Resources and Free Downloads

8 Diatonic Patterns

Playing scales only straight up and down in octaves in of limited usefulness and is soon boring. Spice up your routine by practicing various patterns!

Groove Based Practice

As far as the rhythmic aspect is concerned, traditional horn etudes use mostly simple (duple and triple) meter and rhythms. Contemporary etudes may use more complex rhythms or meter, but often aperiodically or irregularly. What’s missing? Groove!

Open Culture Is The Bomb

“The best free cultural & educational media on the web.” Links to free: audio books (550), online courses (1,100), MOOCs (1000+), movies (700), language study (300 lessons), textbooks (200), eBooks (700), business courses (150), K-12 education, art & images, music. Such a deal!

Do Nothing For 2 Minutes

Let’s face it: we’re all adrenaline junkies. We do too much, can’t sit still, check our email/Facebook too much, have forgotten how to de-stress, relax, shut down even momentarily the shrill blah blah radio in our heads (this becomes especially important when we’re trying to perform on the horn). This web site shows a lovely photo of the ocean at sunset and challenges you to simply listen to the sound of waves and watch the sunset for 2 minutes without interruption. If you can’t (even moving the cursor), you “fail.” But you can try again. It’s harder to do than it looks. Give it a try.

Johnny Lists – Everyone Loves Lists

Interesting lists of good stuff, e.g. 30 Tips for College Students, 50 Small Ways to Improv Your Life, 50 Things to Do When Bored, 12 Websites Where You Can Download Free Stuff, etc. etc.