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 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...
How to Test a Different Leadpipe on your Horn
Among horns I have owned over the years I have tried and changed several leadpipes. A change of leadpipe continues to be a popular...
A Brass Viola?
NOTE: SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST. Over the weekend I saw a link to an article on a performance of the Brahms trio...
Hornmasters on Stopped Horn, Part IV: Hill and Beyond
One of the best know publications of Douglas Hill is Extended Techniques for the Horn: A Practical Handbook for Students, Performers and Composers. This...
Hornmasters: Berv on the Shorter Warm-Up
Harry Berv clearly notes in A Creative Approach to French Horn Playing “THERE MUST BE a warm-up period before the practice session begins.”
A shorter...
Lessons in Vienna, part III: Brahms 2 in depth
This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977.
Next he wanted to hear the Brahms...
