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.)
- - Please visit: International Horn Competition of America - -Most Recent Articles
Fundamentals 12. Endurance: ease of production at all levels of fatigue...
Sometimes I think of batteries when I think about endurance on the horn. Batteries run down with use, and as they deplete the energy...
Revisiting a Geyer single horn
During my sabbatical in the spring of 2021 I rebuilt four horns of interesting designs, the third of those being a Geyer single F....
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...
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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
Horn Camp Connect, and other thoughts one year into “The Year...
This past weekend I was honored to be featured for the monthly Horn Camp Connect session of the Kendall Betts Horn Camp. The video...
On Making Recorded Auditions
It is audition season for schools and festivals. Recently a video and an article made the rounds featuring one particular video audition this year...
Getting a Solid ‘Leg Up’ on Bell Support: Introducing the SockBlock
When playing within a section, I typically default to an on-leg position; I rest the bell of the horn on my right leg. The...
Video, 1959, Featuring the BSO Horn Section
A friend sent a link to a YouTube video featuring the horn section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1959. According to the information...
Introducing The University of Horn Matters Horn Pedagogy Course
This free, online course presents a great deal of information on teaching (and playing) the horn, gleaned from a variety of sources, with commentary...
Year One for Horn Matters!
Today Horn Matters reaches a major milestone. One year ago, John and I launched this site.
Here are some statistics from that date to today:
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