Playing it on the Right Horn, or, How Many Horns do you Really Need?

There are really two approaches to the question of how many horns you need, at least as an advanced horn player. One approach is that you have one horn and mouthpiece that you use for everything.

I started out there. I think all horn players do. We just own the one. But there is a reality to face that all horn players, especially high horn players, can really make use of several horns, each in different music, a topic addressed in my publication Playing High Horn and also in my main site in the section on descant and triple horns.

In my own case I used my triple horn on the Berg Kammerkonzert tonight (definitely the right horn!) but plan to actually lay off the triple for a while now. The next major performance I have coming up is my recital in October and on that I plan to play Bozza, En Foret for example on my big double and the Rheinberger Sonata on a single B-flat! I am really looking forward to using these horns; both instruments make the pieces I am using them on easier to perform. This is the point after all.

What of accuracy and using different horns? This is another reason some players will never change, they are nervous about the different “feel” of different horns. I would counter that you can get used to several horns, and if they really make a work easier to play it will help accuracy.

When should you get a second horn such as a descant or triple? At the point where you are attempting to achieve a very high level of orchestral playing is the time. And think about it; do fine players of tuba, trombone, or trumpet play everything on one instrument and one mouthpiece? No. So be smart, look into the appropriate use of more than one horn.