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A topic that comes up pretty often teaching is that of what fingerings to use in the low range, specifically in the range from F below the staff to the C-sharp below that.
Some “old school” players and teachers still use the F horn only in this range, a practice that should be retired.
I teach a somewhat flexible approach to these notes, depending on the context, but generally recommend the B-flat horn for these pitches. In technical situations you should certainly use the B-flat horn; for passages that are largely held out long tones the sound will be better on the F horn.
The fingerings I actually use as “default mode” in that range however might surprise many readers as they are a little unusual. I don’t push them on students, but always demonstrate them; I learned them from David Wakefield as a student at Aspen and have used them for years and years. Starting at low C-sharp, I finger this note T23, D is T3, E-flat is 23, E is 3, and F is 1. This introduces a cross fingering but actually the tuning works out quite well on most horns. I use these fingerings in most situations, the main exception being technical low range passages.
Returning to a central point: the STRONG suggestion I always give students is in any situation to avoid fingering low C-sharp or D on the F horn. The 123 and 13 combinations are terribly sharp; these notes really speak much better on the B-flat horn and should never be played on the F horn in a musical context.
UPDATE: For much more on low horn playing see my focused and affordable publication, The Low Horn Boot Camp
