r/horn

I find it easy to improvise on an existing chord progression or melody with my voice, but I'm having difficulty translating it to the horn. It usually takes me a few tries to play the notes I'm visualising, by either finding the intervals or randomly choosing fingerings until I get it right, but that's too slow for live jazz improvisation, which is something I'm aiming to get better at.

I am okay at finding the first note (although I should still practice this), but I'm not sure which mindset to use to approach the rest without playing it a few times beforehand to get a feel for the notes. What can I practice to get better at this? I appreciate any advice.

Whether it is/was an orchestra, quintet or jazz ensemble, is/was playing in a group fulfilling? Why or why not? What led to you joining the group? How would you suggest a hornist looking to join a group discover them? Do you have any horror stories from playing in a group? What are some things you wish you knew before learning the hard way? Give me the deets

I have an elderly friend who played horn for many decades but has not played much in the past few years. He would like to get his chops back in shape and play on a daily basis. Do you have any recommended books or resources? Are there some good progressive etude books? Horn isn't my instrument, so I'm totally lost, but I'd like to help him out. He played with a community orchestra for many years--I'd guess his level was low advanced? (He knows it will take him a while to get back into shape and that he'll never get back in the shape he was in when he was younger, as he's in his 80s now.)

Thanks in advance.

For context, I am a young professional hornist about to pursue my masters in horn performance. One thing that I was always interested in was the natural horn and getting some experience with it. Unfortunately where I ended up for my undergrad and now masters do not own natural horns and while I understand many get experience through university with them, these schools were just the best financial decision with amazing teachers. My question here is that are their festivals or programs similar to Seraphinoff's horn workshop to gain that experience. Likewise, are there other ways people have gotten that chance and experience or do I inevitably just have to buy the horn for myself? Thanks in advance!

I have to play some shosta 5 and mahler 3 excerpts and ive never really had to play low horn very often so i dont actually know the fingerings, does anyone have a chart for like really low horn?

To start off, here’s some background into that might be useful

I’m not primarily a horn player, most of what I do these days is bass trombone, euphonium too. I only play horn about once a week.

I’ve had somewhat were fairly long term lip injuries related to nerve damage in the past, which of course meant my lips were numb (3 years ago)

But the odd thing is, it’s ONLY happening when I play horn. No other instrument does this to me. The feeling will last the rest of the day, sometimes even the next day I won’t quite have 100% feeling back.

Does anyone know possible reasons as to why this could be happening, if it’s something to worry about, and what I can do to fix it?

For an upcoming military band position I need to play to contrasting pieces, I have only ever auditioned for orchestras so I am unsure if that rep would be suitable for a wind band audition.

I have played through most of the standard horn rep such all of the Mozart concertos, all of Franz/Richard Strauss works, Bagatelle, Villanelle, etc

I was wondering if anyone has any experience/any rep suggestions? Thanks

Hey yall i am currently going into my second year at college, but because of my credits, I'll have my sophomore barrier this semester and junior recital this spring!!

I am super excited and nervous for both, and so I want to get to work on some pieces for them right away! For my barrier, I need to play 10 - 15 minutes of music, and this can include soloistic work along with etudes and excerpts! and for my junior recital, I need about 30 minutes of music! And it is generally frowned upon if I reuse barrier music for my recital, so I want to avoid that!

If you guys have good song suggestions that I could look into, that would be great! I currently have on my list that I am looking on wokring on are Franz Strauss's Nocturno and Concerto along withRichard Strauss's Horn Concerto in E flat (just saying so I don't get these already suggested!!

I do have issues with my range that I am working on and hope to have better strength in range come time for both of these events! But my highest note (on a good day) is usually an A above the staff.

I also tend to prefer soloistic work that reminds me of nocturno, but I am aware I need to branch out and learn more solo works that aren't just nocturno 2.0!!

I am open to any suggestions and would love it if they're accessible online for me since I view, practice, and perform music with an iPad nowadays!

Hi, I'd like to hear different opinions about a problem I've been having these past few weeks with my horn playing. From middle C to G, I feel like my sound is too "airy", and the vibration inside the mouthpiece is big and off-center. Also, in the highest octave, I’m playing too high in pitch. I think it might be due to accumulated fatigue or a lack of focus in my playing technique. I’m doing some simple drone exercises to try to center the sound. Any tips? Thank you very much!!

Hello everyone! I'm looking for some guidance on choosing a mouthpiece for my French horn. I play viola as my main instrument so I'm out of my element with the idea of mouthpieces and the wide variety of horns. However I've come to fall in love with the instrument and want to upgrade from my cheap $10 mouthpiece I bought on Amazon. I currently play a Stagg WS-HR245 F-3 Rotary Valve French Horn. I'm still learning the instrument, and while I know it's an entry-level horn, I'm pretty happy with it and I plan to keep playing it until I feel I've developed a solid foundation before investing in a higher-quality instrument.

TLDR; In the meantime, I'd love to hear your recommendations for a mouthpiece that would pair well with this horn and help me continue improving my fundamentals. I'd really appreciate any recommendations and the reasoning behind them. Thanks in advance!

Edit: I'm leaning towards a Laskey 775G. I've heard good things about it. That it's usable even as a professional and it's reliable.

Hello fellow enthusiasts!

I'm in the market for a new horn, I currently have a misbehaving Holton 179. I believe I have narrowed down my search to either a Conn 8 or a Hoyer 6802. However; I am having trouble finding one I can try before I commit to a purchase.

I'm currently in the Denver area but will also be driving to the DC area later this summer and am looking for any leads on horns that I can try out.

Willing to put in effort to get anywhere that might have one in stock.

Thank you!

Edit: 30s, playing community band, just want a nice horn that works (kruspe, nickel, detachable preferable)

I am looking for a long and lyrical piece. I won’t be a music major or anything but I am going to continue playing through college. I am looking for a piece to sink my teeth into and perfect for my first semester. Length and difficulty are not an issue for me, I just want something beautiful to play for myself.