I had the opportunity to take a look into the recently published “Solo Duet Training” written by Dr. James Boldin. At first I thought it was all about the replacement of the the piano/orchestral part with a horn accompaniment for duos. However it was a very enjoyable surprise to me to find out that this book is far beyond that. It is really chamber music! A lot better than simply accompanying, it allows students to switch parts and this way to get to know better the other music lines. Students often tend to practice their parts only and this means only a little one side of the story. Like an actor, a horn player must prepare his parts carefully but playing music requires both the technical proficiency and the story telling. These duos are a step forward in to prepare musicians and not simply instrumentalists and also by giving the students a quick glance on what the other part is “saying” and inspiring them to look forward when they are playing these pieces with piano or orchestra.
Ricardo Matosinhos
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This book was published in 2015 by Mountain Peak Music