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The standard line for many teachers is single F horn is the best for beginners, traditional tone, etc. Is this pedagogical approach stuck in the 1950s?
For some years I have said that a light double horn is best, if the player can manage to hold it. I did not begin on single horn; I switched to horn as a freshman in high school from trumpet and started directly on double horn.
I still really like double horns (!) but in the past few years I have come around to the idea that the single B-flat would in fact be a great horn to start a true beginner on. One reason is it is lighter and easier to hold, but the bigger reason is initial success. It is easier to play.
Last year I was speaking with a music educator who told me that the horn was the instrument that students were most likely to quit in band. This statistic is sadly probably true. Most single F horns are bottom of the line instruments which does not make starting on the horn any easier.
Also my daughter hit fourth grade last year. Lots of students start horn in fourth to sixth grade. There is no way my daughter could manage a double horn yet.
Then I borrowed and later purchased a simple, three valve single B-flat. This I feel is the way to go as we enter this new century.
I would issue this challenge to anyone in doubt; try playing anything on a single F and then repeat the same passage on single B-flat. The single B-flat will be the clear winner, better accuracy, better articulations, clearer tone, etc. I don’t believe you will go back to single F for true beginners after you hear the back to back comparison.
There is a better way than single F horn; give the single B-flat a try for young beginners too small to manage a double horn.
UPDATE: But I would add that the solution is to get players on double horns as soon as possible.
UPDATE II: Also, horn players still read music in F even if playing a B-flat horn. A double horn is in F/Bb, we just think of the fingerings being different on each side of the horn. Beginners on a single Bb would just use the Bb fingerings as they would on the Bb side of a double horn. This is all laid out in more depth in my book Introducing the Horn.
