Archived under: Mellophones & Marching, Teaching | Louis Stout, Single horns
Learning B-flat Horn Fingerings with Louis Stout
A topic that has come up in several lessons recently is that of learning B-flat horn alternate fingerings in the middle register where I would at least normally us the F horn. It is important for horn players to learn these fingerings in this range, which is one reason I philosophically prefer as a horn teacher B-flat marching horns to F mellophones–those students will learn those fingerings well. In short, though, every advanced horn player needs to knuckle down and learn these at some point.
The late Louis Stout, of Holton and University of Michigan fame, was a big advocate of B-flat horn fingerings and had a method he used to teach them. Basically what I have been told is that if a student did not know them well enough he would take all the F horn slides off their horn, put them in a drawer in his desk, and they would just have to use only B-flat horn fingerings until they knew them well enough to get the F horn slides back.
I don’t think any horn teacher would do this today (I would not, anyway!) but it does communicate the importance of getting these fingerings worked out.
Louis Stout was a fan of the single B-flat. This horn is one he helped a student purchase, a Holton single B-flat with an F extension. Just the horn for Mozart if you studied with Prof. Stout.
Related to this article
- Pitch in Relation to Fingerings
A topic that has come to mind for me recently is facility in the use of alternate fingerings. Some teachers really push this, especially facility in B-flat horn alternate fingerings. But my teachers did not. Which is fine but, as a result, I have at this... - Fingerings in the Low Range
A topic that comes up pretty often teaching is that of what fingerings to use in the low range, specifically in the range from F below the staff to the C-sharp below that. I teach a somewhat flexible approach to these notes, depending on the context,... - Horn in E-flat Means What?
One topic that has come up for me as a question a number of times over the years is that of horn in E-flat. As in, why are the parts in E-flat? They could be in E-flat for a number of reasons. If it is old... - It is not “Cheating”
Many of us learned horn in a very standard way for the United States, double horns with “standard” fingerings (F horn from G in the staff down) and larger mouthpieces by Giardinelli and Holton. This was very much my background, one in which it would have... - Don’t Put off Learning to Double Tongue
This weekend I got busy working on the five newly composed etudes by Douglas Akey that comprise the AMEA Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association regional and all-state festival audition materials. The ASU CMENC chapter (Collegiate Music Educators National Conference) wishes to record these to put... - The Tenor Horn/Alto Horn FAQ
Over the years many times I have been asked to explain a few details about E-flat tenor and alto horns to others. In response to this need I have added A Tenor Horn/Alto Horn FAQ to Horn Articles Online. I also lately, since the completion of... - What Horn Best Suits Beginners?
The standard line for many teachers is single F horn is the best for beginners, traditional tone, etc. Is this pedagogical approach stuck in the 1950s? For some years I have said that a light double horn is best, if the player can manage to hold...
Kopprasch 18. Vivace. Cruel Joke?
A Royal Flush in Columbus
Background on Introducing the Horn
Excerpt: Tosca, Act III
