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
Fundamentals 12. Endurance: ease of production at all levels of fatigue...
Sometimes I think of batteries when I think about endurance on the horn. Batteries run down with use, and as they deplete the energy...
Revisiting a Geyer single horn
During my sabbatical in the spring of 2021 I rebuilt four horns of interesting designs, the third of those being a Geyer single F....
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...
- - Please visit: Horn Notes Edition - -Featured Articles
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
Ask Dave: “Why Do Valves Clank?”
K asks, "Why do valves clank and what can be done about them?'
* * *
Dave replies: Valves clank because something is loose.
The loose parts...
Hornmasters on Transposition
For younger students of the present day who are handed a copy of The Art of French Horn Playing to help them get a...
Rebranding a Dream
Not just for symphony orchestras & brands of soda.
A recent article by Mitch York at MSPMentor.net presents a nice lesson for us on the...
From the Mailbag: The Horn Emergency Repair Kit
One recent question that came in is a practical one, of what to keep in your case. A reader wrote, “I'm wondering what I...
Clevenger on How Many Auditions, and How Many it Took Me
The horn world has been abuzz for the past few weeks with the retirement of Dale Clevenger from the Chicago Symphony, who served as...
TPTV: Clevenger on Jacobs
An ongoing series of YouTube videos is TubaPeopleTV. Hosted and created by Michael Grose of the University of Oregon, this week the new episode...
