Chapter 3: The requirements for the beginning young horn player

3.1 The age

During the methodology lessons at the Rotterdam Conservatory, I have always been taught that children should only start playing a brass instrument once their front teeth have been replaced, but according to the sources, opinions on this are divided. When I google "horn lesson age," I come across various websites of music schools and associations, All with their own guidelines.

Scholen in de kunst: "In principle, children can start horn lessons from around 7 years old (after consulting with the teacher). It is important that their front teeth have changed." 1

De Gooische Muziekschool: ''At De Gooische Muziekschool, anyone from the age of 8 can take horn lessons. You must have already changed your front teeth. Teenagers and adults are also welcome. You do not need any music theory knowledge or other musical training to start.''2 

Artiance, centrum voor de kunsten Alkmaar: ''The best age to start horn lessons is around 9 or 10 years old; you can begin once your teeth have changed''3''

Leo Smeets: ''Horn lessons from age 12 As a horn teacher, I believe it is important to draw out as much musical talent as possible from each student, taking into account their individual abilities.''4

Klaske de Haan says the following: ''The best age to start playing the horn is from 7 years of age because usually then the front teeth have been shed which is convenient for the continuity of the lessons. It is important to monitor the posture of the child, whether the child is big enough to be able to hold the instrument properly and whether the fingers are long enough to reach the valves. Currently I also have younger children in my practice. As long as they are big enough for the kinder horn 5it does not present a problem. In case the teeth have not been shed it is better not to play too many pieces with a large range in order to limit the pressure on the lips.''6

Opinions vary widely, but 7 or 8 years old is a commonly mentioned age. Also, most teachers seem to agree is that the front teeth should have changed. This varies from child to child, but on average, this changing happens between the ages of 6 and 8.7

Compared to some other countries, it seems that we start horn lessons quite young in the Netherlands.

Brien: ''It started at about year 5, which is age 10. Unless you learn through the government school, the public school system, and often you do not start, which I did notstart until about age 14 for that. Because normally horn and oboe bassoon are taught at a later age because they require kids to be a little bit more grown, a little bit more advanced. So, at the private schools that I teach at, we start in year 5, which is age 10. But often people do not actually start until much later. But in starting that young, I have had a lot of kids go through braces. And things like that, which can be good and can be very bad for playing. So, often starting that young does mean you are going to have some older denture later on, which is a shame.''

3.2 The target audience

In the past, in my own teaching practice as well as at the music school, I have experienced several situations where children started horn lessons because they have been told that it has a positive effect on asthma. Also, a mother once told me that her child had to choose between speech therapy or learning a wind instrument to address weak oral motor skills. While such situations can be a reason to start lessons, these are exceptional cases, this is not the target audience that I am focusing on in this research. 

I am focusing on what I perceive as the average student. The young, beginning horn player that I have in mind for this, is a healthy child without any physical retardations, of around 8 years old. This is because not only the front teeth play a crucial role, but the child also needs to be strong and large enough to hold the instrument.

3.3 Motivation

There needs to be enough motivation to practice regularly. The student (and the parents) should realize that you do not learn to play the horn just by going to the lesson. it is not like, for example, a horse riding lesson where you go once a week and learn everything in that time. 
One way to make practicing a habit is by incorporating it as a regular part of your schedule. Williams emphasizes the importance of integrating practice sessions into daily routines. Instead of being optional (do I want to play horn today?) it should be treated as a regular activity, much like brushing teeth.8 

Practice and motivation are certainly important, but because motivation cannot be described in a few words, I have dedicated an entire chapter to it. You can find it here.

3.4 Patient

Compared to many other instruments, achieving results on the French horn (and on other brass instruments) can take a long time. Patience is required here, both from the student and from the teacher. Simply producing the sound can already take some time. Williams: "But that is the problem with the brass instrument; it takes a while before you have enough competence that you can do much. Yes, that is the problem, unlike a piano where you can very quickly learn to play some music on it. Yes, you know, you get motivated by just doing it, you know, and not by what it brings. Like he was saying, with a brass instrument, you're spending a lot of time just getting the note and getting the sound at all, and then to have a range where you can actually play melodies can take a long time, and that is hard work. So making games out of just a few notes and getting them to have fun is very means that the teacher has to be extremely patient and creative, not just the student, the teacher."9

Brien says that during the first lesson, the French horn is not used yet. The focus is on producing the sound, and this is done on the mouthpiece. Brien: ''So, generally, the first lesson I like to start on the mouthpiece only. And doing sort of exercises that are just getting the kids used to blowing and getting their muscles working and getting the lips to start making a noise. We often start before that actually doing just trying to get the mouth, practicing the shape and practicing the buzz itself without the mouthpiece being on the lips. And then try and practice them blowing through the mouthpiece and doing blowing exercises and then turning the mouthpiece around to the actual end and trying to buzz through the mouthpiece'' 10

Clevenger and Render11 also write that achieving a good sound is a challenge: ''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''12

They also write about starting on just the mouthpiece, just like Brien said. Clevenger and Render: ''It is important for a beginning horn student to buzz with the mouthpiece a-lone right from the outset, especially given the bulkiness of the instrument. The air is the most important thing to work on.''  

3.5 The instrument

I personally feel that a full-sized horn at this age is quite large and heavy. A full-sized single Bb-horn Yamaha 322, which is a common beginners horn, weights 1900 gram. That is quite heavy for a child, but a bigger problem is that mostly the hands are too small to hold the instrument, so I advise all my beginning young horn students to start on a junior horn. There are junior horns tuned in Bb and in F. My students start on a Bb junior horn, in Dutch we call this a 'kinderhoorn'.

The junior horn is a smaller horn that is lighter in weight. The bell is smaller, so the horn is balanced better. Yet it has the same tube length as a regular single Bb horn (it must be the same to maintain the pitch), but it is "coiled" in a more compact manner. Unlike many full-sized horns, it does not have a 4th valve.

In the photos below, you can see the difference between one of my students on a junior horn and how I used to struggle with my full-sized horn. If you look at the angle my elbow forms compared to that of my student, you will see that I can barely reach the bell.

On the photo, you can already see the difference in size a little bit, but to compare the weight, I placed both my Thoman HR 100 Junior Bb-French Horn and my full-sized Yamaha 322 single Bb-horn on the scale. The weight might vary slightly with other brands, but the junior horn weighed 1735 gram and the full-sized single Bb-horn weighed 1900 gram.

That makes a difference of 165 gram. It might not sound like a significant difference, but I believe it does make a difference for a young child.

Despite the lighter weight, the junior horn can still be quite large and heavy for some children. For this, Klaske de Haan sees the following solutions ''For children that have difficulty with the posture/balance there are several tools to make it easier. For instance a hand support can be mounted on the horn to relieve the pressure on the little finger. Also available is a horn stick, a support that can be placed on the leg on which the horn can be rested. This way the pupil does not have to constantly carry the weight of the instrument. ''13

Besides the practical advantages, a junior horn also offers financial benefits. The purchase of a junior horn is considerably less expensive than that of a full-sized horn. The larger investment for a full-sized horn can wait until a point when the child has been playing for a longer period.

This provides parents, who generally have to finance the instrument, some level of assurance. In case the child decides to pursue horse riding or soccer over horn playing, they have not invested in a very expensive instrument yet, so the risk is less. 

3.6 The Mouthpiece

A suitable instrument is not the only thing the beginning horn player needs. Along with an instrument comes a mouthpiece. The sound on a brass wind instrument is produced as the air sets the lips into vibration. The lips vibrate against the mouthpiece, and the horn is an extension of this process. Because the mouthpiece makes the first contact with the lips, a suitable mouthpiece is at least as important as a suitable instrument. 

Klaske de Haan says the following about mouthpieces for the beginning young student in her research: ''For the beginning horn player it is important to start with a mediate mouthpiece so all-difficult aspects of horn playing are covered. A mediate mouthpiece has a diameter of approximately 17 to 18 mm, which is equal to the diameter of an old fashioned cent. A mediate boring is between 4.2 and 4.6 mm, good enough to play the high as well as the low tones properly. A cup not too deep and with an edge that is not too small or too sharp but lightly rounded and with a right and natural feel to it. A horn player with strong, thicker lips can choose a wider diameter.

After playing the horn a number of years it might be advisable to look for another mouthpiece that can make playing easier when certain technical difficulties appear.''14

3.7 The handpositon

In principle, hand position is very important for horn players. Using the hand within the bell produced different tones and could also alter the timbre. Contemporary horns have valves, yet the hand still plays a crucial role in shaping the sound. Many children, despite having a junior horn, are still too small to hold their hand correctly in the bell. Therefore, the question arises as to when attention should be given to this and how crucial the hand position actually is, for young beginning horn players. 

This hand position is a somewhat challenging aspect (It determines intonation, timbre, and effects such as stopped playing, these things only succeed if the hand is in the right place in the bell. See an example later at 3.8) and the question is at what point teachers, or method books, should start paying attention to it. 

To what extent is it important for young horn players to hold their hand in the bell in the right way?

Dale Clevenger and Alice Render have written an article about the first lessons on a horn. I have extracted some interesting insights from it.

They argue that a proper hand position might hinder a good embouchure. What are their arguments?

I believe they make a valid point by stating that correcting hand position later is easier than correcting an incorrect embouchure. While a correct hand position is crucial for an older, advanced horn player, it is not the primary focus for children.

Nonetheless, it seems relevant to include a demonstration of a good hand position in method books. This can be accomplished by shedding light on the history of the horn and emphasizing that, eventually, the hand should be placed in the bell correctly.

Personally, I think it would be helpful if a method book makes this clear by showing two different photos: one illustrating a situation where the hornist is still too small for a correct hand position, and another when he or she is already capable of it.

3.8 A horn teacher

Although I largely taught myself the basics of playing the horn, I would not recommend this to anyone. It is easy to develop incorrect techniques. that is why I advise every young beginning horn player to take lessons from a experienced, educated and competent teacher. Mistakes are easily learned, and I have experienced that unlearning them can take much longer.

In the Netherlands, it is common for other brass players to also teach French horn. This is because many associations often seek a brass instructor who can teach the entire brass section, often due to practical reasons.

Often, there is a search for a teacher who has at least a bachelor's degree in one of the brass instruments. In other cases, they may find a student suitable, and some associations look for amateur musicians. They indicate this by not requiring a conservatory diploma but by stating that the candidate preferably has obtained the HAFABRA diplomas. (In the Netherlands, these range from A to D, with D being the highest achievable level).

Click on the following links to see the preferences of the associations.

Here you can see that 'ons genoegen' is looking for an enthusiastic brass teacher who preferably has obtained all 4 achievable diplomas for amateur musicians.16 It seems that the expectation is for the teacher to be enthusiastic about the subject, rather than having studied at a conservatory. Furthermore, it is stated that having HAFABRA diplomas A through D is preferred, indicating a preference rather than a requirement.

Here you can see that 'Toanhus' is looking for a teacher for brass instruments. They want the teacher to have a relevant HBO degree, but they do not specify which instruments he should teach.17

Here you can see that in 2016/2017, 'maasmuziek' was looking for an 'all-round' brass teacher for students on trumpet, trombone, French horn (F), and baritone.18 It is noteworthy that it is written as horn (F), as this is very unusual in the Netherlands. In my introduction and chapter about "the French horn," you can read that in the Netherlands, the Bb horn is played. Therefore, one might wonder if they are looking for a teacher for the horn in F (which is not common here) or if they mean that the horn students read "in F."

Here they are looking for an enthusiastic brass teacher with a Bachelor's degree from a conservatory or in the final stages of your studies, specializing in one of the following instruments: trumpet, flugelhorn, French horn, baritone/euphonium, and trombone 19

As you can see, often only one teacher is looked for, and that teacher is not necessarily a horn player.

I am not saying lessons by a teacher that plays another brass instrument are wrong -I also teach trumpet, baritone, and cornet myself-, but in that case, I believe you should have sufficient knowledge of the instrument. In many aspects, the horn and other brass instruments are similar, but the horn is the only instrument where the hand is held inside the bell. It is useful if a teacher can explain or demonstrate specific horn-related aspects, such as hand position, which significantly influences the sound.

Dale Clevenger and Alice Render also wrote about this in their article about first lessons on the horn: ‘’It is so important for a beginning horn student to see how someone else plays a note and have an example to copy. Even if the teacher only studied horn for a few weeks in college while learning to play all the instruments, it helps to demonstrate everything for a beginner. An alternative is to bring in an advanced student from high school or college.’’20

In the Dutch national framework curriculum for brass instruments21, they disagree with Clevenger and Render. 

According to the framework, a teacher who has only briefly touched the horn is not enough; they need an HBO bachelor or even a master's diploma. However, these are only guidelines. In the Netherlands, there is no law or regulation regarding extracurricular arts and culture education, which means it lacks a legal basis and cannot be made mandatory.22 

Interestingly, according to the framework curriculum, horn players can teach trumpet, but trumpet players cannot teach horn students. Furthermore, it is stated that no other brass player is qualified to give horn lessons, while a horn player can also teach the alto horn, baritone, euphonium, bugle, cornet, and trumpet.

It is noteworthy that a trombonist/tubaist can only teach baritone/euphonium with a special endorsement, whereas a horn player is the only one authorized by default.

Even more striking is that apparently, there is no possibility for any other brass players to obtain a similar endorsement for the horn.

For me, it says a lot that, according to this framework curriculum, no other teacher is qualified to give horn lessons, but -also according to this same framework curriculum- a horn player has the freedom to teach various instruments. I think there are very clear and obvious reasons for this, but they are not explicitly stated, the curriculum does not specify why they make these differences, so that is guesswork.

Although I cannot prove this, I believe that this is related to the difficulty of playing the horn, especially regarding transposition, pitch, and hand positioning. I will explain my ideas about this.

Professional horn players are impeccable at transposing. In symphony orchestras, when playing early music, they play parts that were originally written for the natural horn. Natural horn players used a different crook for each key, but we do not have them anymore, since we use the valves.

This means that on the modern horn, we have to transpose everything ourselves. We do this thinking from F. For instance, if the part says "horn in Eb," we play everything one tone down. If it says "horn in C," we transpose a fourth down.

Take a look at "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber, where we encounter horn parts in the following transpositions: C, D, Eb, E, F, G, A and Bb alto.

We are very used to transposing to any possible key, which is very unusual for most other musicians. This makes a trumpet or baritone part in Bb not a problem at all for a professional horn player.

Other brass players are generally not used to transposing to F, so it will probably be difficult for them to play with in the right key for a horn student.

I think that is the first reason why the curriculum only "allows" horn players to teach the horn.

The last reason could be that hand position is important for horn players' intonation and for playing effects. (see more explanation in 'The French Horn') 

You can not expect trumpet players to be aware of these things because they are very specific. Although this is not directly applicable to beginners yet, the curriculum focuses not only on beginners but also on students from levels A to D (D being the highest achievable diploma for an amateur musician. 

For effects such as muted playing, trumpeters use mutes instead of a hand in the bell. However, as horn players, we also use them, so we know how they work. Therefore, in my opinion, this cannot be an objection to teaching, for example, trumpet students.

Overall, I believe I understand the reasons behind the decision of the curriculum framework, and I do not find it strange that horn teachers have these privileges.

That said, I think it is much more important whether someone is competent than whether they are qualified. A qualification does not tell the whole story; it is about whether you can teach students effectively without shortchanging them. Someone may have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in horn, but that does not necessarily mean they can teach. It does not reflect their experiences or the courses they have taken. For instance, we do not know if they pursued a minor in education or took courses in didactics and pedagogy. Perhaps a trumpet teacher with extensive teaching experience is more suitable than a horn player without. I would say it depends on their experience and knowledge.

As a French horn player in the Netherlands, I am qualified to give trumpet lessons. However, I believe that you are shortchanging your student if you play the French horn yourself while they play, for example, the trumpet. In such cases, the student lacks a proper example of correct playing posture, and the tone color is different. That is why I play the trumpet during trumpet lessons myself; I believe that, in doing so, I provide a better and clearer example. If a trumpeter has mastered the horn-specific aspects, then, as far as I am concerned, there is nothing wrong with them teaching the horn.