Gail Williams, esteemed horn player and teacher at the Bienen School of Music in Chicago, joins Sarah Willis live on the Horn Hangouts. Amazing tips about breathing and buzzing and a special cameo appearance by Apollo the German Shepherd!
Transcript
Auto-generated from the live stream, expect the occasional robot mishearing.
Good evening everybody from Berlin and good afternoon to Evanston that’s where you are Gail right welcome we’re really excited to see you Tim and I hi handsome Tim good morning good morning hello yeah I think I can speak for us both we are huge Gayle Williams fans right yes I think probably top fence top fans it’s really true last time we saw you
Gayle together actually it probably is the last time I saw you was with it was freezing cold poor handsome Tim had to yeah you weren’t used to those temperatures were you but we never seen snow before pretty much so it was you did I remember you lying down in front of the beam and School of Music and doing a snowflake no an angel yeah that snow is so weird
I tell ya it’s nice and warm up here in Australia but we were there and you were playing the Brahms horn trio and I remember just we just showed up we’re like Gayle should we just livestream it and you were like sure and I just thought I want to be like her you were so cool about it that’s right they were all watching live weren’t they in the in there in the room
Gayle thank you so much for coming on today I mean we’ve been we’ve been holding the fort Stefan a knife or it seems like week’s meeting everywhere every night and then having our party last Friday which was just fantastic and it Tim and I really thought we just loved to have you back and and talk about some of the things which you know you and you inspire us so much with there are so many people watching masses of faster and they’re all drinking different things
I ask them to tell us what they’re drinking creation water fresh pressed orange juice tea all sorts of things from all over the place coffee Darjeeling ginger beer not bad that’s quite what are you drinking anything I just had a gripping large glass of water water mint tea today stuff on door accused me of putting red wine in a horn hangout cup it is not its mint tea
Tim how about you you haven’t had my morning coffee yet I’m doing really well for okay why don’t you why didn’t you leave the room and go make some coffee because I know what you get like when you don’t have your costs really good idea look I’ll be right gal um how are you doing with all the how you doing over there how are you how are you surviving how are your students we’re doing we were gonna be given which we are right now in our second week of spring break which we never get and on
Monday we start teaching are you all set up I think I’m getting there I had a meeting last night with all my students making sure the flow and see what we can do I’ve assigned a few things so I might you know use that as a format in both class what do you think what do you think we’ll work online and what do you think won’t work online
I don’t think the sound is gonna be ideal sound they call me the posture police person that’s cool tell us your rules I remember watching you teach and I remember thinking wow and it’s so important this is something I I tell all my students and all my you know professor all at the Pacific Music Festival ever they get really a hard time for me about their posture that’s why
I love what are your do’s and don’ts of posture well I think you that’s where you get your strength you get your resonance and if you’re collapsed you don’t get the right kind of air in and there’s gonna be some kind of tension if you’re collapsed somewhere in your body and I think that is one of the most important things if you watch a child run they or sit they have like perfect posture and then we grow up and we screw it all up
Walter do you I think homes are actually worse than a lot of people because when you first start playing horn you very likely are too small as you grow some people still don’t know anybody but I am so short I cannot plan because the mouthpiece ends up here like the bursa if you’re very tall that you collapse your body to get to the horn and
I think the worst thing you can do is bring yourself to the horn to you yeah I’m not I know there are some great players that do play on the leg I can’t play on the leg I mean I would be like that like like like you said and also for me it’s important to free up the sound
Stefan and I were talking about that the other night really important to have that space here with it so the sound can go somewhere and yeah I have a friend in the Vienna Philharmonic Wolfgang Vlad oh he’s the third horn there and Vienna horns are just like sort of paper mache horns they’re really light they sound amazing but they’re really like and they play on the leg so basically they have never have any right to have any back pain but but but how do you can you do that online do you think can you get at your students for their posture do they sit do
They stand that’s gonna be hard because I usually sit so I can see them this way and they’re playing you know so I can look at parallel Marc the questions are coming in breathe yeah breathing is the other thing we’re gonna make we’re gonna that is what that that’s what I’ve learned so much from you and your your we did we’ve done a great hangout about that buzzing and blowing but
I think we could it was quite a while ago I think we can definitely go back and talk about that I would love to because you know you had one of the most famous breathing teachers of ever probably the most famous yeah I really I I you remember I told you when I was in Chicago I called him up and
I said please I’d like to come for a lesson news I’d love to but but he’s just a bit busy this time but I can come next time I’m here and then he died Arnold Jacobs we’re talking about and I I’ve regretted that forever that I never met him I was very fortunate that I could have a
Saturday morning lesson and this is before I was with New York in the orchestra and then after I got in the orchestra we still be taking lessons on Saturday morning and he would say yes my dear but I will be watching and don’t use this tonight did he sit right behind you right back right here when I was playing assistant to
Dale climbing chair especially he sat on my left shoulder and Eddie Cline hammer was on my right shoulder and did he sort of tap you on the shoulder rehearsals and say you know sit up straight or blow properly or watching him was there was this tiny little window in that back door before they renovated the orchestra Hall or
Symphony center they call him out but I could I was just tall enough that I could see through and watch him breathe and if you closed your eyes you didn’t know when he took a breath really would watch because he had the right kind of resonance and he would release his air going forward and you just didn’t hear the end of the note it’s like how but that’s how he did it he only had one lung on a
Jacobs only had one line is that true yeah he had that for Seema and he didn’t have very much my very first lesson with him we were going through the whole thing take the biggest breath possible and exhale through this hole and also I was going into this machine he says no my dear you’re doing this all wrong no no you have to take in as much air suck in any more air blow it through this machine no no my dear you’re doing this all wrong do and after three or four times each
I said well that’s okay you know you don’t have quite three liters of air either doesn’t make any difference how much you have is what you do with it so that’s important for everybody of all sizes to remember that have you had your lungs measure do you know how much air you can get in there yeah when
I was younger I’ll I could get 2.8 you’re kidding that’s that’s like teeny-weeny that’s when I was 22 Wow well you know it’s and he said oh dear and now you you got to really take care of this because that’s the most you’re ever gonna have I said oh thanks a lot was I when I was my children
I wanted to go in and get measured and he wouldn’t do it why he said you don’t want to know what you don’t have yeah but it’s very true it’s how you use it we were measured and I think it was quite a long time ago so I’m sure mine’s different now but I had 3.4 and Stefan just laughed at me because he had 5.5 or something you know my
Louisa also hadn’t had a lot and and I one time I love it when people bring their pets where is he can we see him Kim you know oh oh great we gotta get we’ll get him in for the selfie later okay all right he’s probably barking because he hears all the neighbors playing outside is that possible
I don’t know he barks because he hears a certain truck and he goes nuts okay but your neighbors are going outside to play right now yeah I don’t have any people that are musicians right next to me we’re worried I have a liters of air and and so I just got very clever at breathing when no one else did but but being a sort of second second horn
I sort of thought you can sneak around but being a first horn you know when you go to really go to breathe and everybody hears it right well you know that’s that’s true however both Herseth and Jacobs I would play something and they would say is that how you really want it to go I really want right
I said well then rephrase it and make that breath they were very important people and saying no you have to make it for you yeah you can get around some phrases what was your trick do you do you always know when you’re about to be empty and do you have a reserve in there or are we very good at taking farce but
I say were you are very good at taking fast breaths or what was the secret of someone that has hasn’t got a big lung capacity well a little bit of all of that I think I think you have to practice and mr. Jacobs had some definite ideas of exercises how to do that and one of mocking I’ll show you with my you breathe inhale and you conduct yourself and you inhale over the last quarter and you take that full breath right and then you change it to eighth notes and you breathe over the last eight notes that way and then sixteenths can we do that
Together sure everybody everybody you ready for this no horns up just air okay right ready a breathe on the floor right okay rebound for me and the idea is to have a very round inflection he always talked about the section of the air going good right that was Charlie I remember Charlie saying suck dark air so I found that very useful
I almost passed out when as III then Charlie explained everything to me I remember the first time going to Charlie Charlie Vernon’s lesson and he said okay now take the deepest biggest breath you can so I he said did you breathe yet and I was like bursting full of breath so so then and then he showed me this sucking sucking against your fingers oh because it dark it darkens down everything here so that wasn’t that was a
Jake Arnold Jacobs okay neighbors robot Charlie Vernon I don’t know if he remembers this he was in the orchestra and Jake was on my left and he Dickens was always like putting his hand on your stomach even though today you do that and he no don’t hold that that’s listen there’s a good question just coming about that but sorry is this story not it not not know why
Charlie was playing and all of a sudden it was like wow sound I know this turned around at Jacob wood and this a question just came in from DK Kim I don’t know where you are let us know where you are this is a question about breathing what do you think when some people teach to put in the stomach or stick out the belly or let it go stick in the stomach or out the stomach
I mean if you’re feeling it when you breathe I was told that at a very young age to where I breathe into to stick my stomach out and I couldn’t wait I I expect I’ve learned to span in every corner I can not to stick my stomach out what is that theory well I’ve not I’ve never really figured that my my theory is they’re trying to explain that your stomach will and everything else like the viscera does go out mainly because the lungs are getting filled and there’s no coal there for the air to go down in your stomach so it has to just expand
And I think that the big thing is to realize it’s all the way around it’s not just in one direction i sat behind my Louisa once and I watched her breathe and hiss lighting goes right up into her back you know she’s got a great you know set up and it just went yiii when I was so impressed at seeing that it’s like it’s it’s it’s a good breath should go everywhere shouldn’t it shouldn’t just be held in one place yes when
I first started studying with mr. Jacobs I was in America and he kept saying you know breathe all the way your collarbones on okay we’ll try to breathe all the way to my collar boy says well that’s where your lungs are connected I said okay and I was sitting there in the Opera pit watching you know someone up there singing and way
I went oh that’s because you can see that this just went just expanded everything expanded hang on you can see my right now like that yeah you you’ve read you can be you can feel your lungs expand underneath your clavicles that’s right but you don’t want your shoulders go up right good yeah that is actually all it is isn’t it but
Jake had all these deflating bags inflating bags he had all these sort of help accessories Denis right yeah I you don’t use the breathing bag anymore because of my dear friend Sam flaking very sadly he passed away last year and but at one point he said eld you’re not still using that same bag I said why kind of there and he said man
I scraped the inside of it and student put it underneath the microscope Oh Sasha look a little funky breathe into that thing but you know you you can use a small garbage bag you know an elbow joint from the hardware store and make your own and then dispose of it what about these parameters that they have and all this stuff they’re all in school
I have no I had this was a piece of paper it’s a piece of paper don’t bring your master class somewhere and I don’t have my inspects to say how easy the air has to go you know I’ll just take and go it has to do that air has to move has to move it’s like something out there yours moved a lot more than mine did so this is for tan this is for pianissimo and you can do a long tone and you can just watch that piece of paper yeah and it’s that you hear that will produce the resonance and the lack of tension
The many you put any tension in your body Jake would take your arm how are your leg and ego you don’t want to play like this you want to play like this and then you take a piece of paper and go well it has to be simple and easy yeah okay it has to be simple and easy so why is it that so many students
I found when I was doing the breathing exercises it was fine then I pick up the French horn and I’d go you know he sort of tense up and and you’ve got this heavy thing in your hands and you’re still trying to know lift everything and then you’ve got to get all the air you breathe in out of this tiny space so how can that not make you tense she asked hmm well what exercise and what
I do with one part of my mouthpieces I turn it around now that is really that is a fantastic tip I remember yep okay thank you if any of you got your mouthpieces try take them and try it right now it’s a completely different feeling it really is it can you explain it to us well there’s no tension and that’s the kind of air you want and
I don’t have another word and either did he he said kind it’s the kind of air it’s not hard so you could take your paper and blow your paper with that side of your mouthpiece then turn it around and make the mini pension into your body if I buzz with tension right I get that kind of air out of me and that’s a tool this is a tool when you when you did that you you made a very important point when people use a lot of tension yeah explain that well that’s like if you try to go pick up some things way too handy free
You never pick up that’s you know and move yeah gosh they’re coming in they’re coming in fast and furious um Nelson is asked do you think the breathing works different for men for women or men because of the abdominal because of the different abdominal Anatomy well I think they’re very lucky and they probably are doing is easily as they could because they had more to waste a guy yeah that’s a very important word they have to learn a wasted mr.
Buckwald I remember hearing him saying at a master class many years ago one of the horn workshops then you have to breathe for the last note of the phrase so if you have a huge air capacity you know you have to know what that is and that’s through practicing to know what you have to play for the end waste the air that’s
I think a lot of people are at least in students master classes I’ve taught students are always afraid they’re not going to have enough air and they’re always amazed if I say okay play that note and then put let’s put a fem out on that how long they can actually go there’s always something left in there isn’t there yes and it was interesting one time observing and
I loved to observe other people’s master classes that’s why I’ve been dipping into your your hangouts because I get some new tips all the time and continue to learn some more tools in your own time that’s why I do the horn Hangouts to pick everybody else’s brains I remember Barbara Butler saying here X exhale all your air and so she you know she exhaled all of your air and then she picked up her trumpet and then played a whole phrase so there might be some in reserve you asked a question about knowing how much mr.
Jacobs and my old excerpt books before you could get downline parts and an extra book and there are many of them that he had dirt that’s my air capacity don’t use this just don’t use it that’s your reserve and you hope you don’t have to go there what happened what happens it’s like you or me with us with smaller bodies and smaller lung capacities don’t we have to use like 99% whereas the guys who have seven liters of air don’t have to do that
I think we learn how to do it where we don’t use tension because the many you go too far in your and just squeezing out that tension then you can’t take a relaxed breath back in that’s dense so learning how to do it efficiently how do you teach that using some breathing tools that are at school and constant that’s why
I don’t know how peach line as I listened for you can hear if their intention with the kind of air they’re taking it yeah you mean that’s so true this or this yeah exactly and the lack of sound or the ease of taking in air terribly terribly important of what kind of sound you’re gonna have yeah Gary you have to read all them all that all the messages afterwards
I can’t get to all of them there’s a lot going on on Facebook as well some fantastic memories of Arnold Jacobs and and I mean really fantastic fantastic comments going on here I’m seeing the the questions mainly are from the website here on my iPad it’s very hard to sort of keep it all going so if you have something really juicy get over to the website and write it here in the chat and then
I’ll see it even more easily but you have to read it after is there’s so much going on it’s really fantastic things Jen is watching Julie’s watching hi girls Julie Jen asks how would you recommend catching yourself and fixing the tension when you noticed it while you’re in the middle of playing so not practicing it but like in a performance where you’re playing away and you suddenly think oh
I’m that’s a really good question well I’ve been very fortunate that I have a very good friend and I the minute I found out that I was asked to do the contras truck and this as many years ago I decided I was going to do it right and John Hennis who I’ve seen for many years lived a few blocks away from me so every week
I took a Alexander Technique lesson and he helped more than anyone could ever thanks so he helped my tennis game Alexander lesson and his child is the same age as mine anything man are you hitting the ball I said yeah it’s so easy you know no a lot of that same well a lot of a lot of people know that
I really want to be a phys ed teacher I didn’t not want to be in music because my mom wasn’t music nope so I I’ve had this love of sports all my life and and want to be athlete and and I think you have to use some of the ideas of the tension-free athleticism if you watch my favorite
Roger Federer that backs of business and is there tension no there’s power that’s not the same lack of tension it’s probably more power but that’s train that’s really train and horn players can train themselves to play without tension but there are those moments and I have to second gen on this where you’re playing away and you don’t feel comfortable and do you have any quick fixes for that what can we how can we suddenly let go do you think that would be
Alexander Technique in the moment um possibly checking my my posture but I also exhale before I take an inhale mm-hmm and that has helped actually more in my last years because I didn’t think about that as much but when I’m sitting there before you get the plate check five there’s a few bars you have to sit there and wait mmm and
I asked students and what are you doing what are you doing during those no why don’t you exhale so if you’re constantly exhaling in the rhythm of the orchestra and then inhale and exhale I exhale three huge exhales and take a big inhale then I go but in time where the music that helps me more attention than anything else
I’ve found yeah yeah good exhaling fantastic Luis Garcia is watching from Brazil have you met you know Luis don’t you you’ve met Luis Luis is really great I know Luis says I’ve heard you very briefly talk about how Jacobs helped you to prepare for some specific hi repertoire what was it and what was the exercise how could
Jake how could Jake help you with high notes he was a tuba player I’m not gonna demonstrate that range today but he would I was I came into he says yeah what do you want today well there’s this high note in the Contras truck I get up late he said we’ll play it play it so that’s what he that’s what he that was the exercise
I started on high E and went down to D and you failed miserably it’s okay you’re training your lip wear that notice so you can start with a G on the top of the staff no tongue just blow and bus and then you go to the F and then you work your way down from GF g EG
DGC down to G and then GG hei G B G all the way up and you’re just tossing your ear and you’re not and if you don’t make it that’s okay that’s okay he would if I did that on a high heat he said okay you do that once a week once once a week you could he said that’s like lifting really really heavy weights okay
I intensity so you could do it with a lower note to get the idea of transferring but not up to that high heat no so I flipped him around I said okay so if someone’s trying to improve their articulation and entrance on a low note can you flip it around he said oh absolutely and that’s when he demonstrated to me starting on a very low note and then back down again
I think someone just sent you a text I know and I’m like I thought it’s okay it’s live it’s absolutely fine it doesn’t if it’s someone if it’s um someone is someone nice you can read the text aloud I mean it’s fine with me yeah I’m Ryan Taylor rylann Taylor said you talked about how Jake and her
Sethe about how they approached breathing in air usage can you describe the sounds you were hearing on stage and what they were doing to create this sounds that’s a really interesting question because I remember playing the first time with the Chicago Symphony I spent a month playing with them at Ravinia one summer when Berenbaum was chief conductor and the
Opera and also in Chicago and he said okay come and play and I’ll never forget them you can hear them breathing it’s like my hair was being sucked into the into the bra solution you can explain it better well I just remember the very first time I ever played extras when I was still a student at Northwestern and you know
I was studying mr. broke it’s so sweet that you call them all mister mister Clevenger mr. Brown and mr. that’s very sweet mister you literally sucked really and everybody’s doing that around you so you just you’re there is that a great way of learning the best lesson I will never forget that moment I I you feel like you’re it was incredible this is a sound and then the noise that came out it’s not only the taking is what comes out of it when they’ve taken those amazing breasts did you notice that when you’re sitting there that there wasn’t any kind of like you go up
And then you go no it was like you take it in and bam you would never anybody holding remembering Charlie and gene and the comments that would go on at the same time as well I was also also quite impressive usually about what was that smell was it you today no it wasn’t anyway let’s uh cut that out of this you know what
I mean you probably read those swiftly along I’m a good question from Lucas those two are hilarious like the two guys in the Muppet Show weren’t they yeah um Lucas how is it how is how does the air flow in the high register how does your air flow in the high register differ from the low register well
I I’m not a mathematician mm-hmm I used math a lot in that and using thinking of air speeds so the horn you have these harmonic series that you have to play on and so if you’re playing a low C that’s number two in the harmonic series correct and if you’re gonna play third space see that’s a number eight and so
I tell my my very very brilliant northwestern students let me see two plus two is they look at me 408 so I said that’s the difference between the mole C and the third space see that’s the difference in your air speed do you think about air spray air speed things will happen along with it but if you just go simple be simple and let the air speed take it you will at the third space
C and etc etc I uh it’s faster and it’s used up quicker as well but using up a lot of air is good because when your body’s empty it’s gonna take a lot of air in you know it does it automatically that’s why you do so much sport because you know you’re you’re you were training your cell you when your body needs it it takes it and then there’s no nowhere better to practice that than running up and down the stairs then your body sit there and say okay how do you take an inhale and this was a question that was asked
John Hennessy in a class one time he said how do you take an inhale and he said why did you stop exhaling you’ll find out exhale exhale exhale until you’re really out and you go that was a pretty good inhale you don’t have to think about taking it oh I gotta take this big inhale yeah so it’s not only about the breathing in it’s about getting it all out again as well yeah and is there is there a special trick or is it just experience that that that makes you realize or can help you judge how much air you actually need for something
I guess that’s just practice right practice yeah yeah and wasting the air is the best advice we can give people I think Gus is watching hello Gus I assume Gus Sebring nice to see you he did an amazing Alpine horn video did you see it beautiful oh you have to look it up on his Facebook page beautiful nature and
Gus playing alpine horn over the over the the countryside beautiful beautiful you love the countryside to Gale I like your moose posts in the summer these news posts last year I was getting ready to get up to watch the women’s final in for Wimbledon and I heard German shepherds and I was on my daybed in my condo in
Jackson Hole where I love to sleep because it’s like right there is outside and my two German Shepherds just go bonkers at quarters don’t do that holy crap where’s my camera feet away there was the dogs are going crazy and he walks like literally that far away from my window that’s an amazing photo you posted that on your
Facebook page didn’t you amazing photos like is like out of a book incredible so sad about Wimbledon oh my goodness watching the Cubs the world is the world is going crazy um yeah Kim Minson she remembered when you came to play a concerto a new world may be 99 and you were very sick no one would have ever known it from your playing there was no evidence that you were feeling bad or had trouble breathing that’s the secret was this mental preparation or physical do you remember that oh
I I guess I was playing the nursin concerto with Holland oh oh yeah and I got down there admit I could feel when I get bronchitis getting bad and I went to the desk where I was staying at the hotel and they had a doctor come vitamin b-12 right and they you know we’re like this miracle and also but probably the warm solder helped the most
I was really sick and it really it was one of the fastest I’ve ever felt like sometimes so I’m a very big believer of maybe if I don’t be 12 it’s not such a bad thing do you have an injection when you’re really ill and you have to play it’s a great vitamin it really is I had a huge deficiency of it recently a few months ago
I’m a vegetarian so that was all so you know you don’t get all that you need and I was prescribed a course of vitamin b12 injections I tell you it’s fantastic for your playing I don’t know why but I maybe I just felt a lot better but big fan of that vitamin but but mentally you have to sometimes when
I’m really sick I play better because I don’t worry so much you just think oh no you just think about difficult knock off if you have bronchitis and you’re doing your sort of breathing that’s and that’s actually quite a disaster because it really goes really deep yeah and so I think you know you’re focusing on the right thing musically and you have air and that’s again there’s mr.
Jacobs Kylie white is on the chat is she a student of yours Kylie you’re great Kylie keeps commenting and all the things of all the tips that you give so the last one she said I think that you you you you you articulate with vowel pretty much everywhere in the range Thank You Kylie keep keep writing in pearls of
Gayle Williams’s wisdom thank you this would say just say to to to to to normally articulate that’s where your tongue goes when you articulate that’s the shape that you want to be in yeah they’re very very old Arbonne book on the bottom it says commencing of the tone and it said what about the middle range pooh pooh to two weeks
I said just say to 200 yeah great aggressing but that’s sort of the same thing as I said the other day when I texted you about a whistle that’s right yeah that’s right tell us about the whistle that was during the during the Hangout and we all tried to whistle now let’s try and I want to try and whistle again can you explain that so as your whistle that’s a baby cradle good tell us more it’s like
Daniel Coyle which is a great book everybody should read what’s a cool little book of talented little book of talent by Daniel Coyle Devin can you put the link in the chat please thank you the first one he brought was talent code and he’s Picasso said don’t don’t borrow steal that Craig will talks about whistling and so where is your tongue when you whistle most of time the tip is down and when you go higher it goes this way but the tip stays out of the way so the air can go faster yeah what what about the people who can’t whistle and make an ear
Whistle all right all right I was talking about myself actually practicing yeah but you you’ve taken up something you shouldn’t that was wash your hands if you’re gonna do that please do what wash your hands Gayle you’ve taken up the harmonica does that help your horn playing no I haven’t figured out how to do this yet oh dear
F horn Patrick says he just lost his season tickets to the Blue Jays yeah you can’t see the Cubs no Blue Jays oh my goodness Hadley her you heard you play Strauss one in lexing Massachusetts you were also sick but you sounded amazing all these charming people out there oh my goodness and and and is that the book because
Aaron Amendola said when I took a lesson with Gale where she gave me a great drill it was a flexibility drill that we would flutter tongue I bought the blue book from her that has these exercises but a student has stolen it can you remember the name of the book do you remember that book a blue book with the some exercises may have been for violin you know what
I’m gonna add that we’re making a little list of etudes and interesting things fact that was what that was the piece of paper I was trying to blow on and I’m gonna add that one the breathing book by and Devon key put that in the chat the breathing book by I can’t read that one Nesmith okay preference by
Eric Russkies coming to our party tomorrow okay fantastic I am so going to get that book someone’s asked about the the breathing Jim yes I mean that’s one one CD that I have in my CD player this still actually works a great deal or if I really just need a good laugh I put it on the little later tracks to listen to those guys play so fast
I can’t imagine my fingers going that fast yes that’s quite that’s quite a hardcore their breathing Jim isn’t it I think my my ribs would probably crack with half of those things um Gail Andrea Lipkin wants to know what your favorite concerto to play and which is your favorite orchestral excerpts like which is your favorite color that’s a hard one you know
I was really lucky to play straws to Anne Schulte in the CSO but I have to say Strauss want try my favorite it’s so useful it’s just so such honest music and that’s aren’t we lucky horn players are so lucky we not only have one we have two straws we have four in a little bit more monster
I’m sorry Trevor players and trombone players I’m very sorry well we got a third one there are so many great ones out there and we’re so fortunate to have the variety of music young and old and new and things you keep finding we are the ones who hate it would you I can’t say that I that I have a favorite excerpt
I know that any time I could ever play Joey lets me Joe Alessi just joined hello Joe Mozart concerto or symphony yeah yeah and any ones you didn’t like it was always a challenge I you know I got to play more other contemporary literature in the CSL it really is I mean just to imagine this tiny little girl on the first chair there with these huge brass legends all around you
I mean I know you’ve been asked this many many times but was it was it tough for you to survive there or did you just get out there and do your thing I mean you had the support of everybody there I know how much they loved and and respected you and son still do I mean you had
Jake on your side all the time but it was it was it tough at any point um sure getting the job was tough more than it was to to keep it Apollo you know I had the support of not only the brass players and always getting ideas because I would ask but not only a lot of people knew that
I wanted to be invisible OTT of people didn’t know that I grew up on a farm and my dad never said it wasn’t right for me not to go down to the barn and work so I didn’t know you know when I got to college I thought it was just I didn’t know if there was more women than men because
I I didn’t know I knew that I couldn’t be a vet because my I was just too small I got kicked around on the barn too much to be what was my other dream but so I knew I couldn’t do that right I was never told that you couldn’t do something by my dad and my mom who was a music teacher yeah so you just did it and
I lived in a very small town where everybody had to do everything so you did sports and you did music when my mother’s when there was a soccer game we didn’t have football where I grew up we had soccer and when my mother when we were having course and always left for the soccer game they turned into a girls course because they were all there so everybody it was
I was fortunate to live in the time where you had to do everything yeah playing playing in the orchestra was not that easy then being kicked around the barn by the animals actually there probably a lot of similarities Gale it’s 10 you you’ve got to go out it’s it’s it’s 10 10 to 11 my time and you’ve got to go out get out there and play your horn for the neighbors that apparently what is that something everybody’s doing in
Chicago today so I hope some people are out making noise oh that’s nice there are so many questions here if you feel like it you can have a look at the chat later and you’re welcome to answer any ones that you want say hi to Gale send us your send us messages whatever on Facebook we’ll see them here we’ll see them here on the chat one story please
I’ve told you before I would this is a story that Todd Barr master who’s a third horn player and st. Louis Symphony uses this and I think this is really important he said when he first joined say louisette airline was being created new created you know and it was the the it’s called efficiency so who’s the more important is there’s two pilots what’s more important you know what the two pilots might be but buzz and blue an air wasn’t air there’s a hijacker on the plane okay the tongue was teaching young kids that’s a really fun little story to tell them that’s really nice the
Hijacker so okay so that the hijacker gets in the way of the good work that the pilots are doing right the but the tongue how can we stop it from doing that but apart from buckling him down in his seat actually that’s that’s it keeping it down whistle or sing see where’s your tongue no oh so sometimes you see you see if the soprano hits a really high note you see it all sort of first that was really quite amazing to see was quite gross actually but it was really like whoa that’s me because the tongue is not does this it goes all the way
Back here that really was very interesting to see I think they’ve come a lot of improvements with the cameras now and I think I’m gonna try and go back there Peter it lists and his team there they’ve done amazing work and I think they’re helping a lot of people with dystonia now at under than it wasn’t nice in there it really wasn’t but your tips for breathing buzzing breathing blowing
I mean if you make it sound so simple but actually it is yeah so why is it so many people feel like the breathing is such a big deal well I just feel like there’s somewhere along the line someone’s told them it’s difficult I I do share with my my grandchildren my horn it’s amazing to watch what they do and three-year-old can pick it up and have this huge sound and and you watch them breathe oh it deflates oh it’s not being helped oh they can buzz oh you know so you have to be childlike and make it like childlike and if you’re not having
Fun then you’re not learning thank you so much so much really I mean I I want I wanted to hang outs with you every week but I’ll see you tomorrow at the party right well where’s Hampton Tim Hansen Timmy you still there you’re gonna come back answer tim has to be in you had your copper yeah look at that face you’ve had your coffee do you think we could do a selfie for everybody everyone it’s time for the horn selfie of the day so
Gayle where you off to what do we got - thank in for a selfie nothing I’ve got my horn that’s about it oh you’re so cute gonna you gotta get her in the shot come here sweetie is that Apollo okay already okay get his face in there there he is come on I’ll Apollo ready one two three
Sophie can you do one tune for us - yes again [Laughter] thank you so much Gayle thank you’re so inspiring gonna read what everyone’s saying it’s really quite amazing thank you so much smart tomorrow’s party time on the horn hangouts 9 p.m. Berlin that’s an hour earlier than today 3 p.m. New York that’s what time will you pour
Tim oh gosh that’s really early for you isn’t it might just be one where I stay up all night I mean we’ve all had those parties yeah but it’s Julie come on it’s for Julie Julia for Julie I’ll be up I’ll definitely finish Julie it’s gotta be and we’ve got to get we’ve got to remember to call
Tim Jones because he’s got to show up this time he better you know you sure you showed up in the middle of rather vans hangouts oh I’m sure you showed up sideways and we’re like oh just as Radovan was talking about the the earthquake in Zagreb and then Tim Jordan joins in sideways that was quite impressive ok so tomorrow party time we’ll see all of you back here tomorrow night and or tomorrow afternoon or whatever tomorrow morning in
Australia everyone’s got to get up and I’m Gayle thank you very welcome thank you everybody and we’ll see you tomorrow bye thanks for joining us
Horn Hangouts are created by Sarah Willis of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brassbanned is a proud long-time collaborator and streaming partner.
