Roll-Out Helps Everything!

After a 22 month lay off due to the pandemic restrictions, ensembles are opening up again.  Before rehearsal a couple weeks ago, I was playing a few BE Roll-Out exercises to loosen up my chops.  One of the horn players, a former BE student, in the band commented, "Hearing you practice your BE exercises makes me want to do them again."  I responded with "You should be practicing your BE exercises regularly ... even it if it's only once a week."  

The following week at rehearsal, he exclaimed with a big smile on his face, "I've been practicing Roll-Out all week.  Like you've always said, Roll-Out isn't just to develop the low register.  Roll-Out helps everything.  Everything is better!"   

See this:  http://beforhorn.blogspot.com/2011/07/some-things-are-not-obvious.html 

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To Order The Balanced Embouchure book:

Step 1. Email me: ValerieW78 “at” Gmail “dot” com. Please tell me what instrument you play and the country you live in.

Step 2. I send you an invoice with payment options (credit card, PayPal, check or money order).

Step 3. You pay the invoice.

Step 4. I ship your BE book.

Happy horn playing!

Valerie Wells  

Time to work on your chops.

 

Ensembles will be reopening soon!  Be prepared!  

Brass players around the globe are taking advantage of this down time to improve their chops.  So....don't be afraid to contact me for a book order.  

Just email me:  ValerieW78 "at" Gmail "dot" com

Covid or not, I'm still selling BE books!

 YES!  I'm still selling BE books.....and lots of them!  Brass players around the globe are taking advantage of this down time to improve their chops.  So....don't be afraid to contact me for a book order.  

Just email me:  ValerieW78 "at" Gmail "dot" com

BE Now for Doug Wagner

The following is an email sent to Jeff Smiley and shared with me March 16, 2016.  Doug is retired, played trombone for many years, and took up horn 10 years ago.  Doug has been studying BE since 2010.  

Jeff,

Jeff,

It has been a few years since I contacted you, and I don't even remember what I told you about my progress. The main thing I remember from your first reply, was that age was not my issue. That had to have been nearly seven years ago, and today I am approaching seventy years old, and my chops have never been in better shape! You were so right, and I am so grateful for your encouragement back then. 

The thing I believe age has influenced, is how long it takes to get to the same place a younger person would take. The good news is that consistent practice and dedication can still get you there. I will never play with a major orchestra, or even play professionally, though I have been paid for a few performances. My goal is to play to have fun and to get better and have even more fun. Music and playing horn is the passion of my retirement.

For several years I have not steadfastly practiced the BE routines, but I have always kept firmly in mind the BE principles as I progressed. I have stayed in contact with Valerie over the years, and she and I have become good friends.

What is personally important to me is that I struggled and struggled with the lower register on horn, and came up against the Reicha trios for horn, opus 82. The 3rd part drops down into the bass trombone/tuba range and expects that the player has the flexibility to play nimbly in that range. So I began experimenting, keeping BE in mind. I certainly could play the lowest notes without any difficulty, having learned from BE how to play that low, but to move back into a more RI embouchure for the higher notes was a daunting task.

I kept experimenting and one day recently, the epiphany/eureka moment arrived and I found that I could still roll out enough to reach those lower notes without rolling entirely outside the mouthpiece. It's kind of a pooch of the lips that still allows a quick roll in of the embouchure. It made all the difference.

I'm not quite up to tempo yet on being able to perform those low passages, but I'm closing fast. On the high side, my upper range has increase a solid performable fifth, from my beginnings. This I truly believe is because of embracing the principles of BE, and finding ways to implement them in my day to day playing.

I play principal horn in a small town pops orchestra in Colorado, and occasionally sub in area orchestras that play major works. I travel to California each summer to play in the Brass Chamber Music Workshop at Humboldt State University, and have such a fantastic time with all those terrific brass players.

So I just wanted to give you an update and a huge thank you for what you have brought to my playing. I'm so glad to see that your web site is up and active, and that BE is alive, well, and thriving. 

Regards and appreciation,

Doug Wagner

Lakewood, Colorado

 The Balanced Embouchure Book with CD is $45.00.
The BE for French Horn booklet and/or PDF of horn adaptations is $3.00 (with book purchase).
Shipping & handling is $5.50 to $25.00 depending on location. (The quoted prices are in US dollars.)

Those who purchase The Balanced Embouchure with a Comfy Horn Strap, receive a $5.00 discount (as well as break on shipping).

To Order:

Step 1. Email me: ValerieW78 “at” Gmail “dot” com. Please tell me what instrument you play and the country you live in.

Step 2. I send you an invoice with payment options (credit card, PayPal, check or money order).

Step 3. You pay the invoice.

Step 4. I ship your BE book.

Happy horn playing!

Valerie Wells

More Feedback From Alecia

Now this is BE-ing patient!  Alecia's well paced application of BE will certainly pay great dividends.    

Hi Valerie, thought I would check in again.  Thanks for your description. 

I am continuing to use BE, rather slowly because I enjoy what I do so much, I don't feel any great need to rush though the exercises!  I can now initiate lower notes (not the pedal notes) during pieces in rehearsal without thinking it is a big deal.  I could not do that last November.  I am also starting to attempt some of the higher sections, eg. Bb two above middle C, in public and no one has turned a fire hose onto me.  I take that to be a passive compliment.  I can't really play that area properly, but I am WORKING with it, which is a door that has only opened to me via BE.  I can see that I am earlier in the same development process I had around low notes, and I confidently expect to be able to play up to C reliably, within a year. 

I still find that trying the BE embouchure for high notes when playing causes chaos and shut down, so I don't!  But I can play the higher range available to me with less fuss, because I know that I am able to play even higher, so my brain doesn't think of it as such a big deal any more!
I practice "strategically" rather than long, and still pretty regularly use the embouchure strengthener, and the BE embouchure "squeeze" method.  I find I can't play sustained passages that center around D-G two above middle C, but aside from that I am amazed how good my endurance is, and I can feel that I have more lip muscle.  And a bar's rest is mostly enough to get me back in order.  I no longer subscribe to blindly putting in hours and hours of practice, albeit that I am not a professional.  I'd rather do BE, then solve problems I meet in pieces, eg the flutter tonguing that took me 4 weeks to get the hang of. 

So, all is going well! 

Hoping this finds you well,
Kind regards, Alecia

 The Balanced Embouchure Book with CD is $45.00.
The BE for French Horn booklet and/or PDF of horn adaptations is $3.00 (with book purchase).
Shipping & handling is $5.50 to $25.00 depending on location. (The quoted prices are in US dollars.)

Those who purchase The Balanced Embouchure with a Comfy Horn Strap, receive a $5.00 discount (as well as break on shipping).

To Order:

Step 1. Email me: ValerieW78 “at” Gmail “dot” com. Please tell me what instrument you play and the country you live in.

Step 2. I send you an invoice with payment options (credit card, PayPal, check or money order).

Step 3. You pay the invoice.

Step 4. I ship your BE book.

Happy horn playing!

Valerie Wells

Keeping Up With The Kid

I love receiving feedback from a "fast responder."  It's interesting to see how quickly Bryan grasped the overall concepts. His insights about BE compared to other methods are interesting.  The BE exercises are not easy, so it's impressive that he could execute so many in his first "session."  I had to chuckle when he described figuring out how to "keep up with the kid."   Here's what Bryan emailed me today:  

Actually, just finished my first session. Really good. I get the whole philosophy. The other methods try to explain the different positions but really, there is so much going on, it's impossible to describe for one person, let alone every person. That's why some methods work for some people and not others. BE is not really an "embouchure" but a framework to allow people to find out how to make their chops work optimally. I've seen this concept in sports, but this is the first time I've seen this for brass playing or even music. 

I stopped after an hour because I don't want to get too zealous and hurt myself, but I made a lot of progress. I feel like could go all night, but I know my lips probably need a rest more than I can tell.

I believe the key to this system is to stick with it until my muscles figure it out and the mechanics get stored in muscle memory. When I got stuck, the tips in the book really helped out. I was able to get RO1, 2 and 3 down pretty good today with a strong pedal sound. RO4 is still shaky, but I will get it soon. I was able to get the RI's too, just need to work at it so I have better accuracy and sound. Some attempts were very good, so I know I am on the right track.

I had a hard time at first with the RI tone--also, I was running out of breath within seconds, so I knew I was doing something wrong since the kid on the CD was going on forever.  So I checked the tips. I was keeping my lips too far apart, due to having the mp too low (previous embouchure). Adjusted, brought my lips closer together and it worked like a charm. Since it was a smaller aperture, i didn't need as much air, so I was able to keep up with the kid. 

Also, the tonguing on the lips was very natural for me and I can see how it is a good gauge of lips position. In fact, with my new setup, tonguing on the lips is the only way I can tongue, which was unthinkable before.

Anyways, things are going well, so far. Looking forward to more. Will keep you posted.

Thanks, Bryan

Andrew Joy & Mouthpiece Independence

"One of the great beauties of BE for me is that I am now relatively mouthpiece independent. Meaning for the horn that I can instantly play on a variety of horn mouth pieces and feel fairly comfortable immediately as well as very easily switching to trumpet and or trombone. Apart from that, I now own the G above high C and everything in between. The sound in this upper register keeps filling out and improving in quality. And it just keeps on getting easier. The end is nowhere in sight. At this stage of my life and career, I find it rather fascinating and exciting."  
~Andrew Joy

BE for All High Brass

Oft times, high brass players quickly find improvements in endurance before they've even learned all the BE exercises in spite of the difference between the instruments. Alan Greene's experience quoted below is very similar to Tzippi's experience (shttp://beforhorn.blogspot.com/2014/10/tzippi-something-is-definitely-changing.html).  Responses like this are typical for BE'ers on all high brass. 

Hi  Valerie – I just wanted to relay a brief progress report.  I can get 5 of the 7 double pedals in RO#1 pretty consistently.  I occasionally get the 6^th with good tone, but not every time.  The interesting thing about this one (the 6^th, a G on cornet):  if I get it at all, it’s with a good, focused tone.  If I don’t have that, I can’t get it with poor tone.  I also try RO#2 and #3, going down as far as I can at this point (usually 5 of the 7). I am having some success with RI#1, and am sometimes starting the day with this one.  I have not yet attempted anything further on the Roll-in side. I do the “hold until empty” exercises, and am up to Advanced Lip Slurs #1 and #2 with reasonable results. The great thing (for me) at this point, is that in regular playing I notice much improved tone quality, range, and endurance.  The last (endurance) was always my downfall.  In the past I would sometimes get great compliments from accomplished musicians, such as “You played beautifully”.  I would graciously thank them while thinking, “Just don’t ask me to do it again, at least not right now”. Anyway, thanks for your encouragement. 

Regards, Alan Greene 

----------------------------
An update from Alan Greene:

 Hi Valerie – I haven’t emailed in a while, and just wanted to touch base.  Hope you and yours are well. BE continues to deliver.  Interestingly enough, what has proven to be most beneficial to me is the roll-out side of the equation, and so I concentrate most of my time with the RO’s.  Also doing lip slurs and TOL, with noticeable benefit. In summary, the development is no longer by great leaps and bounds (which was the case in the early stages of my “comeback”), but rather slow and steady.And most enjoyable! Regards,Alan

Tzippi: "Something is definitely changing!"

Following are excerpts from a little discussion that was posted in "Horn People", a FaceBook discussion group.  

Tzippi Cheryl Pellat:  I have been playing horn continuously for 40yrs. (many of them as a professional) and am quite a skeptic. I have a large collection of warmups from various teachers-all of which were going to help various facets of my playing. Even at my best I always had high register and endurance problems. I decided to take the plunge and bought the BE kit from Valerie Wells and have been doing the exercises for about 2 months. I still can't get to the bottom or top notes and haven't yet done all the exercises...40min about 4 times a week is about all I have... So imagine my surprise when I was at a WW chamber music day and played 4 sessions of 90 min. each. Session 3 was Mozart Quintet for horn and strings and session 4 I played the 2nd bassoon part of Grand Partita....and then got through our orchestra rehearsal the next evening (3rd hn. Brahms 4). Something is definitely changing!

Andrew Joy:  Tzippi, congratulations. Hang in there. I promise you it just keeps on getting better. If it is an encouragement, I fought for four years before the range above high C finally gave in to my efforts. Now I own a high G above that high C, also and even after say six weeks off playing.

Michael Langiewicz:  It works.  

Valerie Wells:  Wonderful!  Thanks for sharing.  You made my day!  The 2 month mark is usually when BE "students" begin to see improvements, but sometimes it can take longer.  

Andrew Joy:  But also much shorter, Valerie.  Two weeks were all I needed to BE hooked!

Kristina Mascher-Turner:  Andrew Joy, when do you ever have six weeks off?  

Andrew Joy:  Good question, Kristina.  Only after I got BE working.  

Michael Langiewicz:  The proper muscularity is essential. The greats have it naturally, the rest of us need a disciplined routine. I still get the eye rolls when I talk BE, but no one else in the section is warming up to F above high C.

"Born Again" Horn Player

When Christian Hansen first approached me about The Balanced Embouchure, he had returned to school to get his teaching certificate. After 10 frustrating years of professional performance in another country he was ready to stop professional performing and start teaching.   About a year later, he sent me this photo.  He is now happily performing  again with the 113th Army Band "Dragons" in Ft. Knox, KY.   

Below is a copy of an email he sent to Jeff Smiley in 2009:  

"I received the BE book, with horn amendments, about two weeks ago and have been in close contact with Valerie Wells since with lots of "how too" questions (Valerie has been great by the way). In all my years I have never seen a (for lack of a better word) "miracle" product that actually delivers what it says like BE has. 

RI is no problem and RO is getting better but the amazing thing is the results on my regular playing. I can easily play up to a high C and with surprisingly little effort can play scales and arpeggios up to F, G, A and Bb (only once) above that. I am not contorting my face or straining. Tone and low register have gotten stronger and more solid too. I am SHOCKED that your system has not taken the brass teaching/playing world by storm.

All my formal training was - whether they actually said it or not - with the Farkas method. Heck my Undergrad was at IU. I have never seen a horn player without something of a flat chin and tight corners. Trumpet players are another story. I have seen many with air pockets and a bunched chin and always wondered how they could play with that "screwed up" set up. I think that is funny now. 

Thanks again. I am so glad I stumbled across your system. The internet is a wonderful thing."

Christian Hansen
Band Director and born again Horn Player

Trumpet and Horn: More from Cameron

I posted a discussion from Cameron Kopf a few days ago (scroll down).  Now Cameron is sharing a picture and more information about his application of BE principals to his regular embouchure and his mouthpiece choice.  [I commented at the bottom in brackets.]  

"I'm playing on a modified Yamaha 667: Dennis Houghton mouth pipe and Lawson ambronze bell, in case you're interested. I am very happy with this horn.

"At the moment I am using a Schilke #29 stock mouthpiece (unlike the Osmun London cup in the pic). I find that the slightly wider inner cup diameter of the Schilke works much better now that I'm doing BE. It's easier to roll in.

"By the way, I am now concentrating on using RI for all registers, just over the past couple of days, and am seeing good results. My particular challenge now is to get the second line G on the staff to open up, both in sound and for tonguing. So I am now working on opening that note up with sustained tones and faster tonguing. 

"Like you, I feel more comfortable with RI for most of my playing needs, but RO exercises are very important to do regularly to keep the RI muscles properly balanced."

"Best regards,

Cameron"

[Thanks, Cameron!  I don't really understand how & why RO works, but I know it does.  One trumpet player who's been studying BE for many years tells me that RO makes RI possible.  He says he does RO so he can do RI.  And, many, many horn & trumpet players report HUGE improvements from playing RO.  One pro trumpet player Jeff taught, struggled with several years of stagnation.  He took off like a shot with RO alone so never bothered with RI.  Go figure.  Some horn players think they don't need RO because they already have a low range.  I always tell them RO is not for the low range; it's for the whole embouchure.  Whatever develops the whole embouchure, develops range in both directions.] 

Pole Vaulting

An unsolicited email from a happy BE'er.

Hi Valerie,
I have meant to let you know for a while how much I am enjoying the BE for French horn.  I originally thought of it mostly for extending my upper range but I have been surprised at how much it has extended my lower range and made it more rich and stable.

I first started using BE when the last summer Olympics was on.  As I was watching pole vaulting, it occurred to me that the way I had been attempting to play higher notes was a lot like someone like me trying to clear 17’ by blindly running at the bar with no idea of the mechanics involved.  Years ago, when I had the privilege of taking lessons from Kathleen Farner she would tell me to just relax when I was having trouble reaching a high note.  At the time it seemed impossible.  Now I am realizing that it actually works because BE gives me the ability to actually think about how to make my embouchure work for the note I am trying to make.  This also works psychologically because, as Kathleen also pointed out, half the battle was not panicking when the dreaded notes were approaching.

Now that my embouchure is improving its time to fix the growing problem with my left hand.  To that end I would like to order one of your comfy straps before my left pinky falls off.   -- Stephen Klassen

Julia Rose: Still Benefitting from BE

Julia Rose began writing about The Balanced Embouchure in 2009 and wrote extensively about "BE" before retiring her blog in 2012.  I hadn't hear from Julia for some time so I asked how she's doing in an email.  This is her reply:  

Hi Valerie,
Very well, thank you- thanks for asking!  I've been enjoying my internet anonymity- I am so short on time that I don't have time for all that anymore.  I'm still doing BE (specifically RI and RO 1-4) as part of my daily routine.  I feel that I'm playing better than I ever have right now.  I do take time off from the horn from time to time, and when I do feel the slightest out of shape, BE whips me right back into shape very quickly.

That's one of the benefits professional horn players seem to report and enjoy the most, the ability to take time off without losing much in terms of conditioning.  BE just keeps on giving year after year.  

Thanks for allowing me to share this, Julia.  :)

Colin Ng, Still Discovering with BE

First, a little disclaimer!  What you see demonstrated in this video is NOT a requirement of the BE method.  This is Colin having fun extending a specific BE exercise beyond the norm. 

• Colin Ng has taken Lip Clamp Squeak to a whole new level!  Colin recently shared this on FaceBook:  
• 
  
   Colin Ng
  
  
  Dear fellows,just to share a little "discovery". I have been experimenting for a long time (4-5 years) various chop building devices like Warburton PETE, BERP, pencil trick, "chop sticks" concept, the new brio device, narrow straws and short of some bizarre versions of lip/facial flex spring loaded toys.
  I decided to conclude this wild goose chase finally. The best way to develop the Orbicularis Oris muscle (circular band around the top and bottom lips especially at the corners.) is device free, and happens to be the unsuspecting and innocent BE initiation before the RI exercises called the Lip Clamp Squeak or LCS....
  
  In short, Once you manage to get air through the clamp setup, followed by some seemingly embarrassing and pathetic squeaks, and eventually a few workable notes in high buzz, you can observe in the mirror how much more flexed and pronounced the OO muscles have become. For the chops to maintain the clamp against the out going air, they really have to work to narrow in. and for the air to even make it through the clamp, our abdominals have to really work to get the wind support up against the resistance. chop strength and air support/speed for great sound/high notes all addressed in one exercise.
  
  We get to have one lean mean machine there; no toys no expenses. High notes and great stamina can happen even before achieving the RI-#1 properly.
  
  I "forced" myself to clock in 10-15 minutes of nursery rhymes (5 notes melody) on LCS. Like a body builder torturing himself because he can't wait to flex his muscles in front of a gym mirror. It looks firm and 'chiseled' in the mirror and when I play normal repertoire it really feels easy and great.  
  
  

Micah Cooper Recommends BE for Range Development

A horn player recently asked tips to improve the upper register on Facebook.  Micah Cooper's answer was short, sweet & to the point!  

Get BE and do the exercises. I went from 4 to 5 octaves in one month. 

Later, he shared this with me in a message:

I wish I had BE when I was in high school. Things would have been a whole lot easier. Also, I said 5 octaves for my range in my post. When I am practicing a lot my range pushes 5 1/2. And when I come off a multiple month layoff, I can get back my chops in a week or two with the program. Just Awesome.

BE works!

I'm Back and Feeling Grateful!

Six years studying The Balanced Embouchure.  It just keeps giving me more & more.  The progress never stops unless I stop.  I'm not the greatest horn player in the world, of course.   I'm just a little old lady, come back horn playing grandma with a chronic neurological disease, who plays in community ensembles and gets the occasional paid gig.  But, there are so many things I can do now that I wouldn't have been able to had it not been for BE.  I'm thankful.

Once again, BE has come to the rescue.  I injured my upper lip in an accident December 2nd, driving my front tooth clear through the center of the under side of my upper lip.  Five days later a little blob of dead flesh sloughed off leaving a small hole, then a scar right where the aperture forms.  (It reminded me of the injury Adrew Joy described that prompted him to find help, and eventually BE.) http://beforhorn.blogspot.com/2011/08/joy-continues-on-balanced-embouchure_07.html  After taking few weeks off, I found myself with severely limited range and endurance, not to mention horrid tone.  It was definitely a déjà vu experience.  My embouchure function was eerily similar to what it had been 7 years ago before I started studying BE! 


I thought it would be a quick fix, but progress was slow because my lips would swell at the slightest provocation severely limiting practice time.  It took a full four months before I had recovered the range & endurance I had before the accident.  Thanks to BE, I'm back & enjoying playing again.  

Three cheers for Jeff Smiley!     

Restoration!

It's fun and very satisfying to see a horn player who's lost his range for whatever the reason, find it again with the concepts Jeff Smiley presents in The Balanced Embouchure.  Andy's not only recovered lost ability, but has progressed beyond his previous abilities. I  received this email from Andy only yesterday.  (BTW, take the time to check out his concerto linked below.  It's darn cool.)  

Hi Valerie

Thanks for sending me all the BE stuff. I haven't followed the prescribed programme really but I read the text thoroughly and the 3D aspect of embouchure had never really been in my mind.   I wrote to you on October 8th...

...Struggling with an embouchure that goes from pedal D to F at the top of the stave with no problem whatsoever, but can't get above an A on a good day - even though a couple of years ago I could play top Ds on a good day!!

I have played my own exercises for roll out and in and spent much driving time looking like an old man or daffy duck!! No surprise really, but what I got from the BE book made the exercises I was given by Tony Halstead make sense. (He gave me a couple of lessons when I bought a second hand Paxman off him). I am now aware that there are muscles in my top lip that were completely unused!

I only do a bit of occasional amateur playing (I concentrate on conducting and composing these days when I'm not running a school music department) and have had no gigs since the end of November so was able to throw myself into it without fear of disrupted embouchure problems.

I have just played Mozart concerto No 2 and No 3 back to back (previously, the first movement of either would have finished me off.) After finishing I played a three octave Bb arpeggio and held the top Bb for a couple of bars. I am so grateful that for the first time in my life I am starting to be able to play in a way I'd only dreamed of. I'm sure I've still a long way to go and playing orchestrally will be the real test in a couple of weeks but at least now I have enough stamina to do enough practice to improve my playing. In the past it seemed that the more practice I did the worse I got! The top Ds have returned on a good day but I have even squeaked a couple of top Fs since reading the BE book. I can start a pedal C without slurring down to it and a couple of days ago I was able to start a pedal B on the F side and slur down to a Bb!!

I've pasted a link to the horn concerto 'Orion' that I wrote last year for Richard Watkins (ex-principal of Philharmonia now top UK session player and soloist).  
http://soundcloud.com/andymeyers/orion-concerto

Best Wishes

Andy Meyers

BE Update: Benefits Not Anticipated

Doug Wagner, a former professional trombonist turned hornist, began studying The Balanced Embouchure three years ago.  He emailed this to me this past weekend:  

I signed on to Facebook, which is not a regular habit for me, and found your post of comments from Jane Swanson. My takeaway was from her first two points: 

1. Even when I play to exhaustion I do NOT have swollen lips afterwards or the next day: so I can jump right back into action.  

2. In the midst of challenging playing, same story -- my chops recover if I give them a few seconds off.  That was not the case previously.

Yesterday, I endured a brutal two-and-a-half rehearsal featuring repeated, sub tempo rehearsal of high, loud passages. Even allowing for laying out at strategic points, I was burned out after two hours and struggled for the ability to play in the high range. Even so, I was able to finish the rehearsal in reasonably good shape by judicious rest, and by depending on my section. I chose not to play any more after I got home.

Today. I considered not playing at all, but I warmed up carefully and after a few minutes had all the flexibility and range that I've had previously. The conclusion I reached is that, I can recover quickly, if not completely, by a few seconds rest, and that the next day, I don't suffer prolonged fatigue. So, I will echo Jane's comments. BE had benefits not anticipated.

I'm 66 years old. If I could duplicate the benefits of BE with the rest of my body as it ages, I'd be the wonder of the Western world. I'm amazed at the progress I've made. A new horn doesn't hurt either.

Doug   

Feedback from a Low Brass Player

I've never worked BE with low brass and have always been curious to see how it works.  I received the following email yesterday:  

Valerie,
I bought Jeff Smiley’s BE book 8 years ago when I was playing Tuba to help with the upper register. I even bought a Trumpet to work on the BE exercises. They did help to develop my Trumpet and Tuba range. A couple of years ago, I switched to Horn, my instrument in high school. I play with a community band that needs Horns.
I’d like to purchase your BE for French Horn PDF, if available. How might I obtain it?
Thanks for your help,
Don Talbott

BE and Verdi

This is from an email I received from Doug Wagner.  Doug had a career as a trombone player and music arranger.  After he retired from arranging & trombone performance, he decided to pursue one of his dreams, to become a horn player.  He's written several times about how BE has helped him.  Here's his latest in a spontaneous email I received from him just this week.

Val,
I just got the music (3rd horn) for Verdi's Otello which we are performing in August. So far I've found horn in: Bb, C, D, Eb, E, A and A Basso, and your favorite, horn in B. He either loved or hated horns. Lot's of nice solos in the 3rd part. Dave threatened to take 3rd away from me and make me play 1st.   

I don't think that anyone who has never experienced something like this could even remotely begin to understand.  The old joke is that playing in a symphony orchestra is like flying: endless boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.  We've all been there and done that. But the thrill of getting it right is what keeps us coming back.... And actually, it wasn't until I started BE that I ever had any confidence that I ever would perform.     

The Otello horn parts have stuff that is right out of BE exercises. I would never have thought I could play some of these passages before BE. Now it's - "Oh yeah, I know how to do that." I'm not bragging, it's just that I've done those exercises so much, that it's very natural to incorporate the BE techniques into real world playing. I approach every playing situation from a BE perspective, practice, rehearsal or performance, because first I have to be able to produce the notes. After that I can work on the musical aspects. If I can't play the notes, there isn't anywhere to go. BE has helped me make sure I can play the notes.

Doug