Horn class; concerts to attend

I'm behind on posting again, no surprise there then...

Horn class last Wednesday was good. Martin Owen came to run a session on note production: the basic message was to use air support, rather than the tongue, to start notes. This is less tiring than relying on the tongue and, practised over time, leads to better sound and better pitch control.

We spent most of the class playing through various ensemble pieces without tongue, and then with tongue, to feel the difference. It's quite difficult at first to play a row of staccato quavers with no tongue when you aren't used to doing so but soon enough we were away.

I'm a fan of this particular exercise, and should probably use it more in my own practising.

On Friday I played horn in the Greenwich Cultural Olympiad event. It was good fun, despite low light levels and a bit of a chill to the evening.

This week my horn teacher is playing in a concert at King's Place. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to the 10.45am performance, part of the opening festival, due to academic commitments.

On Saturday night I will be attending a much different concert. Psallite: Stoke Newington Women's Choir, will be singing at Newington Green Unitarian Church. I very much liked the last concert I attended in that 300-year-old building and it's quite near home for me, so I'm trying to get to more events there.