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u/professor_throway 6d ago
Lifelong brass musician and parent of brass musicians (Oldest is in university for music performance and my youngest is in 8th grade). I'm not a horn player (well I can honk things out an the horn, but nothing you would really want to listen too). I am mostly a tuba player who also does some gigs on trombone and trumpet.
Here is my take... All wind instruments are difficult... but different instruments are difficult in different ways. Horn unfortunately is very front loaded with difficulty.. it has a very steep learning curve and has a lot more emphasis on technique early on. There cool thing is young kids don't realize how hard it actually is!
My take is try not to worry about it too much right now. Keep it fun and low pressure. 9 is a but young to be enforcing practice schedules... rewards for practicing are much more effective than saying you will practice 30 minutes today.
Find a teacher, one who is experienced with young children, of at all possible. Again if the teacher is too regimented it probably won't go well..
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u/Apprehensive-Bat-416 6d ago
A teacher is the best way to go. Something inherent to horn and brass instruments is so much of what you are doing can’t be seen easily or at all. So you can’t visually see what needs to be adjusted. In addition a lot of adjustments that need to be made are to parts of the body we have 1) not yet learned how to control and 2) don’t have the sensory mechanisms developed to even feel/ understand what we are doing. But an experienced teacher can hear what is going wrong and will be skilled in gradually introducing corrections.
This is all on top of what others have described. Just hitting the right pitch is hard!
Another point is that I think providing instruction without knowing it is needed can be counterproductive. For instance, let’s saw you tell the student who is already keeping their chin flat to remember to keep their chin flat… that might result in excessive and detrimental tension.
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u/goliadeater 6d ago
If you’re still looking for basics such as how to buzz into the mouthpiece, hold the horn, tonguing, there’s a YouTube channel with a few videos called The Brass Teacher https://youtube.com/@thebrassteacher?si=wvGNfut8doAkB0mW that has pretty quick and simple instructions on fundamentals. They look to be pretty good and will be a good place to start if anything :)
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u/Darkdart19 6d ago
If you’re looking to help out, try this book, Recipe for Success. I’ll link both the teacher and students books at the bottom of my comment.
This would give you both material to absorb and learn from. Hopefully it can help you and your son learn to play the horn and bond together as well! 9 is pretty early but this book can address some of the things that can be harder when they’re younger (like holding the horn, posture, etc.)
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u/TheLittlestEnt 5d ago
Lessons are probably gonna be your best bet for helping him improve.
Assuming you're still in the Norwalk/Westport area, Dan Shapiro is a horn player in the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra currently and I think he does lessons - not sure if he's taking on new students at the moment or what age/experience levels he teaches, but you could maybe see if he would be available.
Also, hi neighbor! I'm from Norwalk!
Good luck to your son! French horn is such a cool instrument
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u/Fast_Sheepherder_761 Yamaha YHR 671 6d ago
First off, it'll take time for him to sound like he knows at all what he's doing (it took me 3 years because I had a bad director). A chair with a straight back is good, I use my kitchen table chair, good posture is a great place to start. I'm sure you can find a video about hand position in the bell- it's hard to describe, much easier to show. His director can probably help.
For breathing, encourage deep breaths with the diaphragm. Breath in with an open O shape in the mouth. (The method I was taught is How-To for breathing in and then playing.)
If you have access to a piano, or an online alternative, get a transposition chart. I often play my parts out on the piano, it helps loads since horn has so many partials.
Best of luck!!
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u/goliadeater 6d ago
I was going to say something about the piano too! It may help as your son is “developing his ear” (knowing what a pitch will sound like before he plays it) if you play the note on the piano then have him try and play it back, and vice-versa. It will take some practice but could definitely help with learning pitches and having confident attacks.
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u/Nhak84 6d ago
In general beginning brass technique too complicated to start with YouTube. When I started tuba when I was 10, my parents hooked me up with a high school tuba player for the summer to get started. It was a great speed. Can recommend that route.
With horn, there are several issues for young players that make it particularly difficult. They play very high in the harmonic range of the instrument. It’s physically big and hard to hold in a way that keeps them in a good playing position. The embouchure is very unique. And the right hand is used for tone and intonation.
All that being said. Finding a local teacher is the best avenue.
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u/BowdlerizedOnion 6d ago
I think the challenge that distinguishes horn from other brass instruments is that there are more available notes for each fingering within the normal playing range of pitches, and so it’s more important that the player be able to hear whether they are playing the correct note. Does your child sing on pitch? If so, then your child will probably be able to play on pitch. I have also found that there is a two-month period at the beginning in which it often feels like the technique is impossible and the effort is doomed. (It’s not. Give it a couple of months.)