Hi all, I'm looking for some tips and tricks, and exercises of course, to expand my range and improve my endurance soon, preferably by early next year. The reason why I have a deadline is because I have a performance of Schumann's Konzertstuck for 4 Horns to do next April, and I am soooooooo not up to standard. My high C is highly temperamental and I only play above that on a incredibly good day (up to about D or E).

The huge problem I have with this piece is that playing first horn, with the many high Cs in the piece, an optional high E and several scattered optional high Ds, is pretty much impossible right now for me. There are also huge chunks of playing time all in the upper register and my stamina is simply not enough to make it all the way through, especially with my weird high C.

So, any recommendations for practice? Any help would be appreciated =)

For what its worth, the horn I'm playing is a Ricco Kuehn W293 (not mine -cries-)

Thanks for reading =D

A good idea I've heard for endurance is to practice more often throughout the day rather than practicing everything at once and blowing your chops out.

I'm no expert on this, but for your range you could simply try playing a lot of stuff above the staff (for example, after you warm up just do the same thing you do for warming up but up higher), but don't kill yourself playing a lot of high D's and E's. This should get you used to playing in a higher register and then it wouldn't be as hard to hit the high notes you mentioned.

Thanks for the reply, i'll try that ^^

See if you can't get your hands on a trumpet... try playing trumpet with your horn mouthpiece instead of a trumpet mouthpiece. It's a little far out there, but believe me, it's a little easier to play high through a trumpet and when you go immediately back to the horn, you'll have a better idea of what the higher notes "feel" like.

Just a suggestion, I'd bet a lot of people would recommend against it, but what the hey?