Buzzing and Mouthpiece exercises - Lesson 2 - French horn course for beginners - Learn from a PRO

Welcome to the French horn course for beginners. This is the second lesson in the series. Here I will show you how to buzz on the lips and on the mouthpiece.
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[@rozgnatt1]

Thanks! I'm back at my horn after 3 decades. I refuse to say I'm too old...🙃

[@austrismusic]

That's the spirit! Keep practicing

[@Bozeman42]

A mere 1.5 decades for me. Woo, this one is good for rebuilding the embouchure!

[@adrianmcl]

I'm really glad that you posted this video which contains many helpful tips. Thanks! I've been using daily buzzing exercises for myself for 50 years now ever since I was recommended the book 'Cornet Playing' by Norman W. D'Ath and I recommend all my pupils to do some buzzing before they touch the horn. If they do, they never develop embouchure problems. However there are two topics I would urge you to reflect on. The first is the angle of the air. In his book 'A Photographic Study of 40 Virtuoso horn Players' EMBOUCHURES' Farkas shows that the vast majority of players angle the air downwards and increasingly so as they go higher. Gunther Schuller says the exact same thing in his book, 'Horn Technique.' This has also been my experience teaching hundreds of pupils over 5 decades and during my own playing -- the higher the note, the lower the air. Some very fine players even blow vertically downwards towards the chin in the highest range. The mouthpiece is just a funnel. As soon as you blow into it the funnel is full and it doesn't matter from which direction the air is coming. When I am filling bottles of olive oil from the 5L canister I don't have to make sure that I am aiming the oil right through the middle. That's the job of the funnel (mouthpiece). The second topic is the idea that you have to push your jaw forward and blow 'straight' into the horn. This may cause unwanted tension and a tightness of the sound. Angling the air naturally downwards (unless the player has an overbite) means that a softer part of the upper lip is being vibrated creating a softer, more hornlike sound. The jaw should be kept relaxed, especially for flexibility in the low register. Keep up the good work.

[@cellowrapsupreme6962]

Thank you!!! I am a cellist that is just starting out on horn & learning to buzz on my mouthpiece and this one made me understand it a loooot better than other videos 🙏

[@austrismusic]

That's so nice to hear!! Thank you! Please share it! Maybe someone else can also benefit from it

[@dahVEEDBBone]

Don't be discouraged if your buzzing is not so good or even if it's very bad. I'm a poor buzzer but I have a good sound on Horn (per my section mates in 2 community bands). Keep practicing and enjoying the Horn regardless of how your buzz sounds.

[@cellowrapsupreme6962]

Thank you for the encouragement David! I haven’t gotten a horn yet (just the mouthpiece) but am nearing that point now so I’m very excited to try it out for the first time!

[@dahVEEDBBone]

@@cellowrapsupreme6962 Oh, I'm so excited for you. I love the cello and I play (poorly) the Bach cello sute #1 prelude, no Horn. For Horn shopping, I recommend an eBay seller, Quinn the Eskimo. I got my Conn 8D from him, supposedly a demo model, but to my eyes, brand new! Feel free to ask me anything. Also, join the Facebook group, Horn people.

[@jediknight9371]

this video deserves more views!!

[@austrismusic]

I agree 😁 please share!

[@andrewhale337]

Thank you for stating quite early that buzzing is quite a lot heavier than on the mouthpiece! I do not doubt that buzzing can be used in some cases to good effect, but it would probably help to point out that buzzing is not necessary to play a brass instrument, whether with or without a mouthpiece. Some very good brass players, Tine Thing-Helseth and Michael Höltzel to name only two, cannot buzz at all!! It is also good to know that buzzing does not start the vibrations of the air column in the instrument, it is actually the opposite as can be shown very clearly with a flame in front a simple open pipe! (the warming air starts to hum before the vibrations cause the flame to wobble!!) I would like to point out that excessive practice with buzzing will train and tire muscles that one doesn’t use when playing a brass instrument. Before deciding to comment here I tried a little experiment: playing from the lowest possible C on our F-Horn (1st Harmonic) I went up to C“‘ (16th harmonic) pulling the mouthpiece out to see if the mouthpiece was producing a buzz: a faint buzz started a little over the G“ (12th harmonic..) or actually not until the A“ (12th harmonic on G Horn!) BUT, there was also a slight buzzing detectable at my „break“ around G below middle C‘. I buzz or flap my lips when they feel stiff, and used to do it much more! realizing that it is not the buzzing that starts the note has made my playing exponentially more relaxed!!

[@austrismusic]

Thank you for the comment, Andrew! Since I made this video, I have been experimenting myself. What you wrote is really interesting! I know some professional horn players who can't buzz. I now mostly use buzzing for finding the optimal position of the lips for a specific note (I've changed mouthpieces several times in the last 3 years. Every time I needed to find it again). I also use buzzing to check in what condition my muscles are every day. Otherwise, I don't buzz on the lips that often, but I do on the mouthpiece. So I'm curious about your findings. Do you think it is so because of the pressure difference between buzzing on the mouthpiece and playing on the horn? That would be my best guess.

[@andrewhale337]

Yes, It must be the pressure on the mouthpiece rim, which even for those who use very little pressure, is required to seal off the lips so that air cannot escape. It helps to realize that the little bit of lip that is actually vibrating in the mouthpiece is NOT a muscle.. just a bit of tissue, and most of the energy/muscle we use to buzz, with or without mouthpiece, is not necessary on the horn. I use different mouthpieces for different Instruments (Viennese horn, Natural Horn, Baroque Horn, Posthorn, Wagner Tuba.. Alphorn ) … of course it is a challenge to get a „good“ sound on a mouthpiece, but actually we are looking for the sound on the instrument.. and they often require a completely different mouthpiece to get the desired tone! (it doesn’t have to be dangerous to try different mouthpiece‘s, one shouldn’t get frustrated, definitely start with something „normal“! Everyone has different lips, teeth, jaws, blowing styles and instruments!! I was used to using an excess on air, resulting in needed an oversized bore, using less air is more relaxing.. I can use a smaller bore now!!) I like the feeling of a supple embouchure, one that buzzed easily, but have realized it is not what makes the music! I had an encouraging experience a year back playing the Quoniam on Baroque Horn: I felt a bit tired in the rehearsal, and before the concert my lips wouldn’t buzz, a rather frustrating feeling, but having the knowledge that this wasn’t actually needed.. the concert went quite well! It’s quite amazing what is possible with these intricate little muscles! Body/lip-building is not a requirement.. it’s taken me rather long to realize this, but better late than never. There are a few very inspiring Horn players out there we can learn from just by listening and watching, not just Radovan and Baborak! keep up the good work on your videos!

[@dahVEEDBBone]

"the first 10 years are the hardest". Good, 8 years to go :)

[@austrismusic]

I love that saying! :D

[@rosaela-daughterinchrist]

You're halfway there now bud

[@davidfarrar2454]

What if you have kinks in your lips that stop you from high buzzing. Is it just too bad? Just try the violin instead?

[@annerietje90]

Just started to learn horn after playing flute most of my life. But i can't buzz at all. So now I'm afraid I'll never get any good. Not really motivating 😕

[@mikemchornprof6758]

#smashed

[@austrismusic]

I hope your phone survived 😂

[@JedoDre]

My lips just randomly stop moving the moment I try to go higher in pitch :(

[@rjgjn378]

Can't go higher than concert E