Horns

History of the horn

French horns are brass instruments made from coiled tubing and are a mainstay of the orchestra. French horns evolved from hunting horns and gradually began being made from metal and gained valves in the 19^th century. Before valves were used horns were ‘natural’ meaning that they were limited in the pitches they could play. Players had to manually add and remove different lengths of pipe (crooks) to add a wider range of available pitch. Horns are found in many orchestra works, operas, chamber music and solo works. Because of their mellow sound they are at home playing both melody and accompaniment.

How do horns work? 

French Horns are essentially a coiled length of pipe with valves which change its length. This means that the pipe can be shortened, raising the pitch, or lengthened, lowering it. In addition the player uses a mouthpiece and their embouchure (mouth position) to blow a steady column of air through the instrument making a sustained sound.

Common Types of horn       

Whilst ‘horn’ usually refers to the French Horn, you will often hear saxophones and trumpets referred to as this in Jazz circles. There are also flugelhorns, tenor and baritone horns which are all slightly different instruments. Beginner French Horns tend to be pitched in B flat and many intermediate-professional models being ‘double horns’ which have a key to divide between B flat and the more common F pitch. This offers the player a wider range and tuning stability.