My brass band in concert

[Ole Juul]

I finally switched to Dennis Wick (the best, I'm told) alto horn mouthpiece and noticed an immediate improvement. Size-wise, it's between that of a trombone and a trumpet. So it's large enough that I use a different set of muscles with that mouthpiece. Strangely, this has resulted in overall stronger lips. I can now hit high C on my French horn, and run all the way down to the basement C that's four octaves lower, without having to do any warmup!

The Dennis Wick was probably a good idea - because it's the real thing. I've read quite a bit about mouthpieces and talked with people about them, and there is one school of thought that suggests that the best mouthpiece is the one you've got - or at least the one you decide to stick with. Some people are always changing, hoping to find something, and when they don't find it, they change again, not realizing that each time they lose something. A lot of stuff in life is like that. It sounds like you not only have talent for playing, but are also blessed with the right musculature. I also get the idea from what you say that perhaps the fact that the two embouchures are so different makes them not interfere. That's interesting, though a trumpet player might not have that experience.

Anyway, your playing Alto brings me back to when I first got a copy of Arban's method and there is a picture in the front. You probably know it. That was over 40 years ago, but whenever I see one I always give a little sigh.

[GreyGeek]

I saw a movie in 1958 called "The Vikings". It's theme music featured a French Horn. It has been my favorite wind instrument every since.