This rubric is designed as a guide for a student’s development through the various levels of proficiency on horn. Each form lists level appropriate repertoire and prescribes bench marks to measure progress and advancement. Since each student has unique goals and abilities, the length of time they will devote to refining technical and musical skills in a given “form” will vary. Some students may choose to remain at the same level for a long period of time (perhaps indefinitely) while they continue to refine learned skills. Ambitious, highly motivated students (especially those with goals of performing and teaching professionally) will continue to “level up” with the goal of eventually mastering the instrument.
An experienced teacher understands that the student ultimately dictates the pace and scope of instruction. Not all students aspire to mastery or have the time and energy to devote to several hours of daily practice. Some student’s only goal is to place well in a chair test or to keep up with challenging repertoire in the school band. Other students dream of winning a solo competition or being accepted into a competitive music conservatory. I believe it’s important for each student to decide what their current goals are in studying horn. Goals can and will change over time but, in order to give structure to the course of instruction, it is important to know where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.
At each stage, there are certain skills that can and should be mastered. In order to graduate to a higher level, proficiency in the prescribed skills and repertoire of the current level should be demonstrated to the satisfaction of both the student and the teacher through informal “tests” or other milestones such doing well in a professional audition or successfully performing a recital.
Theses levels are not intended to be rigid or absolute. Students and professionals can benefit from reviewing basic skills with a “beginner’s mind” as well as occasionally challenging ourselves to work on repertoire that may slightly beyond our current abilities.
For all serious students, a well developed daily technical routine or warm up is the foundation for maintaining and improving fundamental skills. This session should not be a large component of your daily practice (in fact, I would suggest limiting your daily technical routine to 30 minutes or less) and can vary somewhat from day to day. While it is helpful to experiment with exercises and routines that work well for others, most players eventually develop a flexible routine that work best for them. Students that work with me will be required to develop and demonstrate a routine that includes:
I will provide examples of exercises in all these categories that can be used as a template for individual routines and to demonstrate aptitude in certain aspects of technique.
Happy practicing!
An experienced teacher understands that the student ultimately dictates the pace and scope of instruction. Not all students aspire to mastery or have the time and energy to devote to several hours of daily practice. Some student’s only goal is to place well in a chair test or to keep up with challenging repertoire in the school band. Other students dream of winning a solo competition or being accepted into a competitive music conservatory. I believe it’s important for each student to decide what their current goals are in studying horn. Goals can and will change over time but, in order to give structure to the course of instruction, it is important to know where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.
At each stage, there are certain skills that can and should be mastered. In order to graduate to a higher level, proficiency in the prescribed skills and repertoire of the current level should be demonstrated to the satisfaction of both the student and the teacher through informal “tests” or other milestones such doing well in a professional audition or successfully performing a recital.
Theses levels are not intended to be rigid or absolute. Students and professionals can benefit from reviewing basic skills with a “beginner’s mind” as well as occasionally challenging ourselves to work on repertoire that may slightly beyond our current abilities.
For all serious students, a well developed daily technical routine or warm up is the foundation for maintaining and improving fundamental skills. This session should not be a large component of your daily practice (in fact, I would suggest limiting your daily technical routine to 30 minutes or less) and can vary somewhat from day to day. While it is helpful to experiment with exercises and routines that work well for others, most players eventually develop a flexible routine that work best for them. Students that work with me will be required to develop and demonstrate a routine that includes:
- Breathing
- Mouthpiece Buzzing
- Long tones
- Scales
- Flexibility
I will provide examples of exercises in all these categories that can be used as a template for individual routines and to demonstrate aptitude in certain aspects of technique.
Happy practicing!