Horn and Trumpet Pedagogy ISU Summer Band Directors Workshop David W. Snyder ISU Summer Band Directors 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 – Its 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 1 st 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 dont) – Bb side valve slides should be pulled proportionally less Tuning both sides – Use a written 3 rd 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 – Dont 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:

Trumpet Equipment Cornet vs Trumpet for beginners – Yamaha – Shepherds crook Good HS instruments – Bach Stradivarius trumpets ($ )

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 3 rd slide ring is adjusted to fit grip of students Right hand – fingers should be curved like C – Thumb should rest in between 1 st and 2 nd 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 3 rd slide ring and 1 st slide saddle) – Fourth space E (5 th partial) and fourth line D are flat – Top space G (6 th 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