter, this presentation is for you.

When discussing how to create an embouchure with students, I break down my explanations into five steps. Here is a synopsis of each of those steps:

1- Bring awareness to the line of contact between your lower and upper lip when your mouth is at rest. Give attention to the points (line) of contact between your lips when your mouth is closed. Map out mentally (visualize, memorize) the sensation of where on the lower lip the top lip is touching and where on the top lip the lower lip is touching. You always want to go back to this position the instant your lips stop vibrating. This means no rolling in of the bottom lip or any other position than where your lips meet each other when your mouth is closed and the muscles are relaxed. Look in the mirror to have a visual memory as well.

 2- Bring awareness to the orbicularis oris muscle. While you are looking in the mirror, observe the position of the corners of your mouth at rest. There is one multilayered muscle that surrounds your lips. This muscle is called the orbicularis oris. Literally translated from the Latin “circular mouth muscle.” There are many facial muscles involved in building an embouchure, but for the purpose of this presentation, I would like to bring your attention to this specific muscle:

1. With your mouth closed and relaxed while still feeling that line of contact between top and bottom lip, observe the corners of your lips. You can even gently put a finger right next to the corner of your mouth beyond the lip corner and feel a connection to the orbicularis oris.
2. Now, while looking in the mirror and with your mouth still closed, muscles at rest, keep touching the corners of your mouth and move the facial muscles as if you were going to say “EEEE.” Keep your mouth closed as you are doing this. Notice how the orbicularis oris is pulled away from the relaxed position.
3. Now, still with your mouth closed, move the facial muscles as if you were getting ready to say “OUUU” and feel how the orbicularis oris is now being engaged and moving inwards towards the center of the lips. The orbicularis oris is now slightly closer to the center of your lips than when your lips are at rest and your mouth closed.

The most efficient way to create your embouchure is to keep the orbicularis oris engaged in a slight “OUUU” setting. An “EEEE” setting will require more tension than necessary and is more likely to let slip in the bad habit of rolling your lips in and out and never establishing a constant line of contact between your lips. The gentle “OUUU” setting will allow you to maintain the same line of contact between the lips. This setting will allow more blood flow and less tension.

The closer to the mouthpiece the orbicularis oris is set, the less force will be required to generate the appropriate tension for your vibrating lips inside the mouthpiece. If you do not develop awareness of the gentle involvement of the orbicularis oris, you risk working against this muscle by constantly trying to lock it forcefully into a position away from the mouthpiece. At that point, your muscles are fighting against each other. Ultimately, the gentle “OUUU” setting means a richer tone, more stamina, easier recuperation after loud playing, and less swelling after very sustained loud playing. (For the more advanced player, the big difference here is that the closer to the mouthpiece you bring to orbicularis oris muscle, the more relaxed your lip behind the mouthpiece has to be. If you are used to playing on an “EEEE” setting, it will take a bit of time to get used to relaxing the lip and realize just how much less effort is needed and how much fuller the sound becomes on the “OUUU” setting.)

3- Free Buzz. After taking time to observe how the orbicularis oris works, go back to feeling the line of contact between your lips when your mouth is closed and your muscles are at rest. Now, we want to find out how to get a vibration in our lips from our neutral lip position. Create a buzz, no matter what pitch—preferably middle to low register, but we will take whatever you can create. Whether your lips are at rest or vibrating, your mind stays on feeling the line of contact between the lips. I only use free buzzing to help map out the spread of the lips. In my teaching, I use free buzzing very sparingly

4- Introduce the mouthpiece to your vibrating lips with your new lip spread. While you are buzzing, place the entire thickness of the lower rim of the mouthpiece on the skin part immediately below the red part of your lower lip. Stop buzzing but do not move any of your lip spread while you now gently cover your lips with the rest of the mouthpiece. This is the moment where you take a look at the diameter of your mouthpiece. Does the mouthpiece rest on the skin parts of your top and bottom lip? If you fall short and the upper part of the mouthpiece ends up resting on the red part of your lips, your mouthpiece diameter is too small for your lips. You should look for a greater diameter. Too many students try to squeeze their lips into a mouthpiece with a diameter too small for their lips. When you place the mouthpiece on the lips, imagine that there is a tiny drop of glue on the top part of the rim and a tiny drop of glue on the bottom part of the rim. You will now imagine that the top and bottom parts of the rim will be glued to your skin whenever the mouthpiece is on your lips. The top part is “glued” to the skin right above the red part of your top lip. The bottom part of the rim is “glued” to the skin as it touches the skin right below the red part of your lower lip.

5- Put it all together. With the mouthpiece “glued” to your lips, relax the musculature and stay glued with closed lips. Take a big breath through the nose and now buzz through the mouthpiece. Your musculature will now be interacting with the mouthpiece. The spread inside your mouthpiece remains the same but the orbicularis oris is now ready to engage and move ever closer to the center of your lips than when you were free buzzing. Repeat this a few times and finally add the horn to your mouthpiece and you are all set!

Thank you for reading. I wish you happy experimentation with these ideas.

Denys Derome
McGill Schulich School of Music, Horn Instructor
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Associate Principal Horn