Hornmasters: Farkas, Schuller, Berv, and Tuckwell on Fingerings

Chapter four of The Art of French Horn Playing is on the topic of fingerings and tuning as Farkas felt that “these two subjects necessarily belong together, as one cannot tune a brass instrument without first determining what fingering will be used for each note.” However, for this part of the Hornmasters series we will divide the topics for clarity and first focus in on the topic of fingerings.

As to Farkas and fingerings, after showing all possible standard fingerings on the F and Bb horn over the full range of the horn from low written pedal F (two octaves below treble clef) to high E above the staff Farkas in The Art of French Horn Playing takes his stand as to suggested fingerings. Ascending from written low C he uses the F horn up to written G on the second line (except for allowing the Bb horn on isolated low notes from low C to low F), the range in the middle of the staff from G# to C is considered to be optional for F or Bb horn, and above third space C# he would suggest always playing on the Bb horn. The “optional” part (G# to C in the staff) for F or Bb is today fairly old school; most players, I believe, would use the Bb horn in this range.

Gunther Schuller does not disagree with this general advice in Horn Technique but is interested that students of the horn have a strong understanding of the basis of fingerings and especially alternate fingerings.

Most elementary books of horn studies include fingering charts to help the beginning student. In many years of teaching, however, I have noticed that many students fail to understand the reasons for a given fingering and, therefore, the essential structure of the instrument. In order better to understand fingering problems on the horn, it is necessary to examine the relationship between the so-called ‘overtone series’ (or natural notes) and the construction of the modern double horn.

…the intervals of this ascending harmonic series decrease successively in size according to specific proportions determined by the vibrating wavelengths.

Schuller goes on in charts and words to show the relationship of the harmonic series and fingerings to the notes of the horn.

Harry Berv in A Creative Approach to the French Horn is considerably more progressive. This topic I posted on in back in 2009; check here for what Berv has to say, and the title was modified to match with the series. I think what he has to say is quite interesting and as I say in the post “He is much more progressive in his approach to fingerings than one would guess of a Curtis grad from way back in the day.”

Concluding this post on fingerings is Barry Tuckwell, who presents an open and practical approach to fingerings in Playing the Horn. While noting that “the more traditional fingerings are excellent for general use, they have many defects due to faulty intonation or turbulence caused by changing the tubing length.” An abundance of alternate fingerings are available on the double horn. Tuckwell gives the example of written E on the bottom line of the staff, where “There are five, or possibly six, different fingerings for this note.” He gives them all: can you figure them out? Tuckwell summarizes that for alternate fingerings

In general it can be assumed that the shorter the length of tubing the more precise the attacks will be. On the other hand, the shorter tube can be more difficult to control tonally in the middle and lower registers. It is not possible to say definitely which notes are flat and which are sharp, as each instrument is different and has its own tuning idiosyncrasies. However, in general the 5th and 10th harmonics are on the flat side and the 9th is very slightly sharp.

The 7th harmonic is about a quarter-tone flatter than the Bb written, and the 11th about a quarter-tone sharper than the F written. The 13th harmonic is a flat A, and the 14th a less flat Bb, the 15th is usually in tune….

The 1st and 2nd valves used together are sharp and the third valve alone is usually flat. The 2nd and 3rd valves used together usually give notes in tune, but 1st and 3rd are always sharp and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd together are very sharp.

Bearing all this in mind, it can be of great advantage in some phrases to group the flat or sharp fingerings together rather than try to cope with a series of alternately flat and sharp notes, each requiring adjustment to differing degree.

Finally, Tuckwell notes that alternate fingerings may also be of help in some legato passages. It is a topic that we all could experiment with.