Mastering the Horn's Low Register - Randy Gardner

  Personally, the lower register has always been a problem area. Ask me do something in and above the treble staff, no problem. But, throw a bass clef in front of me and that's a whole new story. There are plenty of books out there that talk about playing but never go into vivid detail about the lower register; and there are etude books that really challenge my technique... but not too enough in the lower register. This book helps solve this problem and more!





  Randy C. Gardner's Mastering the Horn's Low Register is comprehensive book that starts the reader with the basics and builds on those principles throughout the book. He begins with just talking about proper breathing and air use. What I really like is how at one point he compares the air required for high horn and for low horn. This helped me understand what I was already doing and how I needed to change, instead of just the classic "slower air."
  After thoroughly discussing all the fine point of air and breathe control, he moves onto the embouchure. Again he takes a great approach to this, and one area that really helped me were thinking the "tone shapes." Thinking about a block of sound instead going '"WA" and scooping into the note really helped me to develop the proper sound down there.
  Perhaps my favorite part of this book though, is the orchestral excerpts. Gardner's choice of excerpt is great, and the analysis that he provides for each one is honestly like having a full blown lesson about each one. He gives warnings about certain areas, alternate fingerings, and ways to break the passage down into exercises. 


  I've had this book open to Ein Heldenleben for the past couple weeks now, and after reading his advice, it's actually not that difficult anymore. I'm surprised by the ease of playing I can now exert on the excerpt compared to when I used it to college-acceptance auditions. Overall this is an astounding book, and I'd recommend it to anyone having issues in their lower register.