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,
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
