How to Use a Metronome Tuner for a French Horn

The French horn functions with a series of valves and a long, bent tube that sound passes through.

The French horn is a brass instrument played with a mouthpiece. Tuning is controlled by the player with mouth pressure and air support, but the instrument must be calibrated beforehand to be able to achieve playing that is in tune. Using a digital tuner/metronome is an easy way of tuning your instrument. Tuners have an audio input that can detect the note your French horn is playing, as well as a digital readout that tells you if the note is in tune or how far out of tune it is.

Things You'll Need

• French horn
• Digital tuner/metronome

Instructions

1. Find a quiet space to tune in. Since digital tuners use a small microphone in their audio inputs to detect sound, you will need to be in an environment that has little ambient noise. If there are other instruments playing or people talking, it will give your tuner a false readout.

2. Set your tuner to tune to the note "F." Digital tuner/metronomes have a chromatic adjustment that allows you to pick which note you are tuning to. Different instruments use different notes to tune with. According to Musicbasics.com, since the French horn plays in the key of F, you set the tuner to F.

3. Play an F note on your French horn. As you sustain the note, watch the readout of your tuner/metronome. You want the needle that detects frequency to be in the center and the green light to light up. If you are sharp and the pitch is too high, the red light will light up and the arrow will point to the right. If you are flat and the pitch is too low, the blue light will light up and the arrow will point to the left.

4. Adjust the tuning slide on your horn accordingly. If your F note was flat, push your tuning slide in until it is in tune. If you were flat, pull your tuning slide out until you are in tune.

Tips & Warnings

• Calibrate your tuner/metronome so that it tunes to A=400 hertz. This is standard tuning in America and Europe and will adjust all other tuning notes automatically.

• Keep fresh batteries in your tuner/metronome. If the batteries begin to fail, your tuner will be inaccurate.

References

• Musicbasics.com: Digital Metronome/Tuner