Singing on the Wind - the book
Two elderly gentlemen arrive at the Pearly Gates to be met by Peter, who, looking a little worried, explains to them that, owing to cut backs and economy drives, he can only allow one of the two into Heaven. Wanting to be fair he allows each to give reasons why he should be allowed in.
"Well", says the first, "I was the village priest and every Sunday I prayed for my entire congregation. Having led a virtuous life I feel I have earned my place in Heaven."
"Indeed," says Peter turning towards the other, "and what would be your reasons?"
"Well," says the other, "I can hardly have preference over a priest as I was only a horn player in the town orchestra."
"Well, well," says Peter, "so that was you? Come on in then!"
"But why?" asks the priest astonished.
"Simple", says Peter, "on Sunday you prayed for your congregation, but during every concert the whole audience prayed for the horn player!"
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It is unfortunate, but true, that many horn players rely a good deal on luck. They prefer to ignore any problems that they may have, and just practise more in the hope that the problem will solve itself and simply go away. What is missing from both luck and extra practise is a basic understanding of the simple principles of horn playing which would provide the tools to solve problems, or prevent them from occurring in the first place. There are many books available containing studies of varying degrees of virtuosity, but there may come a point, for even the most talented player, where he or she may stop to think, "What do I actually do to hit a C sharp?" As most players with natural talent play instinctively, they probably will not know the answer. As long as the intuitive muscular memory keeps hitting the C sharps, he or she will not need to think about the hows and whys of playing. If, however, we start splitting our C sharps and the problem doesn’t go away, we are faced with a crisis, and this will be obvious to our audience as well.
You may find, reading the following, that you will disagree with parts. If so, then you are probably already consciously aware of what you are doing and have formed your own ideas on technique. On the other hand if you find something that rings a bell and perhaps even solves a problem, then we can both be satisfied!
Reviews
“This concise book is a collection of Mr. Downing`s thoughts primarily on the technical side of horn-playing, with a goal to showing players how to compare what they are doing with what they want….I like the conciseness of his ideas, easily digested by teachers and students, and he uses several catchy phrases (like the book title) to get his points across.
I especially like his ideas on treating slurs as glissandi, on explaining accuracy as a process of breathing, focus and playing tied to muscle-memory (physical and the internal ear), and on emphasizing the idea that each aspect of playing, practicing, warming up etc. should have a purpose and a goal.”
Jeffrey Snedeker. The Horn Call, October 2004
“The book is a serious, thoughtful approach in which the attentive reader will find wonderful nuggets of advice stemming from Nigel`s extensive experience as a performer and teacher….Some readers may well find some of the exercises without the horn (for physical comfort, awareness and mental training) of particular interest and may well be reading about these for the first time. I would urge everyone certainly to take the trouble to try out these exercises rather than simply read about them and think “oh, that`s interesting, I wonder how that works.” Do try them out for real (with or without your horn!).”
Bob Ashworth. The Horn Player, August 2004
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