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
Mailbag: The Top 3 Horn Concertos
A question came in earlier this year asking generally what are the top 3 horn concertos. With the end of the semester for my...
Ultrasonic Cleaning and your Horn
You know that you need to keep your horn clean. If you are proactive about maintenance you will hardly ever need to have your...
Geyer Update: Engravings, Serial Numbers, and More
I could also have titled this article “Things I got wrong” in the Geyer Dreaming series (which starts here), or the related article published...
Revisiting the Art of French Horn on LP Records
The past year the vast majority of my actual classical music listening has been to LP records. With the recent passing of Hermann Baumann...
- - Please visit: Horn Notes Edition - -Featured Articles
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
On practicing in a less than optimal space
With the present coronavirus situation, many horn players are suddenly finding they need to practice in less than optimal spaces, as in spaces where...
Podcast: Growth Mindset and the horn player
The latest episode of the Horn Notes Podcast is out, and the topic is Growth Mindset. Guest for this episode is Nicole...
A closer look at a vintage “Kruspe Kruspe”
A Kruspe Kruspe? Any serious student of the horn today has heard of Kruspe style (or Kruspe wrap) horns, but many do not realize...
Valsalva Stuttering and Embouchure Lockdown
The big entrance is coming up. You have prepared for weeks and weeks and this is your shining moment. You take a large breath...
Brief Reviews: Boldin plays Koetsier, and the Matosinhos “Little Suites” for...
A number of items have come in for review, and to start catching up on that today we have two 2013 products of interest.
First...
Internet Memes ‘Sad Keanu’ and ‘Strutting Leo’ with French Horns, I
In online imageboard communities like Reddit, Tumblr and 4chan, running sight-gags and humor based on popular culture sometimes catch on like wildfire and become...
