Philip Farkas books
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Philip Farkas books
In my ongoing research into the history of brass instruments I have seen many references to Philip Farkas and his books on brass playing, in particular “The Art of Brass Playing.” In his time, he seems to have been very well regarded. I have read some modern articles, though, which are highly critical of his theories. Are his theories still considered valid?
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Re: Philip Farkas books
It depends on who you ask.
The biggest issue I have with The Art of Brass Playing is that Farkas describes mouthpiece placement and air stream direction wrong. A few years after he published that book he published another one with mostly just photographs of virtuosi horn players, which does demonstrate those things more accurately.
See this page for more info: http://www.wilktone.com/?p=12
Dave
The biggest issue I have with The Art of Brass Playing is that Farkas describes mouthpiece placement and air stream direction wrong. A few years after he published that book he published another one with mostly just photographs of virtuosi horn players, which does demonstrate those things more accurately.
See this page for more info: http://www.wilktone.com/?p=12
Dave
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Re: Philip Farkas books
But let's not overlook his exercises, at least for playing Horn. Very helpful.
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Re: Philip Farkas books
Dave (and Doug, too, if he’s watching this thread...): What about Farkas’ pictures and his description of “the brass player’s face”? To me, it seems to be a good way to show how the embouchure muscles should look regardless of mouthpiece placement or airstream direction.
Kenneth Biggs
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I have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.
—Mark Twain (attributed)
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Re: Philip Farkas books
Is the book worth reading?
- Wilktone
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Re: Philip Farkas books
Sure, it's not a bad description (from my recollection, I'd have to head over to the library to reread it). One thing I would caution, however, is that different faces might look different from Farkas's photo example, but still be functioning correctly. And simply having the "brass player's face" doesn't mean that the embouchure is functioning correctly.What about Farkas’ pictures and his description of “the brass player’s face”? To me, it seems to be a good way to show how the embouchure muscles should look regardless of mouthpiece placement or airstream direction.
If you're a "very high placement" (Reinhardt IIIA) embouchure type, then a lot of Farkas's description is OK, but there's still a lot in "The Art of Brass Playing" about embouchure that it just plain wrong.
I don't recall just now, but are there any exercises in "The Art of Brass Playing?" I know Farkas wrote some books of exercises for horn players that are well regarded.But let's not overlook his exercises, at least for playing Horn. Very helpful.
Sure, as long as you have enough knowledge to put what Farkas writes into a proper context (i.e., what to ignore).Is the book worth reading?
Dave