16 Weeks for French Horn is FINISHED!!

Last week I finished the last week for French Horn for the course.  The parts are now being added to the monthly section.  So now, for the same price you can get the course for Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn and use them for Baritone and Tuba also.  Click the link below to get started no matter what instrument you play.

16 Weeks to Killer Chops

Cherry Blossom Festival!

I just made it through 3 concerts in 3 weeks with completely different music as part of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon.  Here's a picture of the horn section at The Grand Opera House which was our last concert.

Firsts on French Horn

Well, I got started with the local concert band on trumpet.  There were about twice as many trumpets as needed.  When I mentioned that I also was learning to play French Horn, the conductor was over joyed as she only had two of those.  I got the horn out and started practicing again, starting with Week 5 of the program.  I brought it in to the next rehearsal and then learned that our first concert was the following Saturday!  Everyone was amazed at how well I did at that rehearsal and asked who I studied with.  I told them that I had only worked on my course and this was the first time I had played the horn outside of my practice room.  Their jaws hit the floor and I think there was a lot more interest in my program at that point.  Now, in all honesty, I have been playing in all kinds of groups over the past 30 some years, just never on Horn.  The worst thing about playing the horn is that I tend to bounce my right leg to the beat of the music.  It's never been a problem on trumpet, trombone or sax, but that's bouncing the horn around now since it rests on my right leg.  It's just a habit I'll have to work on breaking.

Get started with "16 Weeks to Killer Chops" for French Horn now!

Here We Go Again!

I took a new job in a different state.  Practicing stopped for a couple of months.  The good news is that there is a community band in my new location.  After getting settled in to the new job, I got back to practicing again.  I started out with Week 7 which was pretty comfortable, but I really didn't like certain things about the backgrounds so I started re-generating them.  They are now added to the Month 2 page unzipped and ready for your enjoyment.  I've got until August 19th to get back in shape before the first rehearsal here.  I'll keep you posted how it's going.

Where do you fit in?

I know a lot of you are not starting out, either for the first time or again.  I've been thinking about how to make a "placement exam" for 16 Weeks that would be easy to put out there and accurate in its ability to place you in the middle of the course.  It hit me while in the dentist's chair the other week that "expanding scales" really fit that need.  Range and endurance are linked so the higher you can play, the more endurance you probably have.  Early testing of this method is proving to be really accurate.  No matter where you are in your journey, go HERE to find out where you need to start to become the player you want to become.  Check a video demonstration of the expanding scales used as a test by going HERE.

First Weeks of French Horn!

  I recently wanted to prove that "16 Weeks to Killer Chops" works as well with French Horn as it does for Trumpet and Trombone.  The easiest way to do this is to actually use it.  I've never played Horn, so I decided I would try to rent or purchase one.  I finally found a single horn that I could afford and purchased it.  I learned a lot about the horn and the peculiarities of it.  First, I discovered that the Horn goes an octave lower than I thought it did.  That made me rework the exercises of "16 Weeks" and also rethink the path that the lessons will take.  As far as if it works, after a month of starting the Horn, I have a 3 octave usable range and can actually play a lot of songs musically.  I've found that I do better on songs that I know and can sing and hear the intervals.  Since so many notes can be played with the same fingerings, I have to be very sure of the pitch I'm going for.  I've also found that work on the Horn seems to help my Trumpet playing which is a great thing.  I seemed to be stuck again about Week 9/10 and after working on the Horn for a month, I jumped right up to 11/12.  I would love some feed back from other Horn players, so I will be offering the first week for free to get you started.  Check out www.danotman-music.com/products.html. 



Dano

More is NOT always better

I've been stuck on Week 9 of my plan for quite awhile now, longer than a week.  I've warned you that this is likely to happen.  A couple of weeks into it, The Balanced Embouchure Method by Jeff Smiley arrived and I started with it.  Using his tricks with my lessons seemed to be a magical mix.  I was so inspired I started playing one session in the morning before work and another at night when I got home.  I still seemed to be stuck at certain points in the lesson.  Then I read about a new exercise program that reinforced to me the importance of RESTING.  Now I've cut back to once a day and only five days a week of the lessons, but I'm noticing improvement in just the past two days.  So once again, more is NOT always better, but persistence is.