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Our last post in this portion of the Hornmasters series on right hand position features quotes from two very different, classic horn texts that make a similar point not seen in the previous quotations, having to do with the depth of the hand in the bell.
Supporting the bell as an adult
Barry Tuckwell in Playing the Horn suggested thinking of the right hand as “one unit with the bell.” The thumb rests flush along the side of the hand with no space with the hand in a cupped position.
Care must be taken not to put the hand too far into the bell; it is best to think of the hand as being in a position to cover over the bell rather than being in the bell. The first and second joints of the fingers should be pressed lightly against the bell….
It is sometimes thought that it is more difficult to have a satisfactory right hand position when the hand also supports the horn. This need not be a problem, however. Bearing in mind that every hand is different and that some compromise may be necessary, I have found that it is possible to use the hand for both support and hand stopping with no extra difficulty.
Tuckwell was writing this in a time when off the leg playing was less common than it is today.
Supporting the horn as a young student
David Bushouse in Practical Hints on Playing the French Horn notes that there is a difference between the hand positions a young student would use compared to an adult.
For a normal adult-sized hand, the width of the hand will allow it to go in just far enough. A young player’s hand will tend to slide in too far.
A quick story about Tuckwell and Bushhouse
These two sources were published five years apart (1978/83) and they tie together for me personally for an unexpected reason. Back about 1981 I heard Tuckwell play live for the first time at a horn day event at the University of Kansas where Bushhouse was at that time the horn professor. I was very familiar with Tuckwell from his recordings but was honestly surprised that his sound when heard live in a room was much more covered than I thought it to be. That thought speaks to several points, but the big one being how important it is to work with a live teacher as you work on hand position. Descriptions in a book are useful but there are elements that you can’t gauge from a description or from recordings.
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