HORN BASICS (Pt. 1)

It is recommended that it bereferred to as the horn and not

the French horn. The IHSdeclared this so in 1971.

The horn in fact has Germanicroots.

UNIQUE QUALITIESl The horn's shape/construction is rather different

than those of its brass counterparts– Exaggerated bell flare (i.e. more conical)– Circular wrap of tubing (derived from hunting horn) – also several

wraps exist/are accepted– Rotor valves (rotating mechanism rather than the up/down motion

of a piston valve) – some other brass instruments utilize the rotorvalve, but the horn is alone in exclusively using them

– Played with left hand (again, a derivation of its historical huntinghorn roots)

– Mouthpiece has the smallest rim and a more “V-shaped” outer andinner build (more conical vs. cup-shaped)

– Widely available in single/double/triple horn models (to bediscussed in more detail later)

UNIQUE QUALITIES (cont.)l The bell faces the “wrong way”l The hand must be placed in the bell in a

specific way to affect intonation, tone, andsupport the horn

l Has a darker, more mellow sound than theother brass instruments, making it a versatileinstruments that blends well in a variety ofensemble– Orchestra, band, brass quintet, woodwind

quintet (not traditionally a jazz instrument

HORN HISTORYl The horn has its roots as not a musical

instrument, but as a means to signal over longdistances, namely during forest hunts prior tothe 17th Century

HORN HISTORY (cont.)l Upon being introduced into the orchestra, the

natural horn (being valveless at the time) couldonly make use of the notes found within theharmonic series.

– The notes available to the horn player were dictated byits length,

– varying lengths of tubing called “crooks” were employedto change the key that the horn played in, and thus, thenotes available to the player in the harmonic serieschanged

– Four horn parts were often used in the orchestra toallow for maximum amount of notes to be heard fromthe horn section (Horn 1&2 in one key, Horn 3&4 inanother key) – Horns 1/3 = “high” horn, 2/4 = “low” horn

HORN HISTORY (cont.)l Utilizing a “stopping” technique, the natural horn

would ultimately be able to play notes beyondwhat was available in a single overtone series

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAMmYJVwa2c

l The advent of valves (c. 1815) allowed for thefor the natural horn player to no longer carryaround crooks, and then as composers wrote assuch, ultimately to play chromatically

Horn Overtones Series:The horn utilizes it's written mid-range notes

in the middle of the harmonic series, making ita difficult instrument to play, given that thenotes in the most played region of the horn

are so close together in the harmonic series.

A prospective horn player should have excellentaural skills and sense of pitch to be successful at

the horn.

Purpose of the hand in the bell:

1 – support weight of horn

2 – creates a mellow tone color

3 – intonation (moving in/closed flattenspitch, moving out/open sharpens it)

4 – for hand stopping

Horn Embouchure

The horn embouchure is different than a trumpetembouchure. It should be placed slightly higher at a ratio

of upper lip to lower lip equaling “2/3 to 1/3.”

As Rider explains (see handout), this isn't foolproof, and difficult to

explain to a beginner. To find the proper embouchure setting, youneed to have enough room in the mouthpiece to get the upper part of

the rim on the skin above the upper lip. Use the “tilt up” method,placing the bottom rim of mouthpiece on the lower lip at and 45-

degree angle, and pivoting it upward. It should resemble somethinglike this:

Single Horn / Double Horn?- Most students in the US begin on a single F horn.

- By the start of middle school, students should transitionto a double horn, which retains the F horn that they know,and adds the ability to play on a shorter Bb horn bydepressing the thumb valve on G#4 (second line treble clef)and above. This is literally another horn, where the entireharmonic series is shifted up a 4th, increasing the distancebetween partials in the horn's upper range, reducing pitchinaccuracy (see Horn Change Chart PDF)

- Note that several of the Bb horn fingerings are different (seefingering chart)