Getting after it. Week 1 Routine

I've just completed my move to Houston and am ready to start getting down to business.  So today I'm writing out a pretty detailed plan for myself to get in shape and learn all of the music I need to know.  The list is pretty extensive and of course I know a lot of the excerpts just from school, but I've never taken a principal horn audition, so there's plenty of rep that I have never learned or played at all.  

The list includes Till Eulenspiegel in its entirety and the Mahler 5 obligato in full as well as excerpts from Ravel Piano concerto, Schoenberg Chamber symphony, and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1.  So, my first step is sorting through what I know and don't know and prioritizing time spent on new rep.  1's, 2's, and 3's are the categories.  Most will be 2's but let's see how it shakes out.


1(Don't know or never played)

Till (entire1st part)

Schoenberg Chamber

Scheherazade

Mahler 5 Obligato

2 (Know but needs a decent amount of brushing up)

Brandenburg

Beethoven 2, 6, 7

Brahms 1, 2, and Piano Concerto 2

Bruckner 4

Mahler 9

Mozart 29 and 40

Ravel Piano concerto

Shostakovich 5 solos

Don Juan solo

Ein Heldenleben

Fairy's Kiss

Short Call

Strauss Concerto

1 (Can play in my sleep if asked to)

Beethoven 8

Mahler 3

Shostakovich 5 low tutti

Don Juan tutti's

Tchaikovsky 4 and 5

Mozart Concerto


The goal here is to slowly turn 2's and 3's into 1's and then I'll move them over into that list.  Most of my 1's right now are excerpts that are quite similar to 2nd horn or are just SO standard that I know it.  There's a ton of long Strauss excerpts on here so I'm going to plan my practice routine around those first and learning the works I've never played.  At the same time, I need to run through everything else to see how much work needs to go into the works I already know well.

Week 1 plan:

Nuts & Bolts warm up:

  • 2 octave scales (slurred)
  • path meditations and extended
  • articulated 5 note scales
  • path octaves with hold for endurance (going up!)
  • Stout flexibility studies
  • 2 octave scales (tongued)
  • Remmington Flexi slurred and tongued
  • Elephants exercise 

Repertoire Schedule:
  • Till Eulenspiegel 
  • Scheherazade (triple tongue)
  • Brandenburg (endurance and clear articulation)
  • Schoenberg 
  • play through list to figure out where everything stands

Endurance session:
  • Singer Heavy Routine exercise #1
  • High long tones
  • long swells
  • balloon swells
  • Mozart 4 

Technique goals for this week will have a focus on:

-clear and clean articulation
-centered first notes
-efficiency in the upper register (Focus on using my corners, maintaining a flat chin, and blowing easy, not forcing anything.  Hopefully this will lead to a clearer sound above the staff which has been a little airy as of late.)
-increasing tongue speed

This will be the main routine for the first week.  I might tweak some things according to what I feel needs more or less work.  I do feel like the first things to go after a lot of time off are clear articulation and especially tongue speed, so those are very obvious areas to improve for week 1.  Today is day 3.  Let's see how the week goes!  Wish me luck... or maybe just diligence.



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