I see people all around, especially in high school, that seem to have a variety of ways of holding a French horn. I've seen debates and fights flare up about this issue...
I'm beginning with the left hand since this one is much easier to understand. Your pinky finger goes around the ring, the thumb is on the change vavle (trigger), and your middle three fingers are on the three keys. All pretty natural, right?
The three fingers on the levers should all have finger tips on the end, not the entire finger laid down across the lever. This is so that you can get the maximum speed, and accuracy, with your left hand.
Now remember to not use pull the horn into the face using the pinky, this is not our "octave key." The bicep of your left arm should stay relaxed, and monitoring this is a good way to notice if you are starting to use too much pressure.
Right Hand (very young children):
If you're having a child start the horn an age so young that they can't fully reach around the horn, don't worry where they put their hand. In all honesty, at that age no one is going to be concerned about the intonation. It's more important that they learn how it feels to play with the correct embouchure, posture, and breathing.
Right Hand (young children):
This group of people are in between very young children, who won't be able to hold the hand in the bell, and adults, who can properly hold the horn.
As you can see, the palm of the hand is against the bell. This is to get the student used to having the hand in the bell, even though they can't completely reach the proper position yet. In this position the pitch will be sharp and it will be much harder to go to stop horn.
With that in mind, this is great stepping stone, but should not be used by anyone once they have grown big enough to hold the horn in the correct way.
Right Hand (adults):
I would say that once your student is reaching the end of middle school, and most likely by the time they've reached high school, they should be using the correct hand position.
Now the horn rests against the back of the hand. The hand will be slightly cupped, but only slightly, as not to muffle the sound too much. I've been taught that the thumb of the right hand should line up with the brace on the outside of the bell of the horn, to find the proper angle. I've also heard slightly different angles, but all are pretty close to that one. How far your hand has to go into the bell is something you'll have to have a horn player help you with in person, since it's a little different for each person.
The reason that the hand position should evolve into the correct one as a player grows is because all horns are made to an adult proportion. String players can buy 1/8, even 1/16, sized instruments for when children first start out, but horn players especially don't have this luxury. Even though there are student model horns out there, the height and bell are crafted for an adult sized person. Thus, to teach proper technique with the embouchure, breathing, and posture we have to modify how children hold the instrument, so that they still learn the correct fundamentals.
The three fingers on the levers should all have finger tips on the end, not the entire finger laid down across the lever. This is so that you can get the maximum speed, and accuracy, with your left hand.
Now remember to not use pull the horn into the face using the pinky, this is not our "octave key." The bicep of your left arm should stay relaxed, and monitoring this is a good way to notice if you are starting to use too much pressure.
Right Hand (very young children):
If you're having a child start the horn an age so young that they can't fully reach around the horn, don't worry where they put their hand. In all honesty, at that age no one is going to be concerned about the intonation. It's more important that they learn how it feels to play with the correct embouchure, posture, and breathing.
Right Hand (young children):
This group of people are in between very young children, who won't be able to hold the hand in the bell, and adults, who can properly hold the horn.
 |
| Courtesy of Auburn Horn Studio |
With that in mind, this is great stepping stone, but should not be used by anyone once they have grown big enough to hold the horn in the correct way.
Right Hand (adults):
I would say that once your student is reaching the end of middle school, and most likely by the time they've reached high school, they should be using the correct hand position.
 |
| Courtesy of Auburn Horn Studio |
The reason that the hand position should evolve into the correct one as a player grows is because all horns are made to an adult proportion. String players can buy 1/8, even 1/16, sized instruments for when children first start out, but horn players especially don't have this luxury. Even though there are student model horns out there, the height and bell are crafted for an adult sized person. Thus, to teach proper technique with the embouchure, breathing, and posture we have to modify how children hold the instrument, so that they still learn the correct fundamentals.
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