Some general points about the horn:
The French Horn is a transposing instrument, pitched in F:
The horn is a difficult instrument to play:
Due to the very large range of the instrument, players normally specialise in either the upper or lower register:
The convention in the horn section is that Horns 1 and 3 are high and 2 and 4 are low:
It is not unusual to see a fifth horn used in orchestras when only four are required by the score:
Although it is a brass instrument, it blends very well with the woodwind section and therefore often has a 'crossover' role. This is reflected in its position on an orchestral score layout: above the trumpets and immediately below the bassoons:
In these pages, the horns are demonstrated
by:
Use the navigation bar above to explore the horn pages.
The icon will launch a youtube movie of Cormac explaining a relevant point of horn technique.
The icon will give an audio clip, which will either play automatically or open a new window.
The icon will play an illustrative music example from the Philharmonia's recorded archive.
Be sure to visit the 'player's tips and tricks' section for some very useful advice about aspects of horn writing.
