This all started last Monday in my lesson with Wendy Hinman, my private horn teacher. We've been working on Kopprasch #18, which is a technical etude book and this exercise is full interval jumps at different dynamics, and this translates to "chipped-note" city. I'm on about my second week of working on this etude because my teacher has very high expectations for my Kopprasch results, not one missed note.
This last Monday I had to miss an entire day of school because of car troubles so I thought I'd take advantage of this and have an all-day practice day to really clean up the etude before my lesson that day. Starting at 8 AM I start warming up and by 8:30 I'm into Kopprasch. In multiple blocks of practice mixed with rest, which is when I watch YouTube videos of some the greats of horn, I hammered on Kopprasch and Mozart No.1. This practice session lasted until 2:30 PM which is when I had to get ready to go to my lesson.
Now, I get to my lesson and I sit down and do some lip slurs to loosen the lips the back up and then run the etude. First try, not too solid, I had forgotten the upper melodic line, so my teacher stopped me after the high line and let me play the upper melody to refresh my ears. Second try, I chipped a few fourth space E's but I'm able to make it through the first half of the etude without being stopped and she even comments on how amazing and clear my low range sounded and that the quieter high section was very clean, but that first phrase was still just not there. Now I'm on my third try and I'm determined to show her that I really have been working at this and I REALLY didn't want to have to do this etude for another week. The third try was by far the best, the first phrase I only chipped a D and the last second line G, the rest of the first half was beautiful. She just looks at me and says, "That was a lot better, but you still missed two notes. So for next week I want to learn the second half of this etude and be ready to perform the entire etude again for next week."
And this when I learned hate. In my head I was screaming Stefan Dohr and Hermann Baumann couldn't freaking get through this entire etude without making even one little mistake! I wanted to throw a chair out a window, I just couldn't understand how it was possible for me to make it through this entire etude without "chipping" or missing even one note.
Now Wendy knows me pretty well, and I wear many of my emotions on my sleeve, so she could tell what I thinking immediately and all she could say was, "Well I wouldn't be a good teacher if I let you get away with a mistake, would I?"
At first I was still irritated that I would be doing this exercise for another whole week but now that I've had time to cool off I've realized that she was totally right. For me to reach that next level of playing I would need to push past this wall and find a way that I can confidently do any interval jump, at any dynamic, and it'll be second nature.
I will also offer this disclaimer now that I've calmed down, Stefan Dohr and Hermann Baumann can probably play Kopprasch #18 flawlessly, and for me to get closer to that goal, I have to as well.
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