davewerden

Someone recently remarked that he was getting an extra pitch while he played. This can happen when your chops are not set correctly and/or you have not balanced the needs of the pitch (and your embouchure) with the amount of air support necessary. This used to happen to me in college marching band when I was really tired. Now I can reproduce it for a demonstration (but it's very uncomfortable to do so). To do this I place the mouthpiece slightly off-center on my chops, then I can force this to happen. ...

You horn can hang onto germs rather effectively, so keep some basic rules in mind that affect health as well as how well the horn blows.


You should clean the mouthpiece FREQUENTLY with soap and water. This is obviously the best place for bacteria to cling and infect/re-infect you. If your moutpiece is not clean it can also cause some pesty infections or rashes around the mouth. I used to work with a French horn player who had to clean his mouthpiece every day with alchohol - otherwise ...

As part of our series of free military band music downloads, the latest offer features The United States Coast Guard Band playing the famous Colonel Bogey March by Kenneth Alford (whose real name was Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts, 1881-1945). This is a great march for low brass players, with great bass lines and a lovely euphonium counter melody.


Colonel Bogey March, MP3

Continuing our series of free recordings of military bands, we have just added a great performance from The United States Marine Band, featuring cornetist Charles Erwin. This recording of Vincent Bach's Hungarian Melodies was made in 1959.


Hungarian Melodies, Charles Erwin, Cornet. U.S. Marine Band

A reader wrote recently asking about a horn for his 10-year-old son, who is excited to learn to play euphonium. They are renting a Bach b1104 for the time being, but he wondered if:

Is the bell-front design a bad thing to learn on?Is it a limitation to have only 3 valves, or is it just better to learn right off the bat on a 4-valve hornShould he stick with the Bach or look into buying a used Conn (or similar)?

My bottom line was that he could probably stay with the horn he ...