Horn Matters is the leading online resource on the French horn, co-founded by John Ericson and Bruce Hembd. The mission of Horn Matters is: to encourage, inspire, inform, and challenge horn players, and; to promote the best musical instrument ever, the French horn. (More.)
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Fundamentals 11. Accuracy: initial attacks at all dynamics, consistency hearing entrance...
The proverbial elephant in the room in horn playing is accuracy. In the prompt from Douglas Hill (this series is based on a list...
Review: Two Gig Bags
Among my activities I like to work on horns, continuing the type of projects I was doing during my sabbatical (more here). I enjoy...
Fundamentals 10. Dynamics: response, control, intonation at all extremes in all...
Elsewhere in this site I have shared (probably several times) a story involving my Master’s degree studies with Verne Reynolds. He had a thing...
Fundamentals 9. Ranges: extremes, clear controlled sounds (high, middle, mid-low, low)
Ranges are fundamental. This prompt from the Douglas Hill book is pretty broad, but focuses on two elements; extreme ranges and good control in...
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Horn Etudes by Female Composers
Many Horn Matters readers will be familiar with the Works with Horn by Female Composers website by Dr. Lin Foulk. If not, this is...
Julius Watkins, jazz French horn pioneer
Talking with colleagues recently, a topic that came up was how some great players of the recent past are unjustly neglected today. In terms...
Overview of Trusted Brands in French Horns
A survey titled "What Brand Names Do You Trust?" collected the opinions of 392 participants. The results are in and while it may take...
Choosing a French Horn Mouthpiece (I): The Basic Parts
Part I: The Rim and Preliminary Thoughts
Part II: Cup, Throat and Bore
Part III: Weight, Plating and Shopping Tips
For the past decade...
French Horn Transposition Chart
A complete reference.
Transposition Chart (PDF) (updated 2012)
Over the past few months, I have been posting various transposition tricks, including how to transpose:
A and...
Farkas on Stagefright (and more)
In the world of horn there have been few that made as much impact as Philip Farkas (1914-1992). The Art of French Horn Playing...
Random Articles
Doug Hall, a Vintage Knopf Horn, and a Horn Convention
San Diego Symphony hornist Doug Hall is hosting a regional horn workshop next weekend, but his name is also in the news if you read The...
Caruso Studies and the Horn
Many brass players have been introduced over the years to the brass teaching of Carmine Caruso (1904-1987). He was a saxophone player but earned a...
Professor Schmutzig and the Schmutzone 19 Valve Horn
One of the classic method books for the horn is the Complete Method für der Waldhorn oder der Ventilhorn by Professor Eric Von Schmutzig....
Hornmasters: Tuckwell and Bushhouse on Beginner Horns
In this series I have titled "Hornmasters" we have focused on quotations from books on the horn published originally 25 or more years ago,...
Footnotes on the First Triple Horn
I was pleased to see my article, “Memories of the First Paxman Triple Horn,” in the October, 2017 issue of The Horn Call. It...
Horn Pedagogy Week 9: Tone Quality, Chords, and Musical Phrasing
By this point some readers following the course are probably feeling that the focus has been on technical minutiae.
So, to start this week of...
