The F.O.R.G.E. Method: A Performance Mindset for Horn Players

By Jordan Redd, DMA

Introduction

Horn performance demands a level of psychological resilience that is often underestimated. The instrument’s sensitivity, its physical demands, and its capacity for both brilliance and fragility place horn players in a unique position among musicians: one where the mind is every bit as important as the technique. Students and professionals alike frequently search for confidence, consistency, and focus, but these qualities often feel elusive when the stakes rise.

A performance mindset is not innate. It is not a personality trait. It is a skill, one that must be shaped with intentionality and reinforced through experience. The players who consistently rise to the occasion are not necessarily the most naturally gifted; rather, they are the ones who construct a mental framework strong enough to withstand pressure.

This article introduces The F.O.R.G.E. Method, a mindset model specifically designed for horn players. It offers a structure to develop reliable confidence, present-moment focus, and psychological adaptability. Like forging metal, shaping a resilient performance mindset requires heat, pressure, and time.

When I reflect on how I prepare for performances, this is the method I return to. The F.O.R.G.E. acronym captures it well.

F - Focus on the Present

In many ways, horn players become time travelers. In one moment, they revisit past mistakes; in the next, they anticipate potential failures. Both tendencies increase tension and disrupt the clarity required for musical performance.

Research in cognitive science and performance psychology consistently shows that peak performance occurs when attention is anchored in the present moment. For horn players, this present is remarkably simple: the next breath.

When focus drifts, performance follows. Developing present-moment awareness is therefore essential. Something as simple as taking a deep breath during the next measure of rest can serve as an immediate mental reset. Another technique is briefly locking your focus on a point in the hall to regain composure. These small, intentional actions help bring attention back to the present moment.

Over time, this approach shifts performance from reactive to intentional. Rather than dwelling on mistakes or anticipating outcomes, the player remains engaged with what is happening now, shaping each moment with focus and control.

O - Own Your Preparation

Confidence is a byproduct of evidence. Many players hope they will feel ready, but hope is not a strategy, and emotion is not a plan. What performers trust on stage is the work they have put in over time.

Owning your preparation means approaching practice with intention, structure, and honesty. This includes setting clear goals, evaluating your playing regularly, confronting weaknesses directly, and reinforcing fundamentals consistently.

If you want to feel ready under pressure, you have to practice that way. Challenge yourself in the practice room through difficult passages, endurance work, and full run-throughs. Play for anyone who will listen. I have found the most success in my own training when I push myself outside of my comfort zone and learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Recording your playing or keeping track of your sessions gives you real evidence of the work you have done, which becomes important when nerves begin to rise.

When you truly own your preparation, confidence no longer feels like something you have to chase. It becomes something you have already built.

R – Rehearse Reality

Horn players often prepare in controlled environments that do not reflect what performance actually feels like. The practice room is quiet, predictable, and forgiving. The stage is not.

Rehearsing the reality means intentionally recreating performance conditions. This might look like running excerpts without stopping, playing full pieces in one take, or giving yourself only one chance to execute a passage. It also means practicing in different spaces, adjusting to unfamiliar acoustics, and performing for others when possible.

The goal is not to work harder. The goal is to remove the gap between practice and performance.

Visualization can also play a role, but it must be realistic. Instead of imagining a perfect performance, picture yourself navigating challenges. See yourself recovering from a mistake, resetting your focus, and continuing with confidence. This builds a mental framework for how you will respond in the moment.

When you rehearse the reality, the stage feels less like a test and more like a repetition of something you have already experienced.

G - Grow Into the Moment

Pressure does not create problems. It reveals them. It amplifies whatever is already there.

For many players, pressure is interpreted as something negative. Tightness, nerves, and an elevated heart rate are seen as signs that something is wrong. In reality, these are natural responses to performing at a high level.

Growing into the moment means changing how you interpret those signals. Instead of resisting them, you accept them as part of the experience. The energy you feel is not something to eliminate. It is something to use.

This shift changes everything. Nerves become readiness. Adrenaline becomes support. The moment is no longer something to survive. It becomes something to step into.

Players who grow into the moment do not wait to feel comfortable. They recognize that discomfort is part of performing, and they move forward anyway.

E - Execute Without Permission

Many performers wait for the right feeling before they act. They wait for the nerves to settle, for their chops to feel perfect, or for confidence to appear. The problem is that moment rarely comes.

Execution does not require permission. It requires a decision.

Confidence is not something you wait for. It is something you demonstrate. You step on stage and choose to trust the work you have already done. You commit to your musical decisions and move forward without hesitation.

This means starting entrances with authority, not caution. It means playing with intention, not second guessing. It means allowing your preparation to show, rather than holding back out of fear.

At a high level, performance is not about eliminating doubt. It is about acting in spite of it.

When you execute without permission, you take ownership of the moment. You stop waiting to feel ready and start proving that you are.

Closing

A strong performance mindset is not built overnight. It is forged through consistent, intentional effort. The horn demands as much mentally as it does physically, and the players who learn to manage both are the ones who perform with consistency and confidence.

The F.O.R.G.E. Method provides a framework for building that mindset. It brings clarity to focus, structure to preparation, and purpose to performance.

In the end, you do not rise to the level of your talent. You rise to the level of your mindset. That mindset is not given. It is forged.

by Matthew Haislip, D.M.A.

Rounding out my series of 150 great recordings is Part III: Fifty Great Orchestral Recordings. This was the most challenging list to create by far. I spent many months carefully listening to countless recordings and asking for recommendations to make sure I was sufficiently informed before finishing this list. The process led to many wonderful discoveries. I felt like a student again; listening to the same pieces played by different ensembles for days on end. It was exciting and fun!

In order to limit myself to fifty recordings, I decided to only choose CDs of orchestral music. This eliminated many outstanding operatic, ballet, film music, and wind band options that could comprise many individual lists in each category as well. In order to create some diversity of orchestras and pieces listed, I had to leave off some of my very favorite CDs. I did not seek to form a representative list of the “Top 50” of our orchestral excerpts with this list. Instead, I listed some of my favorite recordings across the repertoire that feature inspiring phrasing, sound, color, dynamic contrast, intonation, blend and balance in the horn section from an extensive range of ensembles. There is broad representation of stylistic traditions on this list, and it features orchestras from across the world. This speaks to the great wealth of exciting and inspiring recordings that are available to us as horn players.

It is my hope that this list and this series helps hornists old and young discover exciting recordings that they have not yet heard. We have such a wonderful world of recordings! Happy listening!

by Jonas Thoms, Assistant Professor of Horn, West Virginia University

The horn solo from the second movement of Symphony No. 5 by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky is one of the most famous horn solos in the entire repertoire. It is regularly asked for in professional auditions for every part in the horn section and is something that every horn player must be able to perform excellently.

 The excerpt requires musicality and expression, dynamic control, and contains many tempo changes. A successful performance of this excerpt requires repetition of advance planning of the treatment of crescendi, changes in pulse, and musical decisions. The marking for the movement is “Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza.” “Andante” is a moderately slow tempo, “cantabile” means “songlike,” and “con alcuna licenza” means “with some freedom.” The performer should treat this solo as a melody to a beautiful song and feel free to interpret musical elements to make the solo uniquely their own.

 Throughout this practice routine, eighth note subdivisions will be played for any note longer than an eighth. Treat these subdivisions as expressive at all times rather than metronomic. Using this technique, increase the volume in crescendi by ensuring that each note is louder than the previous note. Follow the same practice for decrescendi and pulse changes. This will ensure continuity in these expressive elements.

John Q. Ericson

Arizona has a regional IHS newsletter, Horn on the Range. The area representative recently asked area horn professors for their thoughts on the topic of longevity, as in playing the horn for many years. As this is a topic that should interest everyone I would like to offer my thoughts here as well.

As I wrote in Horn on the Range, longevity as a horn player relates to at least three areas that may need adjustment over time in relation to the aging process. While each of these items could be expanded into a full article on the topic, these three are important starting points for thought and discussion.

Part II: Fifty Great Chamber Music Recordings
By Matthew Haislip, D.M.A.

Part two in my series is a list of fifty of my favorite recordings that feature the horn in chamber music settings. In order to limit the possibilities, I chose to exclude strictly jazz or popular music ensemble CDs. There are, however, numerous CDs in those categories that deserve attention, including those by Arkady Shilkloper, Tom Varner, Vincent Chancey, Adam Unsworth, Genghis Barbie, Julius Watkins, and Adam Wolf, among others.

In the first list, I featured over fifty different soloists, with some CDs featuring several horn soloists. In this list, I chose to feature more than one CD by the same artists in some instances. My aim was to feature fifty of my favorite recordings, and I did not attempt to include a representative recording of each of the most significant pieces for the horn in chamber music. I selected some CDs of transcriptions, as the technical brilliance on those CDs is electrifying. The artists on this list demonstrate peak levels of virtuosity, musicianship, blend, balance, intonation, and phrasing. There is overlap of chamber music and solo repertoire in some CDs from the first and second lists. For example, Marie Luise Neunecker’s spectacular recording of the Britten Serenade is on the solo CD list, as it also features both of the Strauss Horn Concerti, and Lowell Greer’s definitive natural horn recording of the Beethoven Horn Sonata is on this list, as the Brahms Horn Trio is also on that CD.

This list was challenging to assemble. Many equally fantastic recordings were not chosen. At another time, I would likely choose a very different list. My final list in this series will feature fifty of my favorite orchestral recordings. These recordings are organized by alphabetical order of performers or ensemble. Happy listening!