Hi fellow french horn players,
I REALLY need help on something-I am a junior in high school; I have been playing french horn since middle school. I used to be one of the best players; I made first chair in the All-District Honor Band and second chair in the All-State Honor band in my state when I was in seventh grade. However, since then, I've just gotten even worse. My eighth grade year, I got third chair in state, then my freshman and sophomore years of high school I got last chair in state. I know I'm still very fortunate to have made state in such a competitive field, but I really don't think I'm going to make it this year, as I have gotten even worse. My high range is completely awful. The highest note I can hit is the "high F", the last note on the staff. I can usually hit the F#, but only on good days I can hit the G, and my solo this year goes up to a Bb!!! I get tired from playing (tone quality degrades, sounds very airy, etc, can't even hit like a middle C!!!! ((( and then it sounds completely awful. My confidence is to the floor, and I just don't want to upset my band directors who think so much of me and are expecting me to make state this year...I just don't understand why my high range is so completely awful. I get so frustrated when I see people that just started playing being able to hit high C's and stuff, like why can't I do it?? I practice about an hour every day (sometimes more); I do many high range exercises that my teacher gives me-he's the principal horn player of the symphony where I live, and none of it works; within 10 minutes of practicing I sound completely awful. I always have a red ring within like 5 seconds of me playing, and I don't even press that hard; in fact, today after practicing, I had two white lines on my bottom lip. Like, what??? I know my embouchure is completely wrong (I have the mouthpiece way too low on my face-I don't use enough top lip), but no matter how hard I try I can't fix it. I actually spent about 2 months working on a different embouchure awhile ago and it sounded even worse and I got even more tired from playing. I don't understand why I have no endurance when I practice so much and my high notes are absolutely awful!! Please help me!

I played from age 13 to 23 roughly, then stopped for about 18 or 19 years. I often found that I played best within my first 10 or 15 minutes. Then it went downhill. When I restarted I did two things, read my notes from my 2 years of college level lessons especially in regards to embouchure, and investigated my mouthpiece selection. Reading my notes really didn't clarify, but when I read a bunch of different articles figured I'd been playing completely wrong. Try einsetzen. Really, it is weird for the first few months, and then it makes things so much easier. So, the mouthpiece. I kept getting tired and noticed swollen, and reddened lips with prominent lines. Bought a super cheap plastic mouthpiece. That too, made a huge difference. I have a pretty nasty nickel allergy, so much that I react to the ducks feet on my instruments, so I've had to cover them with neoprene or leather. I use hand guards because I'll get a rash from holding a horn, and when I don't have a cover, I actually get an inflammatory reaction if I'm practicing awhile. I bet the decline is from continued exposure to something that you react to. Try plastic, if that helps, see about stainless steel.