FRENCH HORN

INDEX
1)Introduction
2)Type of instrument
3)Parts that form the instrument
4)Dimentions of instrument
5)Differents types of french horn
6)Lowest and highest notes
7)History and evolution
8)Techniques of play
9)Best kind of breathing
10) Links
 1) Introduction
The French horn is a wind-metal instrument that has a
very versatile character and encompasses a very large
tessitura with few cylinders. In addition this instrument can
emit both soft and sweet and harsh and hard sounds.
There are certain technical resources that allow the tube to
achieve special timbral effects: mute bouché, damper and
cuivré.
 2) Type of instrument

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The french horn is defined as a
wind-metal instrument because its
manufacture is made of metal and
is blown, characterized by having a
1,5 meter tube bent in a snail,
where the right hand is placed
inside the bell to hold everything
the instrument.
●
The french horn produces sounds
by the vibration of the lips in the
mouthpiece, but that will produce
different notes if the musician
operates with the fingers the three
piston valves, changing the air
pressure, blowing faster and with
more pressure if it is desired to
give rise to louder sounds.
 3) Parts that form the instrument
The french horn consists of four different parts, being a circular instrument of
about 35 cm in diameter, and whose manufacture is usually made of brass,
being able to be plated or nickel-plated

1) Mouthpiece: This part of the tube

is where the lips rest and the air is
introduced to give rise to the
sound.

2) Valves: The tube usually has three

or four valves, usually rotating, that
are handled with the left hand.

3) Main tuning slide: This part of

the tube is through wich the air
passes before reaching the bell.

4) Bell: This part of the tube is at the

end, where the sound comes out
 3) Parts that form the instrument
The french horn consists of four different parts, being a circular instrument of
about 35 cm in diameter, and whose manufacture is usually made of brass,
being able to be plated or nickel-plated

1) Mouthpiece: This part of the tube

is where the lips rest and the air is
introduced to give rise to the
sound.

2) Valves: The tube usually has three

or four valves, usually rotating, that
are handled with the left hand.

3) Main tuning slide: This part of

the tube is through wich the air
passes before reaching the bell.

4) Bell: This part of the tube is at the

end, where the sound comes out
 4) Dimentions of instrument

The french horn is a thin tube

that gradually widens, from 2 to
5.5 m. in length, rolled over
itself in one, two or three
circles, with a large pavilion.
Cone shaped mouth. It is the
only one of the metal
aerophones in which the valves
are operated with the fingers of
the left hand. It has a size of
about 40 cm. High.
The total length of the unwind
tube ranges between 2.8 and
3.6 m.
 5)Differents types of french horn (I)

The most common categories are Single, Double, Compensating and Triple.

Single Horns Double Horns

The most basic type of French
Horn is the Single, which only has
one length of tubing and three
rotary valves.
These are, as the name suggests,
two single horns in one, with two
sets of tubing. There is an
additional rotor valve that diverts
the air flow from one ‘side’ of the
instrument to the other.
 5)Differents types of french horn (II)

Compensating Double Horns Triple Horn

Compensating Horns are a kind of It is worth pointing out that there is
‘half way house’ between the also a Triple Horn which has yet
Single and Double. another set of tubing to assist in
the higher register.
 6) Lowest and highest notes of french horn
The french horn record goes from a note si bemol1 to a fa5. It can reach more
extreme sounds (from a fa1 to a note si bemol5), but its use is discouraged, because
they are too risky to execute.
The french horn is a transpositor instrument, that is to say, its real sound is different
from the written one, in general, the actual sound of the tube is a fifth lower than the
notation indicated by the score.
 7) History and evolution of french horn
His ancestor is the hunting horns that were
often used during hunting. These early
brass instruments were round so that the
hunter could put his arm through it and
carry it on his shoulder and blow it while
riding a horse. The riders could send
messages to one another by blowing
particular notes
Horns were first used as musical
instruments during 16th century operas.
During the 17th century, modifications to
the bell end (larger and flared bells) of the
horn were made and the cor de chasse, or
French horn as the English called it was
born.
The first horns were monotone instruments.
In 1753, a German musician called Hampel
invented the means of applying movable
slides (crooks) of various length that
changed the key of the horn.
In the 19th century, valves instead of
crooks were used, giving birth to the
 8) Techniques of play
These are some techniques to play the French horn:
Stopped horn. This is the act Normal tonguing
of fully closing off the bell of consists of interrupting
the instrument with either the air stream by
the right hand or a special tapping the back of the
stopping mute. This results front teeth with the
in producing a somewhat tongue as said in the
nasal sound. syllables 'da', 'ta', 'doo',
or 'too'.
Double tonguing consists
of alternating between the
'ta' and the 'ka' sounds or
between the 'da' and 'ga'
sounds. Triple tonguing is
most used for patterns of
three notes and is made
with the syllables 'ta-ta-
ka', 'ta-ka-ta', or 'da-ga-
da.'
 9) Best kind of breathing
The process of inhaling and
exhaling is actually a more or
less intensified version of
normal everyday breathing,
which even the casual observer
will note as a slight alternating
in-and-out of the abdominal
muscles.

In horn playing these

movements are larger and more
intense. But beyond this
intensification, it is well to
remember that the basic
procedure is exactly the same
as in normal breathing.
 10) Links

●
www.lamusainstrumentos.es
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www.normanmusicalinstruments.com
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Zarzo, Vicente. La trompa: historia y desarrollo.
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https://colindorman.com/french-horn-types/
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https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-evolution-of-the-french-horn
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https://banddirector.com/woodwinds/to-breathe-or-not-to-breathe/
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https://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-French-Horn