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.)
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Fundamentals 11. Accuracy: initial attacks at all dynamics, consistency hearing entrance...
The proverbial elephant in the room in horn playing is accuracy. In the prompt from Douglas Hill (this series is based on a list...
Review: Two Gig Bags
Among my activities I like to work on horns, continuing the type of projects I was doing during my sabbatical (more here). I enjoy...
Fundamentals 10. Dynamics: response, control, intonation at all extremes in all...
Elsewhere in this site I have shared (probably several times) a story involving my Master’s degree studies with Verne Reynolds. He had a thing...
Fundamentals 9. Ranges: extremes, clear controlled sounds (high, middle, mid-low, low)
Ranges are fundamental. This prompt from the Douglas Hill book is pretty broad, but focuses on two elements; extreme ranges and good control in...
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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
Commentary: Listening to CDs on YouTube
Quite a few commercial recordings are now showing up on YouTube. Not long before Christmas I discovered in fact that the full content of...
Dennis Brain in Chicago, November 25-26, 1950; Some Notes from Dennis...
A massive new biography of the great British horn virtuoso Dennis Brain was just published this month by UNT press, Dennis Brain: A Life...
Professor Hubley Recommends a Horn — Memories of Horn Calls Past:...
In the "Afterbeats" section of the October, 1979 issue of The Horn Call we find the article “Dear Professor Hubley.” It is an advice...
Ask Dave: “How Should I Clean a Smelly Old Horn and...
James asks:
I recently purchased an old 1960's Contempora online. However, both the horn and the case look like they haven't been touched since 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...
Spheres of Influence and a Survey: Have you Heard of this...
Within the realm of Hollywood and famous movie actors, fame and influence boil down to a popularity contest of who is the "hottest" or most...
