tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35125600810172294672012-02-16T10:22:37.105-05:00This blog page is a collection of thoughts on horn playing based on the valuable experience I've gained over the past few years while rebuilding my embouchure. I don't profess to being anything but a student of the horn, but much of what I've struggled with and learned could be useful to others. Please enjoy!Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-67885199590157282922010-03-15T14:52:00.000-04:002010-03-15T14:52:15.408-04:00

So, this past weekend was the Northeast Horn Workshop held at the University of Delaware in Newark.  By all accounts and all meanings of the word, it was a blast!  Of course, anyone who has gone to these events knows that there are generally 2 sides to the events - the performances/masterclasses and the exhibits.  In the case of this workshop, I must admit I spent a lot of time in the exhibits. 

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-54000078294209217092010-02-18T15:35:00.001-05:002010-02-18T15:37:32.958-05:00

This is going to be an intentionally short post.  I had an epiphany the other day while working with my best student.  For the first several years of his playing, we focused on getting the right notes.  Now that he has the basic fuctionality of the horn down, I now have to get him out of the mindset of "the right notes."  Sometimes, you can tell that he's focusing so intently on the right notes

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-22719446402657804492010-02-12T16:24:00.001-05:002010-02-18T15:38:00.622-05:00

After 3 years of struggling and fighting every day to rebuild my face, I decided last fall (2009) to send my resume to a few area orchestras.  Fortunately, I must have sent it at just the right time.  Within 2 days of sending it out, the personnel manager at the Richmond Symphony called and asked if I could sub on a pops concert.  I was ecstatic!  I was also terrified beyond belief.  I have

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-20274979785776758312010-02-12T15:57:00.000-05:002010-02-18T15:37:44.717-05:00

Like most musicians, I find there are few kinds of practice sessions.  Meaningful sessions where I work hard an achieve something; Chop-exercise sessions where I don't really focus on anything in particular but at least register some face time; Chop-wasting sessions where I don't accomplish anything except angering my chops.  Compounding that fact is the fact that I'm horribly ADD.  In fact,

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-72679745124368943432010-02-11T16:05:00.000-05:002010-02-18T15:37:04.017-05:00

Hi. My name is Jeremy. I am a gear junkie. Now that I've got that off of my chest, I feel better! When I was younger, I had a Lawson poster hanging in my bedroom alongside a Holton and Alexander poster.  (And by 'younger' I do mean school-aged.) As long as I can remember, I had been searching for the coolest horn and the most unique mouthpiece, etc.  I coveted a detachable bell horn once I

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-16654554016691263992010-02-11T14:58:00.000-05:002010-02-11T15:33:14.882-05:00

For as many horn players as there are, there are at least that many unique and disparate embouchures. What always amazes me is that, while the vast majority of horn players use a fairly "standard" embouchure (1/3 upper, 2/3 lower, centered left-to-right, angled down, etc.), there are still those who use odd-ball embouchures and get great results. My fear is that at the very least, those people

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-14949813967697020902010-02-11T14:40:00.001-05:002010-02-11T15:43:17.165-05:00

Continued from "Broken Chops II" Over the next few weeks, I knew what I had to do: I either had to quit playing or fix my embouchure. I decided to start from ground zero. Sadly, I didn't realize what had happened, nor did I realize what kind of uphill battle I was in for. The embouchure I was using was completely and totally incorrect. My facial muscles did not work the way they were supposed

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-49977526557260960582010-02-11T14:33:00.001-05:002010-02-11T15:44:25.493-05:00

Continued from "Broken Chops I - The Beginning" Sadly, over the next decade, my embouchure got worse and worse looking. I had to shift it lower and lower due to the bad tooth. My bottom lip began curling outward and I had almost NO top lip in the mouthpiece. Despite how odd it looked, I still played fine. I even took several auditions - won some and lost some. Overall, I could still play just

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512560081017229467.post-86700766659382223672010-02-11T13:59:00.001-05:002010-02-11T15:45:04.479-05:00

So, this is going to be a highly shortened version of my whole back story and why I've decided to start this blog. The short and sweet of it is, about 3 years ago, my chops broke. They literally completely stopped working with seeming no notice and I've spent the past 3 years building them back up slowly and painfully. The purpose of this blog site is to chronicle some of what has occurred as

Jeremy Cuccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16516358789281188639noreply@blogger.com0