French horn one year in
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:54 pm
I have now been playing the horn for 14 months and still loving it. That's not to say that some days it isn't a major struggle to get something resembling musical notes out of it, but that's just me being impatient and wanting to move beyond beginner stage. Funny, with a lifetime of dressage riding, I cannot remember what it was like to struggle to get a horse "on the bit" or even to do a simple leg yield or tof, let alone si, travers, renvers etc, etc. Playing the horn seems very similar to dressage riding...it's all about nuances, subtleties in technique and learning to relax while maintaining tension in certain muscles. Learning the horn reminds me of what dressage beginners struggle with as they climb the levels for the first time, and just like a fine school horse, a higher quality horn may be "easier" to play but it will not make you a musician! 
At any rate, I just wanted to share another small reason I continue to do the work to learn how to play this thing. My husband and I took a trip last week and one morning in the hotel parking lot, I joined him with my horn while he smoked his cigarette. After a short while, another gent came by and sat down to smoke a little ways away from us. I asked if it would disturb him if I continued to play and he said no. A few minutes in, he complemented my playing and then said "Today was my wife's birthday." I asked about her and he said she died 2 years ago in his arms, from cancer and he was still missing her very much. As he sat there smoking, I noticed a tear rolling down his face, so, on the spot, I pulled out of my horn the tune "Happy Birthday" followed by a rendition of "Amazing Grace" (again by just thinking the tune in my head and it coming out of the horn.) He got up, walked over and thanked me and I gave him a big hug from his wife. It's a magical instrument, that horn, and I am honored that every once in awhile I can use it to bring a smile to some stranger's face.
At any rate, I just wanted to share another small reason I continue to do the work to learn how to play this thing. My husband and I took a trip last week and one morning in the hotel parking lot, I joined him with my horn while he smoked his cigarette. After a short while, another gent came by and sat down to smoke a little ways away from us. I asked if it would disturb him if I continued to play and he said no. A few minutes in, he complemented my playing and then said "Today was my wife's birthday." I asked about her and he said she died 2 years ago in his arms, from cancer and he was still missing her very much. As he sat there smoking, I noticed a tear rolling down his face, so, on the spot, I pulled out of my horn the tune "Happy Birthday" followed by a rendition of "Amazing Grace" (again by just thinking the tune in my head and it coming out of the horn.) He got up, walked over and thanked me and I gave him a big hug from his wife. It's a magical instrument, that horn, and I am honored that every once in awhile I can use it to bring a smile to some stranger's face.