One of the most challenging aspects of contemporary music for the horn is tonal complexity, ranging from the simplest of scales to the relative unpredictability of atonality. Unfortunately, method books that incorporate these more complex tonal systems are written at a very high and challenging level. One of the primary reasons why different tonalities are challenging is because they are unfamiliar and not addressed early in learning. As a result of a lack of accessible and progressive tonal to post-tonal studies, many students are unprepared for the full demands of contemporary music.

In order to address this gap in the literature, I created sixty original etudes, progressive and limited in both the technique required and in the tonal expansion towards atonality. In this case the range of tonality is a defined set of scales and modes that bridge the gap between the most common of diatonic scales and least traditionally tonal of scalar systems.

Who can use these etudes? Everyone! The beginner can use this book to help them explore more unique scales and invervallic sounds earlier on in their technical development. The intermediate player can practice and play through a number of etudes at a time while learning about different modes. The advanced player can use these etudes as sight reading material or pedagogical study. The teacher, in addition to the former ideas, can use these etudes for test pieces, juries, theory discussion, pedagogical progression study, and/or as a springboard for other fun modal aurally-based activities.

The goal of this etude book is simple - to provide a wealth of etudes that are:

• In the mid-low register of the horn
• Providing ample opportunities for practicing clef switching and ledger line reading
• Legato in nature with an emphasis on extended slurs
• Not too long in length
• Not too taxing - playable near the end of a practice session
• Character pieces in their own right
• Flavored by the unique and fun sounds of modal scales

You may perform these etudes at the recommended tempi, or slow them down to work on stability and note connection. Use the dynamics as a framework or suggestion for more enhanced phrasing, or change it and make it your own!

Versions for trombone and tuba are also available - please contact me!

Luna, for Alphorn or Natural Horn and Fixed Media, was written in 2025, commissioned and premiered by Shawn Hagen. This work could be played on F alphorn (two version of accompaniment track tuning are provided to facilitate alphorn intonation), F natural horn, or regular valved horn! Shawn writes the following:

"It speaks to impermanence and the insight that emerges from loss. It suggests that challenges and loss aren’t purely negative. Also, like the moon, a sense of stillness, beauty, and awe is always present, whether your barn is standing or ashes upon the ground."

Barn's burnt down -- now I can see the moon.

–Mizuta Masahide, a 17th -century Japanese poet and samurai

Prism, for Wagner Tuba (or Horn) and Fixed Media was written in 2026 and dedicated to Connor Parr. The work develops thematic material from another fixed media work, Cloudbreak, playing with the colors and orchestration of the original, ultimately forming a brand new work that shimmers akin to the beauty of cloud iridescence, or rainbow clouds, hence the title.

Soundings was written for Jeffrey Agrell in 2013, and is heard as the titular track in his latest CD. The piece's fixed accompaniment centers around the sound of the Hang, a Swiss-made percussion instrument similar in sound to a steel pan. The horn acts as an extension of the voice of the Hang, whose pitches are fixed by nature.

This piece is available in two versions: one with additional time in the middle for improvisation, and one without. When you purchase you will receive both versions!