Learn About the French Horn

French horn, which is also known as horn and corno, is one of the most difficult instruments to play. It plays one of the most important and most unique sounds in bands and orchestra. The horn is classified as an aerophone, a wind and a brass instrument, which is made up of more than 20 feet of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. This instrument is not French in origin but German instead. The International Horn Society  recommended that this instrument should be simply called as the horn since 1971. Despite of this, it is still commonly called as the French horn especially in the United States.

After the trumpet and the cornet, the horn is the third highest sounding instrument group in the brass family. It can be tuned either on B♭ or F. It can also be tuned on both. In school bands, they usually use the F instead of the B♭. You will notice that the horn has a very different mouthpiece from other instruments in an orchestra but it has the widest usable range approximately five octaves depending to the capability of the player.

The horn is a versatile instrument. It symbolizes power and strength. At the same time, it can also produce a rich and mellow sound. This makes the horn play a big role in orchestras. It is versatile enough that it can blend in and balance with the peaceful woodwind quintet or with the strong brass section. Usually, it is played along with the bassoon, clarinet, flute, and oboe.

During the old days, the horn is used for hunting and warfare but as time passed by, it had evolved into something complex and into a significant instrument in the music industry.  In today’s time, modern horns are made out of a very long piece of brass tubing which continuously grow bigger as the tube goes to the bell from the mouthpiece. It easy for the player to hold and put the bell in his or her right hand since it is wound up. To play the horn, you should press the valves revamp the embouchure and place your hand inside  the bell to change the pitch.

There are different parts of a horn. These include the mouthpiece, the valve levers, the valve tubes, and the bell. The mouthpiece is thin and coned-shape. The shallower the mouthpiece the higher parts it takes. To create wonderful notes, the valve levers and the valve tubes work together. the widest part of this instrument is the bell. This is the place where the sound is coming from. It is where you can place your hand to support the horn and you can change the tone and correct the pitch as you place your hand in it.

There are different types of horn. These are the “Single horn,” “Double horn,” “Compensating double horn,” “Triple horn,” “Detachable bell,” “Natural horn,” “Vienna horn,” “Mellophone,” “Marching horn,” and the “Wagner tuba”.

• Single Horn - This type of horn uses a single set of tubes which are connected to the valve. It has lighter weight and allows simplicity of use. It is proved to be difficult for the highest range, wherein the partials grew closer and closer; Thus, making the accuracy difficult.

  
  

  
  
• Double Horn - This is made by Ed. Kruspe in 1897 to find solutions for the difficulty in using single horn. This type of horn enables you to shift to higher brighter tones of the B♭ horn from the deep, warm tone of the F horn.
  
  
• Compensated Double Horn -  This type of horn has longer length of the slides. This is widely used in Europe for its convenience. It is easy to light in weight and easy to play specifically in high register.
  
  
• Triple horn  - This is a newly designed horn that is created to provide more security to the player in high register. This can also come in both full and compensating wraps.
  
  
• Detachable bell - from the name itself, this type of horn has detachable bell. This instrument allows variety of bells to be attached on the same horn.
  
  
• Natural horn -  this is the ancestor of the modern horn. This is originated from the hunting horns. Its pitch is controlled by air speed and aperture. This is usually used as period instrument. It can be played from a single harmonic series at a time.
  
  
• Vienna horn - this is a special type of horn which is used in Vienna, Australia. This instrument uses Pumpenvalve, a double - piston operating inside the valve slides, instead of rotary valves or piston valve. Vienna horn is closely similar to the size and weight of  a natural horn.
  
  
• Mellophone - there are two kinds of mellophone. First is the instrument which looks like a horn and the other one which is used in the in modern brass bands and marching bands.
  
  
• Marching horn - this has the same appearance shape of the mellophone. Unlike the mellophone that needs an adapter to fit the horn mouthpiece, this instrument uses horn mouthpiece. This is commonly utilized in Marching bands.
  
  
• Wagner Tuba - this is a rare instrument. It is different because of its modification of a larger vertical bell and a larger bell throat. Despite of its name, this instrument is not considered as a member of the Tuba family. It is because the German term “tube” is phonetically mistranslated to English as “Tuba”.