UI Horn Studio - Horn Resources - Articles - Overtone Series The Value of Mistakes By Jeffrey Agrell, Series Editor Did he say value of mistakes? Has he been nipping at the cooking sherry? What possible value could a mistake have? Don’t we spend our musical lives in a relentless pursuit of mistake-free performance? That’s right, I know what you’re thinking. But hear me out. There is a method to this mad thesis. What do you feel when you make a ‘mistake’ when you playing – either practicing or performing? Is this a trick question? Yes, given conventional thought patterns, but it shouldn’t be. Usual answers to this question include a garden of reactions such as disappointment, anger, alarm, agony, guilt, frustration, distraction, panic, tension, nervousness, and so on. Here’s what you should feel after making a mistake: Nothing. Did he say nothing? (It’s a definite on the cooking sherry!) So I’m not supposed to care about how I play? So I can just miss every note and that’s just fine? Huh? Huh? Whoa, horse. Consider this: making mistakes is not about feeling something. Neither is not making mistakes. Rather than looking at a mistake as a crime that we perpetrate against ourselves, our instruments, and our art, how about a more useful definition of what a mistake is: A mistake is information. Mistakes can have much value for us if we acknowledge it and make use of this information. Conversely, our progress on the instrument will be severely curtailed if we substitute guilt, denial, or panic for learning from this information. Simply said, a mistake is an unexpected result that tells the player that something needs changing in some way. When (not if) such surprises happen, the proper reaction is isolation of the problem, analysis of possible causes, and construction of possible solutions. Not irritation or tension. By the same token, when things go exactly as planned, this is also information; it means remember (kinesthetically) what this feels like and do it again the same way next time. Remember the quote from the Kipling poem If? If you can meet Triumph and Disaster and treat these two imposters just the same… It may come as a surprise, but playing ‘perfectly’ can be hazardous, too. Have you ever been halfway through a concert or recital and had the thought, “Hey! So far I haven’t missed a single- oh, crap!”. Pride from perfection is just as much a distraction from focus on the job at hand as any negative emotional reaction to a mistake. Either kind of reaction is an involvement of the ego, and personal egos are not useful in getting a job done. Sometimes the biggest difference between pro and amateur players is that pros have learned the ability of instant amnesia – when something unexpected happens, let go of it, stay in the present moment, maintain calm and acute focus and not let prior results (perfection or imperfection) influence how you play what comes next. (Amnesia is perhaps not the proper word, as it implies denial. The answer is to quickly store information on unplanned occurrences in a ‘clam file’ for attention the next day; during performance is not the time to digest the information the way you must do during practice sessions.) This same process holds true in many professional pursuits, notably sports. As they say, in golf, the only thing that will screw up your swing more than a bad shot is a good shot: the problem is trying to force a good shot because you just shot well/poorly rather than approaching each shot with dispassionate focus and calm regardless of the previous results. Written in big letters on the blackboard in my office is the complete list of the most important aspects of performing: 1. Calm (no tension) 2. Focus and alertness and 3. Ego detachment. Play. Observe closely. Isolate the problem. Make an adjustment. Try again. Simple as that, and removing ego reaction from mistakes saves much wear and tear on the nervous and circulatory systems as well as making the learning process much more efficient. William Westney has written a splendid book all about this subject entitled The Perfect Wrong Note. He says that honest mistakes are a natural part of the learning process, and that “if you take the time to immediately process the mistake, your learning will be pure and lasting.” He goes so far as to say that it is a good idea to produce as many honest mistakes as possible for the sake of producing a large amount of information that we can use in solving our problems. “They save us a lot of time,” he says. “They reveal the underlying specific reason for a particular glitch.” Children are able to assimilate the world so quickly because they don’t worry about making mistakes. They proceed with a spirit of endless adventure, persistence, and enthusiasm. Adults learn much more slowly because they have heavy ego attachment to results and have been schooled to value product (perfection) over the process that allows them to learn efficiently, which includes making lots of mistakes and learning from them. Westney is careful to distinguish between honest mistakes, where attentive exploration is a natural part of efficient learning, and careless mistakes that stem from inattentiveness, where we may not even notice our mistakes and/or where we don’t process the information we receive from mistakes. In these cases, mistakes are likely to lead to no progress and bad habits. Here, such a player may rationalize sloppy playing with vague spronouncements: -“Oops. Well, that never happened before.” -“Hey, nobody’s perfect.” -“Well, I missed a couple things, but it was pretty good on the whole.” -“I don’t know what happened. I can play this piece.” As Westney says, this is just narcissistic thinking: justifying one’s efforts and denying the useful information to be gained from careful identification and close examination of the mistakes. Most useful is gleaning specific information from a missed note: instead of saying, ‘I messed up,’ say ‘I aimed too low on that Bb.’ A need to keep a highly polished ego leads to denial of anything that doesn’t fit the picture and thus drastically curtails learning. Westney gives the example of why Korean women learn much faster than men: women have lower status, and are thus ‘allowed’ to make mistakes. He quotes a Korean woman: “When a man makes mistakes, it is an affront to his masculine pride. I could make a fool of myself, so it was easy to learn English.” Much of our performance anxiety stems from our nonacceptance of making mistakes, as William Scharnberg pointed out in “The Importance of Failure in Artistic Development.” He says The mechanical aspects of preparation seldom pose insurmountable obstacles to efficient practice. The more difficult takes is often dealing with our self-esteem (self-image, self-concept). Scharnberg recognizes that society builds in pressures to succeed (conquer failure) from early on and at all costs. Since trial and error is a natural part of the learning process, we need to face and embrace the mistakes and ‘failures’ that we encounter along the way, and learn from them, use them to do better the next time. The measure of a performance is not that absolute note perfection is achieved. Performances are chances to validate how we are progressing on the continuum of artistic development, which includes alert, focused, and ego-free playing and learning from our mistakes. Here’s a revised version of the original (trick) question: how should you feel after a practice session where you were aware of your mistakes and you remained calm, curious, and ego-free as you eagerly used the information they contained to inform and refine your efforts? Very good indeed, I think! Jeffrey Agrell is professor of horn at The University of Iowa. Web site: www.uiowa.edu/~somhorn UI Horn Studio - Horn Resources - Articles - The Value of Mistakes The Value of Mistakes By Jeffrey Agrell, Series Editor Did he say value of mistakes? Has he been nipping at the cooking sherry? What possible value could a mistake have? Don’t we spend our musical lives in a relentless pursuit of mistake-free performance? That’s right, I know what you’re thinking. But hear me out. There is a method to this mad thesis. What do you feel when you make a ‘mistake’ when you playing – either practicing or performing? Is this a trick question? Yes, given conventional thought patterns, but it shouldn’t be. Usual answers to this question include a garden of reactions such as disappointment, anger, alarm, agony, guilt, frustration, distraction, panic, tension, nervousness, and so on. Here’s what you should feel after making a mistake: Nothing. Did he say nothing? (It’s a definite on the cooking sherry!) So I’m not supposed to care about how I play? So I can just miss every note and that’s just fine? Huh? Huh? Whoa, horse. Consider this: making mistakes is not about feeling something. Neither is not making mistakes. Rather than looking at a mistake as a crime that we perpetrate against ourselves, our instruments, and our art, how about a more useful definition of what a mistake is: A mistake is information. Mistakes can have much value for us if we acknowledge it and make use of this information. Conversely, our progress on the instrument will be severely curtailed if we substitute guilt, denial, or panic for learning from this information. Simply said, a mistake is an unexpected result that tells the player that something needs changing in some way. When (not if) such surprises happen, the proper reaction is isolation of the problem, analysis of possible causes, and construction of possible solutions. Not irritation or tension. By the same token, when things go exactly as planned, this is also information; it means remember (kinesthetically) what this feels like and do it again the same way next time. Remember the quote from the Kipling poem If? If you can meet Triumph and Disaster and treat these two imposters just the same… It may come as a surprise, but playing ‘perfectly’ can be hazardous, too. Have you ever been halfway through a concert or recital and had the thought, “Hey! So far I haven’t missed a single- oh, crap!”. Pride from perfection is just as much a distraction from focus on the job at hand as any negative emotional reaction to a mistake. Either kind of reaction is an involvement of the ego, and personal egos are not useful in getting a job done. Sometimes the biggest difference between pro and amateur players is that pros have learned the ability of instant amnesia – when something unexpected happens, let go of it, stay in the present moment, maintain calm and acute focus and not let prior results (perfection or imperfection) influence how you play what comes next. (Amnesia is perhaps not the proper word, as it implies denial. The answer is to quickly store information on unplanned occurrences in a ‘clam file’ for attention the next day; during performance is not the time to digest the information the way you must do during practice sessions.) This same process holds true in many professional pursuits, notably sports. As they say, in golf, the only thing that will screw up your swing more than a bad shot is a good shot: the problem is trying to force a good shot because you just shot well/poorly rather than approaching each shot with dispassionate focus and calm regardless of the previous results. Written in big letters on the blackboard in my office is the complete list of the most important aspects of performing: 1. Calm (no tension) 2. Focus and alertness and 3. Ego detachment. Play. Observe closely. Isolate the problem. Make an adjustment. Try again. Simple as that, and removing ego reaction from mistakes saves much wear and tear on the nervous and circulatory systems as well as making the learning process much more efficient. William Westney has written a splendid book all about this subject entitled The Perfect Wrong Note. He says that honest mistakes are a natural part of the learning process, and that “if you take the time to immediately process the mistake, your learning will be pure and lasting.” He goes so far as to say that it is a good idea to produce as many honest mistakes as possible for the sake of producing a large amount of information that we can use in solving our problems. “They save us a lot of time,” he says. “They reveal the underlying specific reason for a particular glitch.” Children are able to assimilate the world so quickly because they don’t worry about making mistakes. They proceed with a spirit of endless adventure, persistence, and enthusiasm. Adults learn much more slowly because they have heavy ego attachment to results and have been schooled to value product (perfection) over the process that allows them to learn efficiently, which includes making lots of mistakes and learning from them. Westney is careful to distinguish between honest mistakes, where attentive exploration is a natural part of efficient learning, and careless mistakes that stem from inattentiveness, where we may not even notice our mistakes and/or where we don’t process the information we receive from mistakes. In these cases, mistakes are likely to lead to no progress and bad habits. Here, such a player may rationalize sloppy playing with vague spronouncements: -“Oops. Well, that never happened before.” -“Hey, nobody’s perfect.” -“Well, I missed a couple things, but it was pretty good on the whole.” -“I don’t know what happened. I can play this piece.” As Westney says, this is just narcissistic thinking: justifying one’s efforts and denying the useful information to be gained from careful identification and close examination of the mistakes. Most useful is gleaning specific information from a missed note: instead of saying, ‘I messed up,’ say ‘I aimed too low on that Bb.’ A need to keep a highly polished ego leads to denial of anything that doesn’t fit the picture and thus drastically curtails learning. Westney gives the example of why Korean women learn much faster than men: women have lower status, and are thus ‘allowed’ to make mistakes. He quotes a Korean woman: “When a man makes mistakes, it is an affront to his masculine pride. I could make a fool of myself, so it was easy to learn English.” Much of our performance anxiety stems from our nonacceptance of making mistakes, as William Scharnberg pointed out in “The Importance of Failure in Artistic Development.” He says The mechanical aspects of preparation seldom pose insurmountable obstacles to efficient practice. The more difficult takes is often dealing with our self-esteem (self-image, self-concept). Scharnberg recognizes that society builds in pressures to succeed (conquer failure) from early on and at all costs. Since trial and error is a natural part of the learning process, we need to face and embrace the mistakes and ‘failures’ that we encounter along the way, and learn from them, use them to do better the next time. The measure of a performance is not that absolute note perfection is achieved. Performances are chances to validate how we are progressing on the continuum of artistic development, which includes alert, focused, and ego-free playing and learning from our mistakes. Here’s a revised version of the original (trick) question: how should you feel after a practice session where you were aware of your mistakes and you remained calm, curious, and ego-free as you eagerly used the information they contained to inform and refine your efforts? Very good indeed, I think! Jeffrey Agrell is professor of horn at The University of Iowa. Web site: www.uiowa.edu/~somhorn

Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny, or: the Overtone Series as a Basis for Warm-Ups and Essential Technique

By Jeffrey Agrell

Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny: the theory in biology that development of the embryo retraces the evolutionary development of the entire species. Although this theory has proved not to be true, I nevertheless fastened on the idea that it might have something to offer us when translated to horn playing. Let’s take a quick scan over horn history how we might apply the theory and use the significant events of horn history to inform how a horn player might structure his/her practice today.

Brass playing may have had its earliest roots in an accident many thousands of years ago when someone happened to stumble over the horn of an ancient oryx, kudu, or eland, and, in trying to blow the dust out through the broken tip, had his lips set in vibration – imagine his surprise at the mighty blast! This short horn was capable of only one or two notes, but for many centuries, that was sufficient for the purposes of signaling for the soldier or the hunter. Brass playing as we know it began to take shape in about the fifteenth century, and in the sixteenth century the horn (now made of brass tubing) started to grow in length and be coiled. This longer instrument was capable of producing more (playable) overtones of the Overtone (or Harmonic) Series, which can be numbered from the fundamental:

Pasted Graphic 1

Players learned to use the air and embouchure to pick out selected overtones and thus play melodies. Different keys were achieved by adding different lengths of tubing, called crooks. By 1750 the system of producing all notes of the chromatic scale through the technique of hand stopping had been codified and widely taught. Valves were invented in 1815, although at first they were seen simply as a way to change crooks quickly since the main technique was still hand horn. Although the French were notable holdouts, as the nineteenth century went on, players began using the valves as we do today to move quickly from note to note. The F/Bb double horn was invented by Kruspe in 1897. In the twentieth century, knowledge of the horn’s historical valveless technique gradually slipped away as players spent almost all their time thinking of fingering (valve technique) and less in terms of different horn keys and overtone series.

Let’s take each element of history (~phylogeny) and experiment how we might use it to structure a player’s practice (~ontogeny).

Playing begins with a first tone. Our version is going to be much more refined than that Ur-oryx blast. Our first tone may be a buzz on the mouthpiece, something controlled and comfortable, like a waver-free long tone in the middle register. The mouthpiece is the producer of sound (the horn is really just an amplifier) and is merciless in what it reveals (the horn is much more forgiving – believe it or not). We can also try short scales, intervals, and glissandos on the mouthpiece as we warm up and recalibrate the process of brass playing.

Early players produced all tones without valves, acquiring great skill in the control of air and embouchure to get around the overtone series. Much more of horn history was valveless than valved. Applying our theory, it is clear that it would behoove us to spend a significant amount of time playing “natural” horn only, i.e. playing only on the overtone series before we add valve technique. Let us do as the early players did, enjoying the added advantage of being able to play successively on the overtone series of many horns.

What we call the double horn is actually fourteen horns of different lengths (i.e. one for each unique fingering). Each length has the same overtone series [OTS] as above, just beginning on a different pitch and thus playing in a different key. For warm-ups and the development of technique it is very useful to repeat overtone series exercises on each “horn.” It is also useful to think in terms of playing in each different key of horn rather than just the fingering for each.

Below are listed all of these different horns with the fingering (i.e. length of tubing) required to produce each key (omitting the two overlapping keys). In brackets is the equivalent note on the F horn.

F side (descending)
F horn = 0 [middle C]
E horn = 2 [B]
Eb horn = 1 [Bb]
D horn = 12 [A]
Db horn = 23 [Ab]
C horn = 13 [G]
B horn = 123 (F#]

Bb side (ascending)
Gb horn = T23 [Db, a half step above F horn = 0]
G horn = T12 [D]
Ab alto horn = T1 [Eb]
A alto horn = T2 [E]
Bb alto horn = T0 [F]

To apply our theory, we need to invent exercises to aid in mastering movement around the overtone series. There are nearly limitless variations possible, but knowing some basic principles can help us quickly set up some practical exercises for daily warm-ups and technique training. There are three basic kinds of OTS exercises: adjacent note (where you move from one note on the overtone series to the next one), nonadjacent or “leap” exercises (where you jump over one or more OTS note), and mixed exercises with both adjacent and nonadjacent movement.

Many method books feature OTS exercises, but most of them follow one rule that follows mistaken logic: they use arpeggios that fit music theory rather than the way the instrument works. That is, they avoid the “out-of-tune’ harmonics 7 and 11 in order to produce ‘pure’ major arpeggios. It makes more ‘horn sense’ to spend time first mastering adjacent note movement – including OTS 7 & 11 - before adding the more treacherous leaps. To refer to our analogy, an embryo’s development is continuous, moving seamlessly from one stage of development to the next in very small steps – no skipping ahead!

Many of these OTS major scale arpeggios in existing method books also immediately span the entire range of the horn. For the purpose of warming up and recalibrating it makes more sense to begin with narrower arpeggios in the middle range and then gradually extend the range in both directions. How quickly a wide range is achieved depends on the player’s skill, experience, and perhaps the condition of the chops today, right now. Whatever our level, we can “recapitulate” the development of range and technical skill each day at our own rate. Slur all exercises at first; later use a variety of articulations. Begin comfortably, slowly and accurately; increase speed gradually as proficiency develops. Spending one-half to three-fourths of your first session on OTS exercises pays big dividends. NB: don’t write out the exercises any more than necessary – learn the principles and then create exercises from them on the spot each day. You’ll save paper and the exercises will ‘”fit” you much better. Creating the exercises this way also has the advantage of variety – you can make them a bit different every time while getting the same musical and technical “vitamins” and not become bored and inattentive playing the same exercises every day, day after day.

One more thing: the OTS exercises of many method books use only the F side of the horn. There is no reason not to do them all on the Bb side as well, since that is where we spend the lion’s share of our playing time. Thus: all exercises should be done in all keys on both side of the horn.

Adjacent OTS note exercises

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It makes sense to begin with something that we can play easily, accurately, and without tension. It is very important to be concerned with the process of proper playing and not force the product (e.g. using left hand pressure to force high notes). Begin where everything is easy, then maintain that feeling as you gradually expand the challenges (range, dynamics, tempo, articulation, etc.). An appropriate place to start might be two notes in the middle range.

1. Two notes. Start by simply going back and forth between two adjacent overtones as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Close your eyes; be aware of the sensation. Speed should be slower to start; then gradually increase tempo as proficiency develops - to the point of trilling or tremolo. Example: OTS steps 5 to 6 (shown below), 6 to 7, 4 to 5. Note that this “shape” becomes what we will later practice as a lip trill when we move it to OTS steps 8-9. Take this exercise through all “horns” available, i.e. horns in C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb alto.

2. Three notes. After a two note warm-up and recalibration, we begin to add notes. Start with an up-and-back triplet shape on the lower two followed by the same on the upper two. Then play up-and-back on all three. Over time, experiment with moving this 'frame' of three up and down the OTS. The higher the OTS numbers, the smaller the intervals between the notes. Once again, take the shape through all horns (keys).
A comfortable place to begin is OTS notes 4 5 6. Two variations are shown here: OTS 4545 6565 and 3454. There are more possibilities: discover them!

3. More than three notes. Extend the above examples over wider ranges and create new combinations. Examples: OTS notes 4-5-6-7-8; 5-6-7-8-9-10; 8-9-10-11-12 – this group (written C5-G5) is especially rich with possibilities, since it is part of a major scale (well, almost –the 11, usually written as F#, sounds halfway between F and F#). Octaves also make excellent practice ranges (e.g. 4 to 8, 5 to 10, 6 to 12, 8 to 16).
Sample exercises using OTS notes 8 through 12 on the C horn [F: 13]:

As with all of these exercises, take this one through all horns on both sides of the double, from C basso (shown; F: 13) to Bb alto (Bb: 0), which has a top note of high C (C6 [c’’’]). And, as with all exercises, don’t force it. Play up through as many “horns” as is easy and comfortable using air and embouchure without help from the left arm, and stop there – don’t force the upper register. Keep at it, keep coming back, keep observing the process and it will come.

4. Glissandos. Speed up octave exercises to make OTS octave glissandos in all ‘horns,’ in all registers. Start with one octave (e.g. C4-C5 = OTS notes 4 to 8, F: 0) and go up (and/or down) by half steps. Later make it an octave and a half, then two, and finally three octaves. Eventually you will find yourself able to do octave glissandos that end considerably above high C, but it should always come easily. At no time should you force the top notes. Development and progress take time, and everyone progresses at their own rate. When the top notes don’t happen, stop, rest, and try again later.

Nonadjacent OTS exercises (leaps)

When moving from overtone to overtone starts feeling fluent, controlled, and easy, start adding leaps to your program. Leaps are simply very fast glissandos where you elide quickly and cleanly over the middle note(s). Practice slurred leaps both ascending and descending.

1. Start with basic, short (two-note), midrange leaps. Examples: OTS #s 4-6, 6-8, 6-8, 6-9, 8-10. For yourself make a chart of all possible two note OTS leaps. Select one or more each day, beginning with narrower leaps and gradually progressing to wider and wider intervals.

OTS nonadj

2. Combine several of these to make longer exercises. Examples: OTS #s: 3-5-4-6 (also practice it inverted: 6-4-5-3), 8-10-9-7.

3. Add leaps of several OTS notes. Combine freely with two-note leaps, which will often make it easier to play normal triads. Examples: 4-6-5-8, 5-10-8-12.

Mixed Adjacent and Nonadjacent OTS exercises
This means playing arpeggios using a mix of adjacent and nonadjacent notes (OTS number leaps). As the notes grow progressively closer together in the upper register, one or more OTS notes will have to be skipped to maintain a regular arpeggio. Practice both stepwise motion (scalar) and leaps (e.g. major triad) in OTS notes 8 and above, especially #s 8-12. Increase speed as facility develops.

Additional Study
•Practice diatonic sequence patterns (“shapes”) on the OTS, especially from OTS #8 on up. Example: Down One and Back: an ascending sequence for the OTS 4 to 8 octave (C4-C5) would be (in OTS numbers): 4 3 4 5 4 5 6 5 6 7 6 7 8. Descend using the inverted shape: 8 9 8 7 8 7 6 7 6 5 6 5 4 5 4. Move this shape up and down in octaves for practice in all registers. Discover more such patterns and put them to use.

•Play simple diatonic folk tunes that can be played using only the OTS.

•Review OTS exercises in books by Wendell Rider, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Fred Teuber, Douglas Hill, Philip Farkas, Louis Dufresne, Sam Pilafian, and others. as well as books for the other brasses to build a vocabulary of possibilities. Be inspired and invent your own exercises and combinations. With some imagination your OTS workout can be fresh and new every day.

Valve technique?
Our analogy must stop for reasons of space with an overview of the development of technique using the overtone series. Another analogy from another science might say that the overtone series is the operating system and the valves are the user interface. After a thorough grounding in the ways and wonders of the negotiation of the OTS, valve technique will come a lot quicker, since technical problems are often due to an underlying deficiency of skill getting around the OTS and not with valve technique. Thus, the sooner the player acquires fluency and consistent accuracy in moving around the OTS, the quicker advances in valve technique will come.

Horn Studio

of The University of Iowa