Hornmasters: Schuller on Right Hand Position

The second chapter of Horn Technique by Gunther Schuller is on the topic of tone production and the first aspect of tone production discussed is that of right hand position. He considered it a very essential aspect of what it is to produce a characteristic sound on the horn.

The manner in which the instrument is held is of the utmost importance. Tastes and national schools vary considerably in this. But in general, one can say that playing positions seem to be determined by the type of sound a particular school finds desirable…. The various viewpoints on horn tone are held with a fierce devotion that one encounters otherwise only in religious controversies.

…The Americans, by and large, rest the bell of the horn on their lap, and in varying degrees turn the bell slightly in towards the body. The English players tend to hold the horn free of the body in a higher more horizontal position. Since neither approach can be proclaimed “right” in a absolute sense, the only conclusion, once again, should be that either position is admissible in so far that it permits the authentic recreation of a composers intentions.

…My personal preference … is for a hand position that helps produce a velvety mellow sound, free and projecting in lower dynamics, which at the same time prevents excessive brassiness at high dynamic levels….

The preferred hand position, to which I refer to, can be described as follows: the hand is inserted into the bell in a vertical position, as far as it will go without forcing. The hand should be slightly cupped, and the fingers held together so that no air can pass between them, while the thumb should be in a relaxed position reaching towards the second joint of the index finger….

On this particular point I have found that a loose relaxed position of the thumb, not necessarily closing off the area between thumb and index finger, makes a better resting place for the bell of the horn.

Looking back at Farkas, his first rule was to close off that area next to the thumb, while for Schuller holding the horn comfortably was the overriding factor on thumb position. Schuller also supplies a bit of context as to why the vertical position of the hand is highlighted–some players clearly were holding the hand flat at the bottom of the bell, and he felt that tone production benefited from a “channel” being formed between the hand and the body. Finally, note that his comments on the tendencies of certain national styles of playing are less clearly seen today than they were back when Horn Technique was published in 1962.