To develop an accurate method book, it is important to know the history of the French horn and the horns that we use nowadays.
What is the history of this beautiful instrument and why is there a rumor that the French horn is one of the most difficult instruments to learn?
Let us start from the beginning and learn about the historical development of the horn.
2.1 Early horns
The history of the horn began in antiquity. The first horns were the horns of animals, from which the horn derived its name.1 It is likely that people discovered by chance that sound could be produced from these horns when they removed the tips and blew into them. The sound is created by the vibration of the lips as they come into contact with each other while blowing. A similar phenomenon occurred with shells. These primitive horns served as a model for later horns made from materials such as wood and clay. The horns were used to convey audible signals.
Some horns were equipped with finger holes. On the other horns, only a limited number of tones could be played. Changing the lip tension altered the pitch of these horns. When the lips are tightened, the frequency of their vibration is higher, resulting in a higher pitch. The same applies to low tones. This way, it was possible to play natural tones.
Later, horns made of metal emerged, such as hunting horns and posthorns. Initially, people blew into these horns without a mouthpiece. However, it was later discovered that incorporating a mouthpiece offered more possibilities in terms of sound production and control. In the Middle Ages, horns were almost exclusively used for signals, hunting, and military activities. The horns were not used for music during this period. When they discovered how to bend the metal, the horns became longer as they were coiled.
During the Baroque period, the hunting horns were incorporated into the orchestra. Horns of various sizes were made so that the tones they could play matched the key of the piece.
Subsequently, the natural horn emerged. The horn player no longer needed different horns to play in the correct key, only different crooks were required.
In the picture on the right, you can see a 'crook'. Natural horn players have them in various sizes, so that there is a corresponding crook for every key. This determines the fundamental pitch of the instrument.
The larger the crook, the longer the instrument, resulting in a lower fundamental pitch. In the left picture, you can see Eb and Bb alto crooks. In the right picture you see a natural horn with F crook.
Thanks to the 'stopping technique' (making different notes by using various hand positions inside the bell of the horn) all notes could be played on the natural horn. This allowed the correction of the natural tones that were not in tune. However, a difference in sound was noticeable between the open and stopped notes.
In my attached video, you can hear that not every note has the same sound quality. This difference in timbre and the numbers of crooks have been a reason to explore new possibilities.
In the video, you can also hear and see that if I do nothing with my hand, there are only a few different pitches possible within the played octave. Furthermore, these are not all in tune. By closing the hand further (stopped playing) or keeping it open, all pitches can be played.
You also hear that they do not all have the same volume as well as the same timbre. And as you may have noticed, it is difficult to intonate properly because even the smallest difference in hand position/tension can make a difference in the pitch.
This way of playing made fast chromatic passages very challenging, but in principle, they were possible to play.
When the natural horn turned out not to be as practical as initially thought, musical instrument makers began to consider other possibilities. Ultimately, it was conceived that a kind of valve should be added to the horn, allowing an additional piece of tubing to be engaged alongside the normal tubes. This mechanism eventually came into existence. The valve was invented in 1815by the German hornist Heinrich David Stölzel, who later patented it in 1818 along with the German horn player and instrument builder Friedrich Blühmel.2
By pressing a valve, an extra section of tubes is added to the instrument. The instrument becomes slightly longer, resulting in a lower pitch. The first valve lowers the pitch by a whole tone, the second valve by a semitone, and the third valve by a minor third. This way, chromatic tones became possible without using the right hand to stop the horn. Two types of valves were invented: the pistons and the rotary valves.
The F horn turned out to be the most practical. Due to its tube length and therefore timbre, this one matches best with the horn concertos written throughout history. By the end of the 19th century, it had become the standard instrument for the orchestra. Over time, some small adjustments were made, think of changes in ergonomics, and additional valves to improve intonation and eventually, the horn became what it is today.
2.2 The modern horn
There are three standard horns: the F Horn, Bb horn, and double horn. These instruments are transposing, meaning that the notated pitch differs from the actual sound. For example, the notated C "sounds like a F.
Without pressin the valves, the F horn has a total length of 360 and the Bb horn measures 270 cm, so the F horn has the lowest pitch range.3 The harmonic series of the F horn starts a fourth lower than that of the Bb horn.
The single horn, commonly used by amateurs, has three or four valves. Many single horns also have a stopping valve, allowing stopped playing (where we deliberately change the timbre of the horn, but without wanting to play a different pitch) without transposition. (When you close the hand, the pitch changes. The stopping valve corrects this so that the pitch you want to hear is produced)
There are two types of single horns: the Bb horn and the F horn. The natural tones of the Bb horn are further apart than those of the F horn, making it easier to hit the correct pitch. (See further explanation 2.10)
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In 1898, the German horn maker Fritz Krupse designed the double horn, combining a Bb and an F horn. The double horn has two lengths of pipe selectable by valves, creating two harmonic series starting with the notes F and Bb. The F horn, with longer tubes, can play lower than the Bb horn. An additional thumb valve switches between them, allowing advantages from both in one horn. It benefits intonation; notes out of tune on the Bb horn can be played on the F horn. The F horn his closely spaced harmonics make it challenging in higher ranges, while the B-flat horn, pitched higher, is preferred for higher registers. Players may select sides based on tone quality, but many, often use the B-flat horn throughout most of the range.4
2.3 Heritage of the natural horn
The hand has always remained in the bell. When students or audience at concerts ask me what the reason for this is, I explain to them that we have retained this from the natural horn, where the hand was used to play different pitches.
The hand stayed because the transition from natural horn to valve horn did not happen overnight. Natural horn players were attached to their familiar horn with its various timbres. There seems to have been quite a bit of resistance before the valves were fully embraced. There was also a time when the valves were only used when necessary, meaning not more than needed. So, after the transition and acceptance of the valves, the hand has always remained in the bell. It is no longer needed to determine the pitch, but it can still be used for certain effects and intonation correction by opening or closing the hand more.
2.4 The difficulty of the instrument
As you may have seen, the natural horn was already a very complex instrument. Despite the valves, the modern horn remains complex as well. The horn is a challenging instrument to learn. Dale Clevenger and Alice Rende5 say: ''The horn is a frustrating instrument to learn. Beginning piano students can make beautiful sounds right away. [...] Students who have played the flute for six months may brag about the newest piece they have learned, while a horn student struggles to produce a good basic tone and cope with the overtone series. There are only three or four valves to operate, but the concept of how a scale can be played with overtones is not explained to many beginners. One of the main problems teachers of beginning horn students have to contend with is the frustration factor. The horn is a difficult instrument to play.''6
Even for professional horn players the horn is a challenging instrument. Andy Thompson7 wrote: ''The French horn has a reputation for being a difficult instrument to play. It is not unusual when attending orchestral concerts to hear even the finest horn players ‘crack’ a few notes, or in the case of less fine horn players, occasionally blow them to pieces. This is generally accepted by other orchestral players, used to hearing such blemishes, but to the unaccustomed audience member it often comes as a surprise to hear professional players ‘fall off’ notes.''8
Why is the French horn considered a difficult and frustrating instrument to learn?
2.5 Tone production: Playing the horn distinguishes itself by the way in which sound is produced. While other instruments generate sound by stroking strings, striking hammers against strings, or blowing air across reeds, the horn is distinctive. Here, vibrations are not caused by strings or reeds but by the lips themselves. Andy Thompson says: ''Notes cannot be produced from the horn by simply blowing down the end of the instrument - doing this will just quietly expel air out of the other end.''9 The mastery of the correct lip tension is therefore crucial for producing sound on the horn. Other factors also play a role. French horn player Hans Denayer10 writes: ''Every time we play a note on our instrument, there will be a minute difference in sound due to various factors such as lip tension, mouthpiece position, breathing, support, temperature, how long one spent at the café the day before, and so on...'' 11 Producing a good tone takes a lot of time. Sometimes, this works better than other times. It requires a great deal of patience, and at times, this comes along with frustration. On a piano, for example, every tone has a good soundquality from the beginning, assuming that it is correctly tuned.
Jeffrey Agrell asserts that the horn is not our instrument. Agrell explains: "Surprising fact: The horn is not your instrument. Definition: A musical instrument is something that produces a sound that is controlled by the player. Sound is vibration. The technique of every other non-brass musical instrument is about learning to control the vibration of something external to the player: A string, a reed, a drumhead. Brass players are the only instrumentalists whose task is to learn how to control the vibration of themselves. We (more specifically, our embouchures, set in vibration by our air stream) are the real instruments because we are what vibrates. Thus, for instance, if we want to play a higher note, the most important technical question is not 'what is the fingering for that note?' it is 'what is the exact process or mechanism that will make me (my embouchure) vibrate at the proper speed to produce that pitch?' Sound is vibration. Higher notes = higher frequency = faster vibration of you, the player. [...] The horn does not vibrate or create sound."12
2.6 Inner hearing: On the horn, various tones can be produced with same finger combinations. This creates the possibility to play a wrong note with the correct fingering. An example: On the Bb horn, you play both the D, the F#, and the A by pressing down the first and second finger. This means that if you were supposed to play an F#, but do not have the right pitch in mind, there isa pretty good chance you will end up playing a D or an A instead (which means you are not necessarily playing out of tune, but rather playing a completely different note) so it is crucial to have the desired pitch in mind, Otherwise, your embouchure and the speed of the air will not be able to adjust to the tone that you should be playing. On for example a guitar the correct fingering means the right pitch, regardless of whether you have them in mind correctly or not.
Hornist Patrick James Richards says that when kids first start learning music, they usually start with a piano. They learn that pressing one key makes one sound. But when they switch to learning a brass instrument like the horn, they find out that pressing one valve can make many different sounds, some very close in pitch. This makes playing the right note much harder than just pressing the right valve. To play the right pitch on the horn, you have to hear the note in your head, then control your breathing and mouth position to make that pitch.13
2.7 Big range: Many instruments have 'family members’ (as I call them). Take the violin, viola, cello, and double bass, for example. Similarly, there are various types of flutes and clarinets. Although there are other brass instruments besides the horn, the horn has no direct family, requiring the horn player to master the entire melodic range on their own. This is about 4 octaves.
2.8 Intonation: Even when playing the correct pitch, maintaining proper intonation can be challenging.
2.9 Physical aspects: Playing the horn requires a lot of physical effort, especially when it comes to controlling your breath. Developing the right breathing technique and building lung capacity are important aspects. ''Most small children have a lung capacity of only 1-11⁄2 liters of air, so the object is to get them to use the maximum they can push out.'' 14 This is little compared to adults who have a lung capacity of 5 to 7 liters.15
2.9 Logical steps: Klaske de Haan, Horn teacher BASIS and methodology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague: ''The horn is an instrument based on harmonic overtone series. Finding the logical steps on the valves of the horn is very difficult. Woodwind players have a logical system on the instrument playing diatonic scales. For the horn, with 3 valves, there is not a logical sequence playing scales''16 [...] From the traditional natural horn the modern horn is still a complicated instrument based on natural harmonics. In order to play the modern horn well it is important to play from these natural harmonics. When the natural harmonics are learned the other tones fall easily in its place through transposing.17
2.10 Harmonic overtone series: The horn is an instrument based on the natural harmonic series. Dutch methods do not pay any attention to this, but I think -and fortunately, other horn players do too- that it is very important to pay attention to this! Hornplayer Patrick James Richards says: ''The relationship between the horn and the harmonic series has existed since the horn was first sounded. When composers began notating music for the instrument, it consisted of a single tube and could play just one harmonic series.''18
What is the difficulty with this natural harmonic series? The horn plays high in the natural pitch range compared to other instruments. In the normal playable range, the harmonics of the horn are closely spaced. In contrast, other brass instruments like the trumpet have harmonics that are much more widely spaced within their playable range.19 The natural harmonic series consists of fixed intervals. All notes from this serie can be played with the same fingering (although some of these tones are not in tune according to equal temperament).This means that the notes you see below are all possible to play without pressing any fingers. If you press the 2nd valve the whole harmonic series is shifted down by a semitone due to the additional length. With the 1st valve you play a whole step lower, etc. (Refer to previous explanation on how the valves work) As you can see below, the serie on the F horn starts lower. With all possible notes you have to be very good in solfege to not constantly miss the correct pitches. This is one of the reasons why the horn is so difficult to learn to play.
The range extends up to and including the 16th overtone, although it is difficult to play. You could say that because of the closer harmonic series in the playable register, the F horn is more difficult than the Bb horn. Perhaps we are fortunate in the Netherlands then. Horn player John Erikson certainly thinks so. He expresses his surprise about the fact that the F horn is the standard worldwide for beginners to start on. He questions whether this teaching approach got stuck in the 1950s. John Erikson: ''The standard line for many teachers is single F horn is the best for beginners, traditional tone, etc. Is this pedagogical approach stuck in the 1950s?'' [...[ In the past few years I have come around to the idea that the single B-flat would in fact be a great horn to start a true beginner on. One reason is it is lighter and easier to hold, but the bigger reason is initial success. It is easier to play. Last year I was speaking with a music educator who told me that the horn was the instrument that students were most likely to quit in band. This statistic is sadly probably true. Most single F horns are bottom of the line instruments which does not make starting on the horn any easier. [...[ I borrowed and later purchased a simple, three valve single B-flat. This I feel is the way to go as we enter this new century. [...[ I would issue this challenge to anyone in doubt; try playing anything on a single F and then repeat the same passage on single B-flat. The single B-flat will be the clear winner, better accuracy, better articulations, clearer tone, etc. I don’t believe you will go back to single F for true beginners after you hear the back to back comparison. There is a better way than single F horn; give the single B-flat a try for young beginners too small to manage a double horn.'' 20
Horn player Patrick James Richards talks about the importance of knowing the natural harmonic series in his research about ''A Pedagogical Guide and Argument for Using the Harmonic Series in Teaching Beginning and Intermediate Level Horn Students''. He says that in the United States, most horn players begin learning the instrument in junior high or middle school bands. However, the books they use do not usually talk about the harmonic series. -apparently, this is not only an issue in the Netherlands.- Instead, they show fingering charts to help find the right notes. So, students learn to connect each note with a finger position rather than understanding how they fit into the harmonic series. He says that teaching the harmonic series earlier in the student his development allows them to start learning the instrument with a better understanding of how the horn functions. This is the optimal method for improving pitch accuracy and enhancing their overall playing skills.21''Finding the correct partial is similar to finding a location on a map. Without an informed awareness of the harmonic series, the student is guessing which partial they are going to produce - similar to driving through an unknown city trying to find an address with no map.'' 22
Jeffrey Agrell also discusses the harmonic series: ''The way the horn works is based on the harmonic series [...] The foundation of horn technique lies in the ability to navigate the harmonic series with ease, fluency, and accuracy. Everything else stems from this ability. [...] Nowadays, most beginner horn players are misled from the outset by method books (as well as by many well-meaning teachers). They are taught from day one that horn technique revolves around learning fingerings (valve combinations). Consequently, they are only familiar with the chromatic fingering chart and are likely unaware of the harmonic series or essential horn techniques related to transitioning between overtones. Beginners quickly realize that the valves are not foolproof aids. Young players struggle to find the correct note, as multiple notes are possible using a single fingering. They are unaware that they need to first acquire some expertise in using air and embouchure to navigate the harmonic series before focusing on valve technique. [...] Frustration and dropout rates are high among beginners, and it is no wonder. The lack of understanding and knowledge of the harmonic or overtone series is coupled with a lack of familiarity with methods to construct effective pedagogical exercises utilizing it. Even more advanced players rarely possess much knowledge about a systematic approach to learning the harmonic series.''23