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...
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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
The Provocative Teacher
I don't particularly like to do this, but occasionally I encounter a student that absolutely needs to be poked with a stick. Repeatedly. The...
Pro tips as you get back into ensemble rehearsals
With the beginning of ensemble rehearsals after the long break for COVID, it is great time to revisit some of the challenges for horn...
Nerves and Bananas?
Nerves can be a big problem! Sometimes it is something you can't work yourself past no matter what you try with a good mindset...
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: Horns in the Boot
QUESTION:
Horns in a hot car? Or cold for that matter? What could possibly go wrong?
ANSWER:
In short, many things.
When I lived in the Midwest, I...
You Know More Than You Think
I am not a huge proponent of Freudian psychology but I do appreciate some aspects of Jungian theory.
For the unitiated, Carl Jung pioneered the...
