For the Beginning Student French Horn For the Beginning Student

The Parts of the French Horn

Playing Posture Sit on the front half of your chair Feet flat on the floor Sit up straight and tall The bell of your horn rests on your right leg

Left Hand Positions Place left thumb in the ring or on the Bb thumb valve and left hand little finger in the hook. Place the first three fingers on each of the three valves

Right Hand Positions Hold hand slightly cupped, as if you were to shake someone’s hand The fingers and thumb should be touching Place the back of the right hand flat against the inside of the bell on the side farthest from the body

Right Hand Positions View of the right hand while it is inside the bell of the horn

Breathing Exercises with the WindMaster

WindMaster Breathing Exercieses Exercise #1 – Single Pegs Begin with the easier side (yellow pegs to your left). Take a full, relaxed breath and blow over the first yellow peg. Finish exhalation even though the peg has already been blown over – just like a batter continues the swing after making contact with ball. In other words, blow through the peg. Continue in the same manner, blowing over one peg per breath, completing the entire WindMaster. Try the same exercise with a metronome, inhaling and exhaling in time. Try it with different combinations of inhalations and exhalations: 1 beat in, 2 beats out 1 2 1 beat in, 3 beats out 1 3 2 beats in, 2 beats out; etc. 2 2

More WindMaster Exercises Ex. #2 – Two Pegs – as above, but 2 pegs per breath Ex. #3 – Three Pegs – as above, but 3 pegs per breath Ex. #4 – Four Pegs – as above, but 4 pegs per breath Ex. #5 – Five Pegs – as above, but 5 pegs per breath Ex. #6 – Go For It! Blow over as many pegs as you can in one breath. Strive to not skip a peg. Count the pegs (if you skipped one, only count the number of pegs up to that point). Reset. Try again.

Some Good Horn Sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJT9Bk_GeQ Vienna Horns Jurassic Park https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJT9Bk_GeQ Mozart Horn Concerto Nr.3 KV.447 III.Rondo

Embouchure The way you shape your mouth while playing. Moisten lips and bring them together as if you are saying the letter “M” Firm up the corners of your lips to form a slightly puckered smile

Mouthpiece Placement The mouth piece should be placed on the upper two thirds of the lips

Overtone Series The French horn has 16 partials The beginning horn player can play partials 3-8 easily

Fingering Charts

Warm Up Drills Play in the middle register and at a moderate dynamic level Try buzzing the exercises on the mouthpiece and then play them with the horn

Transpositions The French Horn sounds an interval of a P5 lower than the written note. For example, the horn player sees a G in their music, but the note that sounds is an actual C below the G. Notes the French Horn Plays The Pitch that is Produced when the horn player plays the top scale

Instrument Care After playing, turn instrument around in order to remove condensation from the leadpipe Always put mouthpiece in its special place in the case To keep the horn shiny, wipe it off with a soft, clean cloth Grease slides on a regular basis Do not stick music or other unnecessary items in the horn case

Bibliography Bailey, Wayne, Patrick Miles, Alan Siebert, and Thomas Stein. Teaching Brass: a Resource Manual. 2nd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 42-62. Feldstein, Sandy. Alfred's New Band Method. Alfred, 1923. 32. Hunt, Norman J. Guide to Teaching Brass. Dubuque: WM. C. Brown Company, 1968. 31-67. Levine, Michael. "Dallas Brass." WindMaster. 8 Mar. 2007 <http://www.dallasbrass.com/windmaster/WindMaster_Man ual.doc>. O‘Reilly, John, and Mark Williams. Accent on Achievement. Van Nuys: Alfred, 2007. 2-4. Whitener, Scott. A Complete Guide to Brass. New York: Schirmer Books, 1990. YouTube. 8 August 2014 <www.youtube.com>.