Caruso Routine for Horn Guidelines 1. Always breathe through the nose. This may seem unnatural at first, but I have found it not to interfere with my “normal” way of breathing. 2. Keep your lips on the mouthpiece and keep the embouchure set and firm throughout the entire exercise. 3. Make sure that you feel the beat at all times (even subdividing). The exact placement of the note in time is the goal. 4. Constant airflow is essential. In fact, focus primarily on air and time. 5. Non-judgmental awareness of what you are doing. Don’t get too neurotic; just do the exercise. 1. Play with a full, sustained sound, and hold notes full value. Keep embouchure and mouthpiece set during rests.
2. This chromatic scale is used to connect the registers.
3. Keep mouthpiece and embouchure set during rests. Continue until no sound comes out. Then stop for 12 counts, and start again where you left off. Go as high as possible, but keep your normal embouchure. Do not continue after the basic embouchure has lost its position.
Page 2 4. Loosen up: play several softest longest low notes. Play whatever note loosens you up best.
5. Chromatic scale to connect registers. 6 Play with big, full sound and very sostenuto. Keep embouchure and mouthpiece set during rests. If necessary, breathe after 2 bars. This exercise is great for low register extension and also can serve as a good warm-down.
7. Chromatic scale to connect registers. 8. Descending arpeggio pattern. Keep embouchure and mouthpiece set.
9. Chromatic Scale
Page 3 10. Play each harmonic series with a straight whistle-like air stream. Take time between each series.
11. Chromatic scale. 12. This exercise is a combination of ides taken from Frødis Ree Wekre. The spikes are for good clear sound production. They should be as loud as possible. The sustain whole note should imitate the spikes in quality of sound and attack. The p-f-p long tone should also imitate the spikes at its loudest point. Remove the mouthpiece from the lips during the rests.
Proceed down by half – steps to middle C.
13. Chromatic scale
Page 4 14. Scales. Keep air filling every note even in the face of short low notes.