The Alphorn Project

Um, so one of the first things that got me really excited about this project was hearing Stacia's background as a vocalist, and things that I have been sort of mulling for the last few years of my own, [sighs] my own thoughts about pedagogy, and what have been the most influential method books, and the most influential maybe teachers who I didn't study with but learned about their method through their books.

And, um, Marvin Howe is the first person that comes to mind, and his approach is always about singing.

And I grew up in Michigan, and I went to, um, the Interlochen All-State Program, but I never had the pleasure of meeting Marvin Howe at Interlochen or at, at, uh, Eastern Michigan or any of the places that he taught.

But his influence was everywhere in the state.

Um, so the way that I think about playing horn is as a vocalist, we're, we're still activating vibrations.

We're just putting them here instead of here.

But, but brass instruments are the closest thing, in my opinion, to, to singing.

We, you know, we're, uh, we're really, really playing with the whole body in a way that the vocalists do.

That, of course, string players and woodwind players and percussionists do as well, but it's-- the onus is on us to create the vibration.

So the thing that I immediately gravitated toward with the alphorn was all of the, the, you know, the twists and turns and the kinks and the things, the, the valves, all of that is stripped away, and it's just a simple tube.

And you have to really, really make sure that your fundamentals are in place.

If you are trying to play high by using big air instead of fast air, it's not gonna work.

It might work to a point, but it's not gonna get you to the extremes.

And, and it's gonna sound pretty bad.

And on the alphorn, it's gonna break up.

It's not gonna...

Like, the, the horn, there's nothing, there's no resistance to, to give back to you.

So for me, it has been an incredible tool at, at, at Iowa with really ensuring fundamentals in students who maybe didn't have a teacher before they got to college, or maybe they're double majors and they're doing lots and lots of other things.

And every second that their face is on an instrument has to be utilized in the most effective, efficient way.

And for me, the alphorn was the tool to get to that efficiency.

At Indiana, uh, a lot of the kids have really solid fundamentals already, so it's- Uh, both a way to agress- a- address the pedagogy, but it's also, it's a way to get them to a place of fun with the instrument, and we have the Voozer Alphorn Club.

Okay.

Yes.

[laughs] Um, so, you know, with some of the students it's still addressing the same things, speed of air versus size of air.

Um, are you activating your, you know, the, I've got the amazing, the, the picture from Jenna Gardner.