How to Play Complex Fingerings on a French Horn

The French horn is a favorite instrument of composers because of its rich tone in slower melodic passages and bright tone in quicker passages. French horn players need nimble fingers and a knowledge of fingering combinations to perform those faster, more complex fingered passages.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Assume the proper stance any time you sit down to play French horn. Sit up straight, with your chair turned slightly to the right. Sit toward the front edge on the left-front corner of the chair. Hold the horn with valves in your left hand, hold your left elbow comfortably out slightly from the body and place your right hand inside the bell, with the bell resting on your right knee or held slightly off the knee.
2. Position your fingertips near the edges of the valves, fingers slightly bent. This allows your fingers better flexibility and dexterity than if you placed your fingers flat on the valves. This dexterity translates into the ability to finger more quickly and accurately.
3. Learn and practice alternate fingerings if playing on a double horn--a French horn with a B-flat trigger and two sets of slides and tubing. Alternate fingerings made with the trigger will help you switch between the F and B-flat sides of the horn when performing more complex and high or low passages. For example, you can use the trigger to play a high D-flat with valves 2 and 3 along with the trigger rather than with valves 1 and 2 on the F-side of the horn without the trigger.
4. Consider a descant horn for higher-range horn playing. These triple horns have a brighter sound than the typical double horn. Instrument manufacturers such as Holton, Paxton and Conn make the full range of French horns--single, double and triple. The triple horn is designed for the more advanced horn player, one accustomed to playing higher, faster parts (first and third parts in an orchestra or band).

Tips & Warnings

• The three valves of the French horn are arranged according to this order: whole step, half step, sesquistep. Also, the longer tubing is situated on the first and third valves since there is more room for the tubing to curve around than in the middle, where the shorter, straight tubing is found.