Lip Slurs for Horn from Howard Hilliard

Revised and expanded, Lip Slurs for Horn is now a 48 page compendium of essential slurring skills appropriate for the first year student as well as the most accomplished professional. A balance between variety and accessibility is used to develop the ear and combat the monotony of typical lip slur exercises while maintaining a logical and musical shape to the phrase.
Lip Slurs for Horn starts with a primer for beginning horn class through middle school that contains:

  • Challenging studies within a modest range that add harmonics gradually and emphasize the characteristic F side of the double horn
  • Musically composed lip slurs that develop the ear and train the body equally using irregular, non-linear phrases with implied harmonic progressions
    Presented in multiple clinics at the 2012 International Horn Symposium including the following areas of interest:

  • Memorizable lip slur routines
  • Large intervals within a modest range
  • Exercises that exploit out-of-tune and adjacent harmonics
  • Lip slurs designed to eliminate or minimize breaks between registers
  • Exercises that focus on range - both high and low
  • Lip slur hybrids combined with lip trill precursors
  • Innovative lip slur patterns using two different valve combinations that provide an extreme challenge to the ear

    • “. . . The early focus on simple intervallic slurs as they relate to the harmonic series of the horn is especially important . . . a comprehensive method for all levels, from the beginning student to the accomplished professional.”
          Mark Houghton, Third Horn Pittsburgh Symphony, Former Principal Horn, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
    “The MOST important thing in horn playing is hearing what you're about to play. Sometimes, feeling what you are about to play helps you to hear it. Howard's book is a GREAT help in accomplishing this for players of all ages. Knowing where you are on the harmonic (overtone) series is crucial for any player, and Howard's book is a great MAP to help us all navigate it.”
          Charles Bell, Hornist, The Cincinnati Symphony; horn professor, Xavier University
    “Lip Slurs for Horn is a wonderful cornucopia of lip slur material. I like how Hilliard keeps the range in the middle and low registers for some time, as well as keeping them short at first . . . I love the quantity of material here . . . a treasury of lip slurs that every horn teacher will want to own and use regularly.”
          Jeffrey Agrell, Associate Professor of Horn of the University of Iowa, former associate principal horn, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra

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