Review: Recent Innovations in Stop Mutes, and Notes on Stopping on...
New products are always of interest at Horn Matters. Recently I heard of a new type of stop mute made of wood, the Woodstop,...
From the Mailbag: What is the Full Range of a Descant...
A question came in that wondered if the descant horn can play an octave higher than a standard double horn, with the implication that...
On the Dreaded C on the Third Space, the Best Note...
They have all been off the site for a while, but in the early years of Horn Matters there were a series of articles...
Intonation and Vowel Shapes
Since doing the interviews with Peter Iltis (MRI horn) last summer (more here) I have been pondering a related topic, horn intonation and vowel...
How to Clean Your Horn
The topic of cleaning your horn has come up a few times in Horn Matters, Dave Weiner addressing the topic of having a shop...
Mailbag: Tuning Various Models of Double Horns
This very good question just recently came in, from a music educator:
I am seeking any resources on French horn tuning, including diagrams with slides...
On Playing Perfect Intervals and Horn Fifths in Tune
To a certain degree a principal horn is only as good as the second player that supports him or her. A key element in...
On Holding the Horn and Tendinitis
Bruce Richards posted an article very recently to Living the Dream on the topic of horn player tendinitis. Richards and I go way back...
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...
Extreme Tonguing Techniques
One overall thought from recent auditions and horn performances I have heard is that tonguing is one of the most important technical areas to...