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
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...
Brief Review: The Horn. The Book You Need
To open this brief review, I’ll start with a money quote:
The Horn by Renato Meucci and Gabriele Rocchetti is the most significant book on...
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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
Anatomical Update: Summer 2011
Since I am taking time off from playing the French horn, the practice space in my home office has morphed quite a bit since...
Nickel silver and horns — construction, look, and sound
One question that comes up periodically is that of what nickel silver is and why some horns are made of nickel silver and some...
The “Right” Fingering (I)
The whole vs. the sum of its parts.
The French horn's valve and tuning slides work together as a comprehensive system. Small tweaks and compensations...
Remembering The Neill Sanders Mouthpiece
One unique and classic line of mouthpieces was produced into the late 1980s by hornist Neill Sanders. Perhaps most remembered for giving a bit...
On the single F horn, part I: 19th century low horn...
A major long term interest of mine is the valved horn in the 19th century. It was a time frame dominated by single horns...
Spirituality and the Talent Myth
While some artists and musicians might resist the idea that innate talent may be a myth, the growing evidence in scientific research is pointing...
