Relax and Focus. Sarah Willis is joined by Eric Terwilliger in a liive Horn Hangout from Berlin. Eric takes Sarah through some yoga meditation and his horn playing tips and the Hangout includes a cameo appearance by the horn section of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra horn section. Berlin, February 29th 2016
Transcript
Auto-generated from the live stream, expect the occasional robot mishearing.
[Music] there we’re on we’re so relaxed and focused hi everyone welcome to the horn Hangouts and Eric to willly and I were just trying to relax and focus because this is what today’s going to be all about and I tell you I really need it I’ve just rushed in from a rehearsal he’s just rushed in from practice well
I I needed it because I’m so excited I’ve never done anything like this before ever the first time I’ve ever been online with people watching and able to comment it is great and we are so happy to have you here welcome Eric toer principal Horn of the Bavarian Bavarian radio Symphony Orchestra Global much sought-after teacher and also
Yogi extraordinaire we’re going to get to all those topics Eric there are so many people watching from all over the world it’s really incredible Boston Hadley’s watching in Boston Cindy’s watching in Taipei hi Cindy Cindy um mik in Soul um we have I mean really Allison in waa Wala Washington Walla Walla where is that Vincent you’re from
London oh my goodness everyone shell in Rochester we could go on all day J in Venezuela sorry if I’ve pronounced anyone’s names wrong but they’re all here to hear all about you so welcome welcome to all of you online and don’t forget if you want us and we would love to see your tweets your selfies of where you’re watching from and put hashtag horn
Hangouts and we’ll get it here on the Twitter feed and on Facebook we just love to know where you’re all watching all around the world world so ashorn Hangouts get selfing now so to my revered guest Eric this is really exciting thank you so much for saying yes oh I was thrilled when you asked goodness you for me are just um yeah you’re just a legend you’re you’re you’ve been playing first horn with us for for for ages but quite a lot recently because especially in the last time but actually
I the first time I ever played with you was during fergus’s trial period so that’s what 35 years ago yeah oh my goodness that was the very first time you played with the first time yeah and he played second he was as cool as he played yes he always is did he count uh I did um so uh we
I just think we’ll we’ll start at the beginning and go through just quite quickly youra we got people that are if you have any questions for Eric then please send them in we’ve got some questions already in already um you actually had your first professional gig and we even have a photo of it um of you playing the bass guitar guitar oh actually that was actually after the the very first time
I got paid for for playing music was I was 15 years old playing bass in a blues band with Giles McCreary who also said he was going to be watching my my lead guitar player from Post Texas J MC are you watching anyone anywhere write in and tell us if you are amazing it could be probably too early for him there some people that are up really really early uh in the morning
I mean thanks you guys for getting up so early so and then we have another lovely one of you clutching a Vagner tuba also years ago oh yes that was uh when I just got to Bavaria deep Bavaria I had been in Munich for a year and and moved out to the country and uh got in touch with my
Bavarian Roots so that’s that’s supposed to be it’s also a Bavarian suit that I have on there and certainly a we wer quite sure but you look quite cool with your uh with your glasses and and the hair and okay but then we’re skipping already so you started the Horn uh oh you played uh bass guitar and then you started the horn and you went to
IU in in Bloomington yes and I have my first teacher Bob odmark who is still playing in the the Kennedy Center um Opera Orchestra in Washington to thank for that because he he showed me a piece that he knew that Philip farcus would want to hear an unmeasured prel from gal so we really worked on that and uh
I I was accepted and much to many people’s surpris surprise why well I was a pretty uh Wild guy back then with hair down to here and and earrings and all sorts I wish we had a photo you didn’t give us a photo that that what this one with the base was enough think um but you you had two absolute
Legends as your teachers three or four I’ve been very very fortunate to have good teachers I think that’s the probably the the thing that I have to be most grateful for is that I’ve always had great teachers but when I got to IU I started with Ethel merker who is uh the the former Queen of the horn that’s very sweet that you one of your predecessors e
Mera is is an absolute Legend I wish I could have met her we had a little bit of contact just before she died um she someone had given her a CD I would love to have met her she sounds incredible she she was really an amazing teacher very much practical Hands-On stuff to to to get you set up for uh professional life as that one story that
I did we have a good story we’re getting right to that we have your very first teacher watching oh Bob hi Bob hi Bob Bob is in Starbucks so um yeah here we go H so we mentioned Bob you went to IU Bloomington um and your teachers were Ethel and Phil then later but I was saying even when
I started with Ethel she’d sometimes say oh Phil has to hear this and we just get up and go across the hall that we were in the the the old Mac building and right across the hall was Phils and and she’d have me play from something for him and he’d give he’d give his comments and and we saw
I started getting a connection with him before I actually switched to him as a teacher and would also take private lessons with him at his home and uh the one of the main influences that I had in Bloomington though the one who really I think got me set up for the whole concentration and relaxation thing um was
William Adam a trumpet player um who was uh famous for putting together lead trumpet players he was had a legion of of lead trumpet players in the big bands who would learn how to scream from him and um he was an iido Master which he didn’t actually told me years later and um I had like almost a mystical experience with him one time and it it got me into to looking for a way to control my concentration and relaxation the way it happened that one time and and uh then got me into yoga which uh
I found was the the real thing for me it’s not for everybody but it really worked for me to to find my focus and my relaxation and um is probably the the main reason that I’m still a happy horn player despite being 62 years old well that’s I definitely want to get back into that because that’s a subject that also totally fascinates me we could all do with a bit more relaxation because
I have a surprise for Sarah at that oh my goodness I hope I haven’t got to do a headstand or something like that but as a as a girl horn player I just have to ask what was Ethel like well as I said um I mentioned before she she was such a a practical person and had been through the whole
Mill in Chicago she she was one of the um jingle players um in Chicago and also was assistant to Philip farcus in the symphony and um I think to illustrate what she really was like as a teacher I I have to tell the the audience about the the first time that I ever played the K Schuman contic um after the the concert we went to a party um there was a big party and um
I was not I didn’t drink alcohol back then as a if you’re under 21 in America you can’t get alcohol to drink and and um some big rough older guys um started me drinking whiskey and Ethel saw me doing that and um I got totally plastered and at one point that I really don’t remember that much Ethel took me back back home and um the next morning the phone rang at 8:00 in the morning and it’s
Ethel saying got a lesson in 10 minutes wake up coming to get you oh no I was just so hung over the first time in my life with a hangover like that and eel picked me up and took me to a lesson and I was just trying to just even find one note and she play that again and do it again do it again like
I was almost in tears and then she said you okay you played the Shuman concer last night so easily and today you cannot even hold out a note remember this and never ever do this before an important concert and and now we go have breakfast so then she took me out to breakfast and it was a a a lesson that
I’ve I learned and uh I’ve never done that before any oh never ever done it again neither have any of our horn hangout viewers never ever got drunk after a big concert never ever but also that some of the best advice she ever gave me was about mouth pizzas mouth so I asked her what what she thought
I should use and and she said well the best thing that I can tell you about mouthpieces is find one and never change it if you want to improve something look for your yourself um to to find a solution with your what you’re doing and not equipment and then she said find a regular just a normal mouthpiece and then she looked at me and said well maybe a little bit bigger than normal and she gave me a
Holton farcus deep cup that I played for over 40 years until I switched I got to tell you guys something the the mouthpiece con the mouthpiece question always comes up in the horn Hangouts everyone wants to know who plays on what mouthpiece Eric didn’t know what mouthpiece what your boore was I had to look it up last night so what is it tell us so anyway um uh do you remember was it um two years ago
I guess um I came here to play shastovich 5ifth and unpacked my horn and didn’t have a mouthpiece I remember that very well I almost died and uh my my poor wife had never seen me like that before actually I was I was screaming and pounding walls and and um I I knew then though that I had somewhere somewhere we just moved into the new apartment in
Berlin that I had somewhere a collection of mouthpieces and there was a copy of that deep Cup made by Tony Romera and um I finally found it and I I played the whole week on it and it was so good that I had him make me a a copy another one and um he just changed the backb a little bit to make it a little bit more
Poppy and and uh it’s more in tune actually in the middle range and that’s what I play now great I looked up I looked up the board last night and it it was it 4.83 millimeters and it’s a deep cup it’s deep and sort of like VN with a funnel okay you guys you don’t have to ask this question uh we now know what mouthpiece mouthpiece question always comes
I have a couple a couple uh things here just to say um Zach lier lier saying greetings from Seattle fond memories of Munich studies with you 20 years ago which is nice um Howard pink in National Tennessee hi morning Howard he says cutting up fresh fruit for my cereal that’s great we like to know these things um
Richie Schneider all right says hi from lud halfen and try to refrain from telling the wild IU stories please Eric okay Kera Garcia wants to know if you would like to come to Venezuela well sure sure um and and we love all the all the Ethel stories Hadley says that you’d written a very nice letter to her which she she
Tre she treasured yeah I was I was so glad to finally have um been able to track down that picture of Phil farcus Ethel and I playing for the Carpenters although you actually you have that are you did you have that picture I didn’t of you and Ethel and Phil we do actually yakob there’s a picture of
Ethel Phil and Eric playing all together what the Eerie Crown Theater for the carp ERS in 1974 and they were so nice they gave us everybody in the whole backup band got a box of California fruit in the break and everybody fell in love with Karen God what a voice she had such a beautiful Rich Alto oh my
God yes but we’re we’re talking about other women now eth forget Karen Carpenter and Ethel eth so Ethel was the one who actually got me to to join the Chicago Musicians Union she gave me the keys to her cut list and told me to go up in audition for the musician Union which I I did and um then uh she tested me out actually that that
Carpenters gig was uh the test to see if I was I was able to do it and with Phil and and and and Ethel together were you just Star Struck sitting there next to those two and everybody else was like Chicago Symphony members and and we went out to lunch between the the rehearsal and the show and they laughed at me cuz
I was drinking glass of milk and they were all having a beer you know well you were about 12 no I I was 20 20 I was 20 you didn’t dare drink in front of Ethel that’s what it was well gosh yeah but then after that when that worked out well then she started just giving getting me gigs to go play
I played for Barry wet I was a member of the Love Unlimited Orchestra very white we we they got wee I’m a little bit starstuck at this very moment e Phil farus and Barry White oh my good and Karen that’s a good mixture that’s you’ve had a really quite an amazing time but I want to get back to people are sending and thank you for all these these questions
I’m keep writing them in in case I don’t get to all of them Steve wants to know do you remember Ethel’s Corvette oh yes but actually uh she had gotten rid of that and I only got the driver cutless but it was it was hot with a fuzzbuster too back then it was fuzzbuster I it was a it could read the police radar if it were could it tell you if radar was coming up so um made the trip to
Chicago a little bit shorter one thing that uh I’m always amazed at when uh when we play with you you are incredibly well prepared you were always there one hour before and you always do the farcus warmup yes how did he get you how did that evolve he hadn’t written it down yet had he um oh yes he that was but um the the thing was um
I was always very warmed up before I went into a lesson with him um so we never did a warmup we never did it we just always started doing our thing uh with with music and um I asked about it once and um he said oh just it’s not really important just just do whatever part you like it’s you know not really a set thing and everybody can find something in it for them but since then actually when
I came to Munich Richie Snider um came once and said Eric you have to do start doing the whole farcus War this is will be the perfect thing for you and over 40 years ago I started doing it and I found out that like any warmup it’s not what it is you play it’s how you play it so
I I I got into the the the relaxation and focus and um realized also that it’s a um after you get past the the the really hard Parts in the beginning it’s basically just a flexibility warmup so just trying to get the the the vibration balanced on top of the the Airstream is what it’s about if there’s anybody who doesn’t know the
Philip fcus warm-up it’s from it’s in the book The Art of playing the French horn um maybe someone could put a link to it in the chat that would be fantastic um I use it as well but as you say it’s not it’s not what you play it’s how you play it and that’s that’s really the the main thing yeah what what what what were the other things important to him as a teacher well he was a um a mental
Master he always had a a trick to prepare himself for I mean we we’ go i’ I’d always go into a lesson with a plan otherwise all we H would do is tell stories which some of the students took advantage of if they had weren’t prepared but I always had a plan of what I wanted to work with them and and um no matter what excerpt
I would do he would tell me five different conductor interpretations and for every single EX excerpt he had even if it’s just a little finger change he had something that he would be able to tell himself I have a trick this is easier for me because I have a trick and he had this mental way of always giving an affirmation that
I can do it I’ve got a trick I can do it even if it’s just one using first valve for for an F on on top instead of open or something do you remember any any specific ones that have helped you over the past well certainly of course the the famous one of the of the the the beteen forth
High B flat um that I’ve used very thankfully um this whole past uh fall I don’t know how many times we did we we do that bethoven ER CL Eric CL first t on our Boven cyle it’s a really a great the greatest trick I’m sure that quite a people know quite a few people know it you have to make sure you have your your first
F really greased up well otherwise it falls out and then it’s a disaster that that would be embarrassing because you can you can play an A before you um come in on the B because that’s in the bassoon and you with it on the top here if you got this going with a it’s it only comes through this part of the horn so it’s an
A and you nobody can really hear it you’ve got the you pulled it out here and put it in here and this will give you a top you just got to remember to put it back in when you’re finished that nobody can hear and you can crack it up you can get in the but when you finally get it which nobody has heard then you just [Music] go so it’s it makes it defuses the whole thing and that’s a farcus trick it’s a great trick
I I’d actually forgotten a colleague of mine reminded me of that La couple years ago and I was also very grateful I think the the the the the farcus mental energy was the most um impressive thing about him and you you’ve kept up this this mental energy has been very very important to you your entire career and as you say
I I’m sure that’s why you’re still going so amazingly strong um still well it’s certainly also the the not just the the the the focus and the the the relaxation and this is why I started doing yoga and um we have a lovely picture of you doing a yoga pose um uh everybody get ready for this you’re going to love this one can you do it again for us today oh yes
I’ll just whip it off for you it’s you know like that would be like playing zanka not warmed up go yeah um but actually if people can comment on this people can comment comment let’s ask everybody let’s ask everybody if they think that I should give Sarah a quick yoga lesson that everybody watching as long as they have enough space on the floor just to stretch out can also do the yoga lesson with us and it’s just it’s just savasana so you can surprises can
I do it in a short SC you can leave your shoes on you can you can do anything you want because it’s it’s Savas Shas Shana okay I know that one you guys we can to do this can we even get the cameras on all we have to do is put you on the floor here oh God talking about yoga is not really as productive as doing yoga and everybody there taking part in this can do this with us it’s the the one posture it’s called savasana which is actually the corpse posture yes to the yoga lesson and it is the beginning and the end
Of any yoga session so yoga you’ve been tell you told me that you’ve been doing yoga I have and so this would this is perfect because I’d like to talk everybody through this posture and just do maybe five minutes couldn’t you show them do I have to no it’s something that that you can’t it’s it’s like I can show you
I could show you a copy of the farcus warm up but you have to do it in order to to have problem I’d rather you did chavas with me than the farcus warm up okay okay right here we go um are you all going to do this at home uh and we want the Selfies don’t forget the
Selfies so anybody who has space on the floor to stretch out please lay on the floor on your back lay on the floor on your back God the things we do for the Hang okay and the the hands should be at approximately 40 the arms at a 45 degree angle with the Palms up how we doing that
George we on this side so hands approximately 45 Palms up feet approximately shoulder width legs approximately shoulder width I’m sure that would be no problem and let the let the toes just pop out to the side okay okay yeah now eyes shut eyes shut now everybody shut your eyes everybody get into this position they’re not shutting their eyes there they’re laughing themselves no no there’s the people the people who are just wanting sensation are are watching this but the people who want to experience this because
I’m going to talk you through the whole thing so everybody get on their back in this position and the first thing we do is just try to observe the breath just feel yourself breathing in and out you don’t have to try to breathe like a horn player or a yogi all you have to do is first get in contact with your breath and feel yourself breathing it’s very
Elemental if you don’t eat you can survive for a couple months if you don’t drink water you can survive for maybe 10 days or so and if you don’t breathe it just takes a couple of minutes so this is very basic breathing first thing we do when we get in contact with that breath and start feeling oh
I’m actually breathing in and I’m breathing out is to link up our mind with our body through this pathway of breath by simply counting feel yourself give yourself a rhythm one two three four in breath and then one two three four out breath and this will help Focus your mind this will anchor your mind give it something to do it it will run around like a wild horse most most of the time but this very first thing this very first step of doing yoga is something that everybody also can do this is something very
Universal especially if you have your eyes shut I’m shutting my eyes and and your mouth shut and you’re breathing through your nose now once you once you feel this rhythm of being able to count with your breath you can start waiting for the in breath to happen so after the next exhalation find the moment when your body says breathe in now and you’ll be able to start slowing the frequency of your breath down so that you gradually become more and more relaxed so let’s first of all just take a minute or so of feeling our breath bringing your mind back to what you were doing
By giving it an anchor of counting and start to feel your body Letting Go the more relaxed you get the more possible it would be able to feel the gravity just pressing you into the floor you can start to feel your thoughts actually becoming more stable and being able to hold on to the counting with the breath as it go on with every breath feel yourself sinking in the floor s try to
Exhale any tension and inhale positive energy exhale now this time wait for the in breath there wait for the breath and then breathe in starting of course very low as it will then you wait for it and now if you’re starting to feel your body and feel the weight of the body far starting to feel yourself getting in contact with the floor it’s time to link up with your feet feel your heels pressing on the floor feel the rhythm of your breathing going into your feet if you can feel your heartbeat feel your pulse in your feet and use that to fill your feet with
Warm energy until that energy flows through the ankles into the calves filling up the calves flowing through the knees into the thighs leaving totally relaxed feet and calves behind it now through the hip joints up into the lower back abdomen moving this energy up always keeping contact with the breath and the feel of the exhalation actually dragging you into the floor feel the energy going up you can feel yourself now getting into the lungs and really relaxing with the next breath you can even start to feel your heart beating slower every exhalation is a less of a which really helps us we are able to
Slow our pulses down we yogis which is very much of an aid in concert feel the shoulders now relaxed we hold so much tension in our shoulders we horn clear so feel the shoulders relaxing as the energy just flows into the arms through the upper arms through the elbows into the lower arms all the way out the fingers out the the palms of the hands coming up back to your shoulders have mental images of what’s going on use inpection to feel those parts of the body give those shoulders another exhalation of relaxation to see if we can get rid of any that tension that we
Always hold feel it flowing up down through the neck into the face our lips we can relax our chops you can open the capillaries the little blood vessels in the lips and put in fresh breath blood and energy you can even feel behind your nose relaxing your temples relaxing the skin of your your head relaxing and then just as a last little thing take yourself to a fa favorite part of of your world and put yourself into the sunshine and a nice warm not too hot day and feel the
Sunshine on your eyelids see the Golden Glow of the sun that’s going through your eyelids let that energy fill up your head and feel it bathing your entire body and envelop yourself in a cocoon of warm Golden Light and that is savasana feel AIT more relaxed here a that’s nice then let’s see if you can I get to stand up stand up how’s your blood pressure huh it’s
I do I do this in Horn courses and people say oh I’m fine over you okay yeah you’re a little bit set down here everybody back thank you for that that was the most relaxing horn hangout I think uh I have taken part in um thank you yes sir do you do this every day I do this every day the the the as you remember that picture
I I’ve gone through a very intense um body part of yoga Well yoga is is is not just postures um yoga actually means the the the unity of the individual with the universal and there are four main Paths of yoga and this ha yoga the postures are only a side path of Raja yoga so um the main goal of yoga is um this dissolving with the the big picture and um
I meditate daily and certainly before every concert I before I start my warm up well Sarah said I’m always there an hour beforehand but my real preparation starts at home um if I have time to do postures I’ll do postures and certainly at least a half an hour of meditation so I can get my Energy System set up so that
I can get it in the right I have a question how do you manage all this in a loud backstage environment or you do it before you get to the if on tour I’m I’m I’m off in a corner doing it and there’s pictures on our website of of of me doing my thing off in a corner all the time there’s there
I just we have a picture of the body you get if you do a lot of yoga you guys have a look at this wa oh God the the the one with you with the horn on your head i’ I I feel naked without my Alexandri 103 yeah well you’re almost naked in that photo yes that was 198 four and it’s hanging on the wall at and
Alexander yeaha Alexander they’re all watching hi guys thank you for supporting the horn Hangouts um thank you um yeah everyone everyone’s been laughing very much someone said Andrea said he’s never seen Sarah so quiet uh Karen says thank you Eric I have bronchitis and feel much better better Barbara has been practicing beam yoga for three years and the breath is so important in
Horn and yoga what are our biggest advantages as horn players of practicing yoga what would you say well I I I think that that um the balance aspect is the most important thing and you also do Alexander technique have Al and um I’ve done some yeah well until I did Alexander technique which I fortunately started also very early um
I I wasn’t even doing yoga even properly um these the postures and um to be able to integrate the posture so that it acts as a a relaxed holder of of your breath rather than an interference um I think is one of the the main advantages besides the main effect which is the focus um I’d say 90% of playing art any instrument is mental and uh
I’ve certainly experienced having what I thought would be great chops and bad concentration and having a bad concert and having absolutely miserable chops and good concentr concentration and playing it very good concert so there’s no there’s no real secret if you have good chops doesn’t mean like it’s going to be a good day there’s no Secrets anything but
U it’s all it’s all about practicing so that we can dig deep habits so that we can rely on these positive habits during stress situations which is a big project but as you say and I’ve noticed anyone who’s played with Eric has know has noticed or knows that that this preparation is an incredibly important part of um of what you do um that you’re really like a rock you know you’re you’re there your your arm form you do like to swear under your breath a little bit if something goes wrong well
I hope I don’t have to do that very often but no I asked your section your Bavarian radio horn symphon the Sy it’s a big mouthful one this is It’s a mouthful you know that’s right I I spoke to franois um who I think is watching Hi franois and um I said what’s tell me about Eric as a as a principal horn because we have you as a guest
I learn a lot from you but you know it’s your daily principal horn horn life I said tell me what it’s like he said you are always incredibly prepared your your your concentration your focus on stage and he said you also apart from the farcus warm-up you have a warmup which we all struggle with but you play perfectly which one has it got a name is it
I actually I I got it from NRI Guan skelli she um I think it’s written by a tuba player um please anybody this finally I have a large uh group of people to ask this who wrote this down who did this first who did this first actually you should do them no no we’ll do you [Music] first do anyone know where that came from this warmup
I think it was a tuba player on the West Coast or something I Freud is will probably right well your horn section the Bavarian radio by they are so impressed with this warmup they sent you a little hello this is a hello from the Bavarian radio Symphony Orchestra horns for [Music] Eric hey Eric enoy your hangs [Music] isn’t that a great video yes but
I have to say um those most the like fwa is one of these absolute natural talents who probably just falls out of bed and can play perfectly and um he’s not the the big warmer uper that I am and he I don’t know if he’s ever heard me do my farcus warm up but that he has hurt
I love it sorry for SW but it’s praise actually thanks very much you guys for sending that for noras Fran and alesandro thank you very much for sending that in we love these videos so thanks um I have a question we we we’ll get to some questions now I think we just sort of go go go in and out of of everything that’s been coming in it’s quite a lot uh
Su Le says how do you man maintain this calm State during performance I always get very nervous which hinders my breathing yes well that’s a very good question as anything it’s practice um the the I I don’t allow myself to play one note without having this preparation and this really came um to a very drastic point in 1983 when a dentist um cut a nerve while extracting a wisdom tooth and
I could not play for months um I actually didn’t even think I’d ever play again the first the first four months there was nothing I couldn’t uh seal my corner this part of my face was dead was just a didn’t work and um after about four months I felt tickling which the the doctor said it’s a great sign that means the nerve endings are regenerating they’re getting back and after six months
I could close off my left corner again now though I am uh always so thrilled playing with you guys on the digital concert hall and and all these things with the my radio Orchestra on television everything I’m always so shocked when I see myself playing but because I I have to move my ambusher so much because I don’t have feeling in this part of my face and uh the the corn the left corner um
I can seal if if I didn’t have a beard you’d see um that I have a different Flex in each corner and I have to do with lots of weird compensation and please don’t imitate that and I I can’t stand seeing myself playing I I have to I knew that oh god well you’re you’re usually on that side looking at the only at the conductor no and uh but when
I started playing when I started playing I realized that I I have to get um a handle on the relaxation and the focus and the proper breath and and support and um I realized then that um I had been dependent on how my Amish felt I gone into the concert thinking oh B great chops today oh and my the my the the the way that
I played in the concert was also dependent on that and since then my chops always feel bad and I’ve learned how to get on with life um U by using concentration and relaxation and for the open support that all allows me to use my intercostal muscles to support um there someone just said actually there was somebody a long time back sorry if
I forgotten your name but as said about the Pyramid of your of your breath she’d done a master class with you in Spain ah can’t find a name sorry about but people are they always love the the breathing work you I was very fortunate working with um with doing this yoga and everything and analyzing the body and the the muscles and realizing then finally that the the intercostal muscles have their
Beginnings in the vertebrae in this part and if you do have a a downward support it totally paralyzes this and does not give you any flexibility or power in the high range and so you and and uh yeah well I use the beach position the beach position the beach position we can do the beach position too I don’t want to do any more position come on let’s do another be
I don’t want to do any more positions okay this this goes like this we we stand okay I don’t have to lie down no you no no you all you have to do is be yourself because imagine me at the at a beach with a beer in my hand or P colada okay and I’m I’m sitting hanging out there and
I’ve got my stomach hanging out it’s a good example now and then all of a sudden Sarah comes walking up into a in a bikini and what is my reaction I go from this position to this position now this position is the support position and if you can use the the force that you have in your abdominal muscles without counteracting them with a downward
Flex let’s support everybody support no we can really move the air quickly like you hear a lot of that a lot of teachers say push push push down now instead of doing that you can assume the Beast position after you take your natural breath get into the beach position and let out a warm column of air without collapsing your chest through this and and through this extension the the the um intercostal muscles that are linked here will have a chance to expand and and be actually a a second hand to compress your balloon of of air and this some this helps me more than anything
Else and my students all all over the world will know exactly what I’m talking about just wanting everybody a a a whole Global horn hangout Beach position ready one two three no no no no no sorry I have to correct yes this is very important to separate from the in breath and the out breath the we have to form an air
B to I mean the poor violin players can buy a a fretch nbow for €100,000 and all we have to do is learn Le how to relax and breathe naturally I used to love watching my kids screaming when they were babies and they’d scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and then go and and I was amazed come on do that you do that again but the separation of this natural breath is very important because the natural breath has to go like this and then only then do we tighten the
Frog so you breath in first you breathe in first then tighten the Frog to get the sub to to get the beach position going to tighten your airbow these violin players only have to do that once a day we have to do that before every single entrance and hold it throughout the entire phrase and that’s why it’s so important to do it relaxed and to do it flexibly if we’re supporting like like this um it can be very tedious and we poor first horn players in
Germany don’t have assistance and we have to play not only the entire program we have to do it ourselves and and um which is a great way to make sure that you do things relaxed because it’s too it’s if you had that tens you wouldn’t make it through through our P of me without an assistant people often ask that how you first horns manage without assistance pain management pain management and here comes a question from a very very good friend of mine
David in katar hello David it’s really nice that you’re watching he has a question for you um being a regular substitute for the first tourn at the Berlin fil how do you ensure that you perform consistently your best at every concert David from Qatar PS Love The borad Suite on Saturday oh well um I think uh we have to um do it like uh the the tennis players do it except we don’t get another serve we only have one chance um the any any one one of the tennis players that
I’ve heard interviewed how they manag to to win the austri alen open or something is they they said well I just focused on each ball exchange I didn’t let myself get forward or getting back of me I only concentrated what and the way that I do it is I first of all make sure that I’m focused and relax before
I play through all of this meditation and yoga stuff before I get there and I make sure that I take every breath for any entrance in the proper way relax and open then I open my support and I play the note that’s in my head and I try not to think that it’s live on the digital concert hall tonight and
I actually actually the I thought that before going to the third we did the the three times and the first concert the first two concerts went great and I actually thought that it was on on Friday night and and I I said boy when I was warming up to Andre oh glad that was on last night he said what no it’s tonight so
I immediately tried to tell myself okay good well let’s just make sure you relax and make every breath proper and um focus on what you’re doing at the time and don’t get distracted and I think that’s that’s the main key um the more you perform the the more you will be able to have experience and and the the the fight or flee release of adrenaline that was a boon for the caveman um and is not really helpful to
Horn playing will re will recede and and U you’ll become more calmer with experience um there’s a nice question from James REM um about your learning you now know the importance of balance and concentration but did you always as a student how how would what were the steps and phases of your learning along the way well fortunately um
I was uh I was I was so fortunate to have such good teachers who who showed me um uh the mental aspect of but very early um when I came to Germany which I this point I have to do a little digression and thank mik hilel for bringing me to Germany because he was farcus substitute teacher the year that my funding ran out and
I had to get a job and um five days after while I was semi-finalist I was the runner up for the Philadelphia audition where Randy Gardner got the job five days after that I was in Germany after selling my Le Paul guitar to get my ticket painful um I don’t know how many thousands of times I’ve regretted that but to finally and and um the the first
I I totally crashed and burned on my first um audition then the second one I had a good day and and got the job um before I got the Munich philarmonic audition after my first job in Castle I four weeks not not even I didn’t make four weeks before I I I didn’t even get in the second round for the
Boma symphonic on a really dark day and I had a good day in Munich and and um fortunately as soon as I got to Munich um I I got contact with a Yoga Center and um the guy whose apartment I was actually moving into was moving into a Yoga Center I said oh yoga that’s interesting no no this is for for serious people
Eric not you know now this this is something serious so I went the next day and the very first yoga lesson I had I realized this is a way to control that so I started doing that at when I was uh 22 regularly and then got so into it that I actually moved into the Yoga Center and and uh then had chel badak come and give me a whole new aspect of you needed your yoga yoga yeah um so that that was your and and it’s something you really you do every day um it’s just as important to you as your practice because um uh
Uh some part of my practice some isai gutier says so Eric it seems you were playing for you and not thinking of anyone else or anybody else while you’re playing I don’t quite think that’s the case cuz I feel a lot of radar from you when I I I feel I I think one reason that I I have always performed better than
I I play in a practice room is because I feel the energy of the audience and I I I love it and it gets me excited and and I certainly don’t want to screw up if somebody’s listening because I hate that and uh and also I’ve come to learn that everybody makes mistakes I’ve even heard Ric crack notes and every you once in a blue moon or stuff on every every every horn player in the world is going to crack a note every once in a while so
I don’t let it bother me I if I think the the the shest way to crack is to think I don’t want to crack just the the shadow of the thought of a crack in your mind will produce this thing that we dub a crack so what’s the hardest thing for you on stage not letting conductors confus use me that was something else that franois said to me franois said um that as a horn section leader as a principal horn you defend your horn section
AB you defend them to the hilt yes um against nasty conductors who might make might make their their lives a little bit difficult so Bravo you the one thing that I I I really hate more than anything else is that if I if I let a conductor distract me and I’m I I mess something up because of them and um there are so many conductors and so few um that
I actually like I let’s not let’s change the subject on that okay okay we I’m G to just throw some questions at you like like quick quick little answers um did did you Jill Jill Williams and magar did you do your yoga classes in English or in German I know why Jill’s asking because she’s just moved here
English German and Spanish English German and Spanish um Jose is saying Eric can you say anything in Spanish say good there you go and what’s Andre and Watford what is your favorite orchestral piece to play and to listen to if it’s a different piece that’s a hard one it’s like picking your favorite child really it’s it’s it’s also depends on my mood
I’m really exciting about excited about playing m fifth again next week after janson’s here next this week um with Shostakovich here and then we go back to Munich together and we do the first of I don’t know how many Molly fifths also on tour in Munich and then in tour I’ll be playing it in Paris and Vienna
Washington DC do you do anything with this solo do you go to the front do you stand up at the back just stay stay s just I stay seated and Rodrigo wants to know how was your experience of the BIOS audition how was your audition I did not do an audition for the B I remember yeah although
I did actually audition for the B unun and 1978 and they didn’t want to before before Chaka game no you know Yim Ben yeah Yim and I both we played the the the our Mozart and then we went up it was in the heres law we went up and listened from the the behind the organ we heard
Johannes rovski play Mozart like a God and we both said okay let’s go home that’s it that’s it he and um you didn’t even play uh well actually actually after we played more after we played the M you just thought he was going to get the job it yeah oh it was that was absolutely you the I’d never heard anybody play that like that on a horn ever in my life and um so
I did actually audition for them once but in 2006 they asked me to to come and I said yes after playing for 31 years with the buic philarmonic 31 years years well Eric you are you are for me truly a phenomenon as we said you’re a legend in our our horn a national treasure in our horn hangout
Community um there are a lot of students watching what do you think is the most important thing for students these days that it’s not the amount of time you practice it’s how you practice and um that uh learning how to pace yourself and um learning what it is what’s good for your chops like I’m sure every student out there has had the experience of of playing rehearsals of of uh in a phase where you sit around and you play and you sit around and you play and you sit around and you play and you just get such great chops from it and um
I try to practice like that I’m using my breakes to focus and relax and not to uh play on the internet or or or or whatever I I think um proper practicing and of course finding what sound you want to produce by listening to orchestras and listening to orchestras live not just recordings because um you really hear what’s going on live and um to also
I think realize that the horn that the sound that you produce right here is not the sound that you hear in the hall that um if you want to sound nice and dark and gorgeous in the hall if you sound like that up here right next to you after it gets reflected with each reflection causing it to get even more dark and more obscure by the time it gets in the hall it’s just so um
I I think I’ve had to learn how to to play um more open and actually brighter than I personally like because that’s the way it sounds in the audience and this is something that that recordings don’t really always manage to nail down live is always the best uh yeah absolutely Eric unfortunately it’s the end of the hanger but will you come back and do another one there are people writing in um and and from all over the world you you’ll get
Eric will get a copy of the chat so please carry on writing all your messages for him especially the blasts from the past no goodness um there’s too much to cover uh I will practice standing on my head for the next great for the next horn hangout um do tweet us do Facebook us with hash ashorn hangout um to wherever from wherever you’re watching from thank you so much thanks to
Musik to gabura Alexanders for for supporting the Hangouts to George to ycob to Chris behind the camera and of course our astonishingly handsome Tim in Melbourne who is up very late at night thank you Tim for running the stream Eric you are a legend thank you so much relaxing and focusing I I yeah I just learn a lot from you and
I adore to play next to you so thank you so much and come back soon okay bye bye everybody thanks so much for for being there
Horn Hangouts are created by Sarah Willis of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brassbanned is a proud long-time collaborator and streaming partner.
