Chapter 1: Introduction 


1.1 About me

My name is Isabelle Roelofs. I am a Dutch natural horn and french horn player.  Upon completing high school, I studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory (Codarts) with Bob Stoel and Martin van de Merwe. After obtaining my bachelor's degree, I decided to study a bachelor in Music Education because this seemed to provide more financial security and more job opportunities for the future. 
During this study, I realized how much I missed playing the horn. After obtaining my diploma, I immediately continued with the master's program in horn at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, with Rik Vercruyssen.

  

Due to my previous master's research1, I came into contact with the natural horn. Playing the natural horn turned out to suit me well. I find the instrument itself very beautiful and interesting, and it also gives me better insight into how certain pieces are actually meant to be played. 
My enthusiasm for the natural horn prompted me to extend my studies for a few more years, and I am currently in the final year of my master's degree natural horn with Teunis van der Zwart. Wherever and whenever I can, I play as a substitute in various orchestras. I also work four days a week as a music teacher at various primary schools in Rotterdam. Alongside this, I have established a successful teaching practice called "Belle Musique Academy". In my lessons, I find it important to have a good balance between having fun and learning effectively. I try to adapt my lessons as much as possible to the pace and level of the student. 

 

1.2 My motivation

My musical career had a difficult start because my first teacher was not a horn player and did not have enough knowledge to teach the horn.

I experienced my teacher—who was also the conductor of the drumfanfare where I started as a child—as quite ignorant.

The horn is a transposing instrument, which means the notated pitch differs from the sounding pitch. When a horn player reads a C, it sounds like an F. The major confusion with this is that in the Netherlands (and Germany) the horn normally used is a Bb instrument, but treated like an instrument in F. Notated C should sound like F, although the fundamental of this instrument in fact is a Bb. In most parts of the world, people play on an F horn. -This is due to the history of the instrument-, and as a result, horn parts are written, read and played in F, regardless of whether we play on a Bb or F horn. 

To clarify, the written C sounds like F, regardless of whether we play it on a Bb horn or an F horn! This goes against some expectations.

Some people (including my first teacher) believe that a horn in Bb reads parts notated in Bb (and that we should therefore play the same parts and use the same fingerings as a euphonium or trumpet player.)

This is not correct!

My teacher did not know this, so -together with an euphonium and trumpet player- I learned to read Bb parts instead of F. This means that 'my' notated C did sound like a Bb instead of an F.

Below, I have created a 'transposition table.' Here you can see that if the horn player reads, for example, a G, there should be a sounding C.

What went wrong for me is explained in the table on the right. Since I learned to play the same way as a trumpet and euphonium student did, I used the Bb fingerings, which made the written G sound like an F instead of a C.

 

As long as I practiced alone, it sounded just fine. In the old-fashioned methods, there was no CD available, as is often the case nowadays, to play along with, so the pitch discrepancy was not immediately noticeable.

When I joined the orchestra and received the correct horn parts, in F, I played everything a fifth too low (referencing the table again, a written G should sound like a C, but it turned out to be an F, the same thing happened with everything else I played) leading them to think I simply could not hear it correctly. If you listen to the recordings below, you might understand why this was thought...

Through a recording of Saint-Saëns' "Romance, Op. 36," I am trying to make the difference clear between a piece played in F and in Bb, when the accompaniment stays at the same pitch. In this case, I didn't have an orchestra at my disposal, so I used a piano recording by Paul Gardner to play along with.

                     How it sounds when you play a F part in Bb

                                  How it should have sounded

As a result of the disruptive ensemble playing I have even been asked to leave the music association because they believed that I would ‘never learn it’. After the rejection of not being welcome for lessons and in the orchestra, I continued playing for many years without a teacher. I taught myself everything by ear.

Due to this unusual start, I learned many things incorrectly. It has taken a lot of time and effort to correct this, so I am very focused on teaching my own students in a better way.

  

At the age of fifteen, I was accepted to the "havo voor muziek en dans," a special high school for music and dance (now known as "Codarts Lyceum"). Probably  not because I played technically very well , but because the teachers which were present at my entrance exam might have seen that I quickly grasped their instructions.. Despite the good guidance, I spent a long time there trying to unlearn all my bad habits playing the horn, such as the incorrect use of the tongue, leading to articulation issues and insufficient utilization of breath support.  

Through all the time and effort it took me to correct these mistakes, I realized that unlearning a bad habit takes significantly more time than directly acquiring a good habit. This insight has led me to believe in the importance of providing young horn players with high-quality lessons from the outset. Alongside a proficient teacher, this necessitates an effective method book, which is the focus of my research. 

I believe that   quality educationalmaterial and quality teachinglay the foundation for young horn students to become successful.   

Because of my own difficult start playing the horn, I intend not to make it more difficult for my own students than necessary. I believe that – at a young age - joy in making music in combination with the basics of good technique should come first. A adequate method book helps a lot to bring this in to practice.  

 

1.3 A difficult instrument

It is assumed that Robert Schumann said about the French horn that it can be seen as the heart of the orchestra. With its special and warm timbre I think that the horn makes a connection between the brass and the woodwinds. Rumor has it that the horn is one of the most difficult musical instruments to learn. Martin van der Merwe, former principal horn player of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, says:''It is a delicate instrument; various things can go wrong. I do not mean to suggest that other instruments aren't challenging, of course, but the French horn is known for it, and I believe you need a certain courage to play it, especially on stage.''2

During this researach, I have been looking for the do's and don'ts behind writing a motivating Bb French horn beginners method book, because despite its high level of difficulty, the horn should be learnable, and I believe that an adequate method book helps with that.


1.4 The need for a motivating Bb french horn beginners method Book  

As a French horn teacher, I am not satisfied with the available method books on the Dutch market because I think they are not very motivating for the students. When I studied Bachelor Music in Education I was always told that motivation is caused by moments of success, and the Dutch horn method books are often so difficult that at least for my students it is hard to have such a success experience, especially for children. 

I see my young students struggling with problems that are – in my opinion – not necessary. Their difficulties do not stem from poor practicing but rather from method books that are too difficult for many of them. Therefore, I want to develop a new horn method book. This research is about how (not) to write a Bb french horn beginners method book. 

 

Why do I believe such a method book is necessary? My biggest concern is that the methods get too quickly too difficult for my beginning horn students.This is mainly caused by the melodic range that is expanded very fast. There is not enough material on the same level to give the students enough time to develop the embouchure and play the exercises well. Every lesson new, higher notes are added, so the melodic range of the melodies becomes larger, while the students are not even comfortable with the new notes that they  just have learned. 

For example, in lesson one they learn how to play the notated C, D and F.  Most of my young students can not manage to play the F because they do not have the physical strength for it yet, but right from lesson two this is no longer the biggest concern, because now this is the newly learned (notated) G, which is certainly not yet ''installed'' on the lips of the newly started horn player, at least not in a responsible way without too much mouthpiece pressure. 


Before students become comfortable with a new learned note, they are already required to learn another, higher note. In my opinion, this progression is too fast. I discussed this with a fellow brass player/teacher and realized that I would feel very uncomfortable if I had to constantly play at the top of my limit, attempting to play notes that are actually too high. Then I wondered why would we burden young children with extra difficulties on an instrument that already presents sufficient other difficulties anyway? 

  

According to horn pedagogue Frøydis Ree Wekre too much mouthpiece pressure is destructive when it is applied to the same place over a long period of time.3  

With more material in the same range we can reduce this mouthpiece pressure, pushing too hard is often a result of a lack of technique. It takes time to learn this properly, and in my opinion, having to play too high notes forcefully certainly does not help to learn this correct.

I think that my idea of a method book that gives more time to develop the lips could give succes experiences that could stimulate the motivation. 

I even think it works demotivating to keep repeating the same pieces when the student already used the correct fingers and the rhythmic accuracy was already good, just because physical strength is holding us back and makes it impossible to go to a next chapter in which the range is even bigger. By playing more pieces in the same range, you maintain the challenge of playing a new piece while creating more time to develop the embouchure in the meantime.


I feel that some of the methods make my students believe they are not good enough. I will discuss this in more detail in my motivation chapter. What I can already share is that the difficulty does not just come from the big range; there is more to it. Additionally, the large amount of theoretical information is hard to manage. Even for my adult students, it seems quite intense and a lot to deal with because they have to learn and play so many different new things at the same time.


Here is an example of the amount of new information in a lesson. I find it quite overwhelming because, ideally, in lesson 6, you are still exploring the instrument and have only recently started playing, Unless you take more than 6 weeks to complete 6 lessons. 


Photo: Horen Lezen & Spelen deel 1

I think a adequate method book can only be written by someone who knows the instrument and plays it him- or herself. I think this is not the case in some of the methods that I looked at. Strange, because in my opinion knowledge of the instrument helps to know the difficulties that the students must deal with. 

For making a adequate, according to my ideas, method book it is important to know the instrument, the history of the instrument, the target group and everything that comes with it. 

  

1.5 Definition of the problem 

In my opinion there are several reasons that together can lead to a demotivating method book. 

 

The first reason is that these method books are not written by a horn player, so they are not specifically written for French horn. They are just rewritten for it and also for any other wind instrument. This probably means that the writer is less familiar with the possibilities of the horn. 

  

There are two commonly used Dutch method books, ‘’Horen Lezen & Spelen’’ and ‘’Easy Steps’’. Both method books are sold a lot. In my opinion this is not because they are good method books, but because they are the only ones written in Dutch.

First there was ‘’Horen Lezen & Spelen4’’ and later ''Easy Steps5'' was developed from the demand for a method with a more gradual progression. Then there is another less well-known method, called "Tune Up!''

  

However, the author of both books, Jaap Kastelein, is a saxophone player. The methods were originally written for woodwinds. Apart from the photo on the cover, and the fingering chart, the books are pretty much the same, which is strange because the instruments and its possibilities are completely different, and so are the physical capabilities of the children who play from them. 

 

As previously mentioned, my biggest concern is the fast increase (expansion of the) in range. I see this issue not only with the French horn but also with the trumpet and the cornet, albeit to a lesser extent.   

On a French horn pressing the right fingers is not enough to get the right tone. This is because horn players only have 3 valves. The instrument is based on the harmonic overtone series. The correct grip only leads to the right pitch if the amount of air and lip tension (the embouchure) match the tone that should sound.

  

Woodwinds have a logical system to play – for example - a scale. This is different on the horn. There is some logic as well, but it seems that people are not aware of it. In my opinion it is important for students to know how the overtone series works and where our fingering table comes from because this helps you to better understand the instrument.

  

The above reasons make it difficult to find a suitable method book for my students. There are many French horn method books, but I do not find all of them equally suitable. 

Also, there are only a few methods available that are based on the Bb horn instead of the F horn. That makes it even harder to find a suitable method book, because in Europe students mostly start on Bb horn, while the rest of the world starts on an F horn. 


All reasons together made it become my personal challenge to write and publish my own method book for Bb horn. In this research I will investigate how to approach this and what should not be missing in this method book. 

  

I will try to get answers on this by the questions described in the next chapter. 

  

1.6 Research questions 

The primary research question is: "How (not) to write a beginners method book for Bb French Horn?" 

This question can be explored through several sub-questions:

  • What are other horn teachers' opinions about current horn methods? (Analyzing existing methods to identify strengths and weaknesses.)
  • How does motivation work, and when is a method (de)motivating? (Exploring the psychological aspects of motivation (in horn playing) and understanding factors that can positively or negatively impact a student's engagement.)
  • How does the embouchure of young children develop? (Examining the physiological aspects of embouchure development in horn players, particularly beginners.)
  • How can the history of the horn help us understand the instrument better? (Investigating how historical context and evolution of the horn can provide insights into teaching methods.)
 

1.7 Methodology 

The majority of my research will consist of a literature review and interviews. 

To answer my research questions I will have a look at the well known Dutch method books and ask other French horn teachers to do the same. With interviews I will try to find out whether the problem I see actually exists for other teachers as well. 

Based on their reactions, and the experiences I gained in the last years of teaching I will make an overview of which elements in the existing method books are experienced as positive or negative. 

In the long term, it is my goal to actually write my own method book, but this takes a lot of time and is not something I want to rush.

Therefore, the outcome of my research will not result in a complete horn method, but rather an outline of the development of the range and some material.

I will base this range development and material on the results of this research and ask other horn teachers what they think of it.