I don't want to sound conceited, or "better than anyone else" But I thought I would post a little of my theories and best practices in the Horn palying world every couple of days.

You can comment, ask questions, and argue with me. I figure it will give new horn players some ideas and understanding and older Horn players something to think about. It will certainly assure there is something in our Horn section postings every week.

First post - I keep two pencils in my case when I go to rehearsals. One for me and one for the conductor or my nieghboring musician. I always have a pencil on my stand in rehearsal and I place it so the eraser end sticks out over the side of the stand so the conductor can see that I have one. I only use #1's; which have become difficult to locate in todays business environment. But No.!'s write easily and erase easily. I buy these a gross at a time online. I also keep a pencil on my stand in a concert, just in case something happens that I want to mark. I do a lot of pit work so the audience doesn't see it. And often there are only two rehearsals before performances start and many more performances than there are rehearsals, so things pop up.

What do I mark? I mark everything the conductor mentions. But I also mark things like tuning tendencies of instruments I play in unison with, or have a duet with. All rubatos and accelerandos. Questions I might have ( I rarely ask question during a rehearsal. I ask my questions after rehearsal or send an email with my questions to the section leader if I'm not playing first, or the contractor if I am playing first). Other things I mark are alternate fingerings I might want to use, when to get my mute ready, who to listen for in a rest, etc.

What things do you mark?

Wonderful idea, John. I've been thinking of the topic of asking questions at a rehearsal. I have a director who suggested we carry little sticky notes to rehearsals. When we come across something with which we have difficulty or questions, he suggested we mark the measure number(s)on the sticky note & stick it like a flag out the side or top of the page. That way, we can address the issue at an appropriate time, rather than interrupting the rehearsal.

I use this idea to mark pages with difficult passages. When it's practice time, I can quickly zero in on the spots that need the most work.

Valerie Wells
http://bebabe.wordpress.com/
http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/

Great idea John! I look forward to your next post!
This one was excellent - I always bring a pencil

I've seen some people with clips that hold their pencils on the horn. Does anyone know where I might find one?