Archived under: Pet Peeves, Teaching | Single horns
Another Fingering Problem to Watch Out For
Besides the single B-flat horn/single F horn fingering issue noted in the previous post (the fingerings are not the same!) there is another one, closely related, to be on the watch for.
This problem is the using F horn fingerings on double horn problem. I think this is a part of why many players who start on a single F horn don’t stick with horn later on. A double horn will work with straight F horn fingerings (no use of the thumb valve) but it won’t work very well in high school level literature. There are two primary causes as to why this problem occurs:
- Students who don’t take the time to learn double horn fingerings
- Teachers who don’t realize that the fingerings are different
There are many fingering charts available. In my book Introducing the Horn I lay out all the different fingerings pretty clearly.
A closely related issue is that of using trumpet or mellophone fingerings on a double (or single F) horn. A trumpet convert can figure out that trumpet fingerings do work but also that they really work badly! It makes the horn really hard to play. Again, teachers must be on the lookout for this, don’t let players get away with it; they are not playing at their full potential.
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