Horn and Trumpet Pedagogy ISU Summer Band Directors Workshop David W. Snyder ISU Summer Band Directors Workshop David W. Snyder.

Horn and Trumpet Pedagogy

ISU Summer Band Director’s Workshop

David W. Snyder

Horn Equipment

• Double vs Single Horns– Switch as soon as possible

• Good brands– Conn 8-D (Vintage)- $6500– Conn 8-D -$4169– Holton 179 or 180- $3979– Yamaha 667-$4091

Horn Equipment Problems

• Stuck valves and tuning slides– Penetrating oil– Move valve arm on back rotor

• Oil valves at the rotors NOT the tuning slides• Water

Holding Position and Posture Problems

• Student reaching up or down to lead pipe– It’s not a saxophone!– Lead pipe should angle slightly down from embouchure

(should follow angle of the bite)– Adjust right leg height

• Bell pointed in towards stomach• Playing off the leg?– Hand brace is helpful– RH is at 3:00 position– Horn rests on thumb and knuckle of 1st finger

Right Hand Position Problems

• Hand blocks the bell• Hand not in the bell at all• Hand in wrong position– Hand should be slightly cupped; fingers together– Hand should be at “4:00” position– Knuckles should be where the flare of the bell gets

wide

Right Hand Position (correct)

Right Hand Position (incorrect)

Embouchure Problems

• Too much upper or lower lip in mouthpiece– Should be 2/3 top…1/3 bottom– Angle

• Teeth too closed– Results in tight sound

• Tongue to high in mouth– Results in closed / tight sound

• Think “Aah”– Imagine a golf ball inside the mouth

Air Problems

• Breath deep and use MORE air all of the time!• Paper exercise to teach support– Up close for low range– Farther away for high range

Tuning Problems

• You need to know what slide controls what notes– Main tuning slide is always the first slide off the lead pipe– The F side tuning slide is the other one in back– Not all double horns have a Bb side tuning slide

(Conn/Geyer/Yamaha 667 don’t)– Bb side valve slides should be pulled proportionally less

• Tuning both sides– Use a written 3rd space C to get the sides in agreement

• Right hand– More covered…flatter– More open…sharper

Special Techniques

• Stopped horn– +,Gestopft, bouche’– Finger the note a ½ step lower than written on the F side– Smaller hands may be able to finger a ½ higher on the F

side– Don’t shove the right hand in farther… “close the door”– Stopped mutes ($40-55)

• Lip trills– Should be used in all Mozart horn concertos– C to D can both be played open on the F side

Stopped Horn(Correct)

Resources

• Two articles by me out there with pictures…– SBO Magazine, July 2009– Instrumentalist Magazine, November 2007

– Can access these on my website at: www.cfa.ilstu.edu/dsnyder/news

Trumpet Equipment

• Cornet vs Trumpet for beginners– Yamaha– Shepherd’s crook

• Good HS instruments– Bach Stradivarius trumpets ($2600-2800)

Trumpet Equipment Problems

• Stuck valves– Loosen valve cap NOT valve stem– Oil the piston NOT the spring– Make sure piston is being pushed straight down

• Third valve ring– Make sure they have one!

Holding Position and Posture Problems

• Lead pipe angle should match teeth…– In most cases, lead pipe should angle slightly down from

embouchure (should follow angle of the bite)– Coffee stirrer

• …or bottom jaw should move out to line up teeth• Left hand– Make sure 3rd slide ring is adjusted to fit grip of students

• Right hand – fingers should be curved like “C”– Thumb should rest in between 1st and 2nd valve

Embouchure Problems

• Too much upper or lower lip– Should be half and half

• Teeth too closed– Results in tight sound

• Tongue to high in mouth– Results in closed / tight sound

• Tongue position for different ranges– Oh(low), ah(middle), eeh(high)

Tuning Problems

• You need to know pitch tendencies– 1-3 (D) and 123 (C#) are sharp (use 3rd slide ring

and 1st slide saddle)– Fourth space E (5th partial) and fourth line D are

flat– Top space G (6th partial) is sharp

• Upper register– Young players pinch causing them to go sharp– Drop the jaw to open up sound and drop pitch

Special Techniques

• Mutes– Different types– Match brands if possible

• Different mouthpieces– Use deeper cup mouthpiece for darker sounds– Use a flugel mouthpiece with a flugel horn!

• Range– Start doing lip slurs from the beginning (see hand out)

• Multiple tonguing– Use t-k-t or d-g-d for fast triplets

What else?…

• Questions?• Contact me at dsnyder@ilstu.edu