Mailbag: Can I use a Single F to Practice Natural Horn?

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A question I have been asked a number of times is along the general lines of can I use a single F horn to practice natural horn? Or, alternately, can I have the valves removed from a single F and use that as a natural horn?

The answer is yes, but with some major qualifications:

  • A bottom of the line instrument such as the typical single F horn will never play much better than the way a bottom of the line instrument plays.
  • Why? The tapers are generally not ideal, if it looks like a horn it is shipped out! These are not instruments intended for serious musical performance, they are cheap and expendable. That is why I am not wild about single F horns in general, it puts the beginner at a disadvantage. But I digress…
  • And most importantly, the bell of the typical modern single F horn is really too big for hand stopping. A classic mellophone bell is actually much closer in size to that of the typical natural horn. The horn below I actually made, with the help of Richard Seraphinoff, as a Doctoral student using a mellophone bell. But it is a much more involved project than removing the valves from a single F horn.

Back to the question of using a single F horn, on the plus side, it is lighter than your double horn and you lose even more weight if you have the valve section removed. Less weight does help somewhat with the feel of the instrument.

Again, a single F horn can get you started but at some point you will want to get to an instrument that is more authentic in design. Topics covered in my recent publication, Playing Natural Horn Today.

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