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
What Was the Omnitonic Horn?
When you get to looking at horn history there are many rabbit holes to explore, many little dead end trails of horn design. Some...
Making a Crook for a Natural Horn
This article was posted in a corner of Horn Articles Online back in 2008. In editing Horn Matters articles with links to the now...
How Bells are Cut
The original version of this article, posted in Horn Articles Online probably around the year 2000 (!), had the subtitle "Don't try this at...
Big News from 1897: The Invention of the Double Horn, the...
For generations of horn players now the double horn has always been there, has always been the standard instrument we play. It's interesting, however,...
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Horn Etudes by Women Composers
Many Horn Matters readers will be familiar with the Works with Horn by Women 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
Five Easy Ways to Pimp Your Horn without Breaking the Bank
Whether it be a new mouthpiece or leadpipe, upgrading a horn can be a fun and worthwhile investment. For someone on a budget especially,...
Fundamentals 4. Breathing: efficiency, control, capacity
Continuing our look at fundamentals (based on a list in the Douglas Hill book), the next topic has to do with the whole topic...
Hornmasters on Performance Anxiety, Part I: Farkas
The final major topic touched upon in The Art of French Horn Playing is performance anxiety.
A traditional view on nervousness
Farkas kicks it off by noting
When...
20th century horn favorites 1: Gliere and Nielsen
We all like good music, and a lot of wonderful music for the horn was composed in the 20th century. I have five favorites...
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...
Our Third Year Anniversary and a Humorous Look at Gabrielle and...
September 1st, 2012 (tomorrow, in our neck of the woods) will mark a significant milestone for Horn Matters. Three years ago, John and I decided to...
