How to Change Pitch With a French Horn

One way of changing the pitch when playing a French horn is by using embouchure. Embouchure is a method of using your face muscles to control your lips on the mouthpiece, thus vibrating your lips on the mouthpiece and changing the pitch. A tighter mouth produces a higher pitch while a more relaxed mouth produces a lower pitch.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• French horn

1. Wet your lips and form a tight, closed smile. Blow air through your mouth so that your lips vibrate against one another. This is the position you need to produce a higher pitch.

2. Wet your lips again and make a more relaxed smile. Blow air through your lips so that you have a larger vibration and it creates more movement in your lips. This movement is similar to what you would do if you were to just exhale through your mouth with closed lips. This position can help you reach a lower pitch with a French Horn.

3. Pick up the mouthpiece and try both the higher pitch embouchure position and the lower pitch embouchure position. You should be able to hear the difference between the two positions.

4. Place the mouthpiece back on your horn and practice both embouchure positions. Continue practicing each position either on the horn or with the mouthpiece until the positions become second nature.