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Compromised right hand positions
In my experience as a substitute band and orchestra teacher in the Phoenix area, I see a huge shortage of student horn players. Most high schools are lucky to have even the bare minimum of four horns. At the elementary and junior high school levels, I witness many young and enthusiastic students that start out eager but over time get discouraged and quit band altogether.
In a previous blog (“Get a Grip“) I wrote about how most beginning French horn students have extreme difficulties holding the instrument and how this is a major factor as to why many of them quit. That article focused on the left hand position; this article will focus on the right hand and will propose alternative hand positions for beginners.
I often wonder – what is the logic behind designing a student model Horn at adult proportions? This makes no sense! Even single-F horns intended for beginners are built with proportions too large. Horn makers should pay more attention to the examples set by string manufacturers.
As a music educator, I often teach string orchestra and I love how string instruments are made in different sizes for beginning players. 3/4-size violins, violas and cellos are common and are a great boon to younger students. While the tone production is not ideal, the reduced size helps the youngster to become familiar with the fundamentals of string technique. These 3/4 instruments take some of the burden out of what is otherwise a very steep learning curve.
On the French horn, the positioning of the right hand inside the bell is a huge stumbling block. Horn methodologies that teach an adult right-hand position to children are not being very practical.
Students with small hands have difficulties maintaining the traditional close-fingered, cupped-hand position – especially in combination with an awkward left-hand grip. Their natural tendency is to use the right hand to grip the bell in a more practical manner, like for example on the outside edge of the bell.
I teach two alternatives that I call the “cradle” and the “crutch.”
They are meant to help young students hold the instrument more securely yet help keep the horn’s intonation somewhat in check. Like the compromise of 3/4-sized string instruments, the tone production of these hand positions is not ideal. However, they help tremendously with comfort and most importantly, confidence. Of course, they are temporary solutions only, and as the student ages they will need to adopt the more standard hand position.
The choice of “cradle” or “crutch” depends on the hand size of the student.
For students with smaller hands, I recommend a “cradled” hand postion as pictured at right. If you picture the horn bell as a clock, the more traditional hand position lies somewhere between 2 o’clock and 6 o’clock with the fingers and thumb together, the back of the hand flat against the bell and the palm exposed. For the “cradle” position, the hand is positioned somewhere between 9 and 12 o’clock, with the palm cupped against the bell. The back of the hand is exposed.
By experimenting with how far in or out the hand goes, an acceptable compromise can be found between comfort, tone quality and intonation. Once the “right” position is found, a piece of duct tape adhered inside the bell just under the fingertips makes an excellent guide.
For students with larger hands, I teach a “crutch” position. This hand position is based on the more traditional approach, but with one difference: the thumb is extended at a 90 degree angle from the hand and touches the opposite side of the bell. This is the hand position in fact, that I first learned as a beginner, and it helped me tremendously. In time, the thumb can be moved to join the other four fingers.
Without a doubt, the ivory-tower educator will cringe at these recommendations and will insist that teaching these alternative hand positions is akin to blasphemy against all that is holy and traditional in the Horn universe.
While I agree that there is a whole host of rational reasons to begin students with the traditional hand position, the stark realities far outweigh these textbook arguments. Bottom line – Horn students that feel uncomfortable holding their instruments are much more likely to quit playing.
Ifor James in a “hornchannel” YouTube video in fact, advocates beginning horn students to not even bother with putting a hand in the bell at all! He emphasizes a proper angle of the mouthpiece and lead pipe, and argues that because beginning horn players start in a limited, middle range, the hand does not need to be in the bell at the start. It has little impact on this limited range.
The French horn world needs more student model instruments for smaller hands. I would encourage and applaud any efforts that horn manufacturers take towards this goal.
In the meantime, I advocate sensible and practical right-hand positions – the “cradle” or the “crutch” – to make up for these design flaws.
