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!

The word comes the Greek Heurisko [heur (to find out, discover) + Latin isticus, – istic] meaning “find or discover.” A heuristic is an approach to problem solving, learning or discovery that is not exact or completely accurate, but it gets the job done for the nonce.

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!

How much do you owe?

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.

What is the difference between Aural and Literature traditions?

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.

Download this useful list of sound painting gestures.