"Practicing a lot doesn't mean you're getting the work done."
In this hour-long masterclass, former Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera and former horn faculty at Juilliard Julie Landsman takes you through how she practices: how she structures her time, how she handles frustration, and how she used meditation to win the Met job.
$9. Every dollar goes to charity.
100% of proceeds go to The Mockingbird Foundation to support music education for kids.
Watch an Excerpt
Here Julie explains how she helped Nathaniel Silberschlag prepare for his audition for Principal Horn of the Cleveland Orchestra by sorting the audition list into A, B, and C piles.
What You Get
- A one-hour masterclass with Julie Landsman, hosted by Andrew Hitz
- Watch on any device, on your own schedule
- Practicing strategies that apply to every instrument, not just horn
What Julie Covers
- The two most common problems she sees in her students' practicing and how to address them
- Why she doesn't recommend spontaneity for musicians who need structure, plus a sample practice day for those who do
- Why she avoided double tonguing until age 42 and the methodical way she finally learned it
- How she used meditation and visualization before the finals of her Met audition
- The danger of teaching yourself while you're performing (and how it kills creativity)
- Using imagery to manage anxiety and shape your sound
- Separating the music from your frustration by practicing the underlying skill instead of beating up the excerpt
- Her warm-up staples and how she adjusts the rest based on what she needs that day
100% of proceeds go to charity
About Julie Landsman
Julie Landsman won the audition for Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra on October 4, 1985, after serving as co-principal horn of the Houston Symphony. She studied with Carmine Caruso from age 13, and her Caruso video series is one of the most widely used horn resources online.
She taught at Juilliard for over three decades, and her former students hold positions in orchestras including the Met Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony.
In Julie's Words
"Practicing efficiently with clear goals and what you're working on and how you're doing it? Go for it. That's just smart. Be smart!"
"You need patience and compassion for yourself. You need to treat yourself the way you treat your child."
"Constantly beating up the music and repetition and hitting that wall of frustration doesn't help me. I think it's not a creative process. I think it's a self-defeating process."
"If you're working on tone, try picturing colors and sounding like that color. You'd be amazed at the change that happens without anything technical."
Every Dollar Goes to Charity
100% of the proceeds go to The Mockingbird Foundation, a nonprofit that funds music education for children across the country. I serve as Vice President of its board, so I can tell you firsthand where this money goes.