Meckna, Michael. (1999). As if your life depended on it: advice from some horn masters. The Horn Call, XXIX, (no. 2).

This article, printed in the horn journal called The Horn Call, is itself a summary of the thoughts of many "Horn Masters" on common subjects of discussion surrounding horn playing. First, on practicing, a couple of hornists advocate long practice periods, while the famous Philip Farkas adds that one should "take the problem and practice it to the extreme." This seems to be really good advice – if one can play something faster than fast, or slower than slow, then fast and slow will be easy, for example.

The next section is on tone. Basically, a horn player’s tone is perhaps the single-most important aspect to his or her playing. Each player must find, nay, create, his or her own tone, because, according to Ib Lansky-Otto, "your horn-tone is your soul." Also, the article discusses equipment. Generally speaking, it says that there are many different types of equipment and that one should be familiar with many, but, as Georges Barboteau so eloquently put it, "it is not so much the make of the horn as the way one plays it." Finally, the article briefly mentions teachers, suggesting that students change teachers about every three years. The article ends as such, in regards to performances: "You must play every concert as if your life depended on it."

After reading this article, I understand somewhat better why horn players are such different kinds of people. Okay, so I’m mostly kidding, but the horn really is such a different animal from most of the rest of the brass instruments that there are many aspects of it to master as well as discuss. The viewpoints of the topics presented are all very interesting. I find Philip Farkas’s comment the most useful, however, especially when applied to more than just horn: "take the problem and practice it to the extreme."

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