Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

so ds has just told us he wants to play french horn. help!

30 replies

crumpledinside · 15/08/2013 10:22

Ds is nearly 8 and still has his baby teeth at the top. I have said that when his adult teeth come through he can have lessons in a brass or woodwind instrument of his choice. At the moment he plays violin and recorder and he is quite a musical kid.

For ages he'd been saying he wanted to take up the clarinet. Then he heard a fantastic horn solo at a concert and fell in love! I play clarinet myself so I know what's possible at what age and how hard it is. I know nothing about brass instruments and don't know if an 8 year old can pick up a horn - he'll be 8.5 when his teeth are through, or how hard it is or even the basics of horn embouchure.

Can anyone provide some advice on what's possible at this age or whether he should start on a different instrument?

OP posts:
Moominmammacat · 16/08/2013 14:04

My DS has relative pitch ... it's useful and doesn't cause the problems that perfect pitch sometimes can. Generally, a good sense of pitch just makes them a better musician, ie, they correct themselves instinctively.

1805 · 16/08/2013 10:59

hmmm, the perfect pitch issue is interesting. It is so rare I've never had a pupil with it! I would imagine it would be very confusing!!!!! To have relative pitch is incredibly helpful, but perfect.....I honestly don't know. Give him a go and see what he thinks!!!!

Re small horns - not a problem. It is all the same, just smaller/lighter to hold.

Tenor horns and other brass instrument use different fingerings, but it never seems to be a problem adapting. Kids are amazing things!!!

One more thing re the perfect pitch - as he progresses on the horn, he will be transposing the music into many different keys at sight. (Let me know if you want me to explain that!)

Original poster
crumpledinside · 16/08/2013 08:07

Thanks for the advice - two questions:do the smaller horns have different fingering and is it a hassle to change? Also, ds has absolute pitch - does this make the horn harder? I realise we'd have had that issue with clarinet too. We'll go for a specialist horn teacher as we are lucky to have a music centre nearby that has a french horn teacher - I know they have a few horn students.

I don't think ds will be bothered too much with initial slow progress as he started out on violin in year one and it took a while. He can read music well and I make him keep his theory going at the same level as his practical stuff so at least that's one hurdle out of the way

OP posts:
1805 · 15/08/2013 23:47

HI. Great choice!!!! Such a beautiful instrument and very rewarding to play.

So is ds going into year 4 in sept? I teach lots of year 4 dc french horn. At that age they usually start on a small size horn. The open/natural notes are pitched close together, so this makes it harder to control than other brass instruments.
I would strongly recommend insisting on a specialist french horn teacher from the outset, or a VERY experienced other brass teacher.

Re teeth - your call really. Give it a go and see how he feels.

Progress is usually slightly slower at the beginning, but as long as ds knows what to expect, then I don't find this a problem.

A common alternate instrument to start on is the Eb Tenor Horn, and then swap to french horn later on. This is an easy instrument to play from the beginning.

Happy music making!!

mrscumberbatch · 15/08/2013 20:47

8 is a fine age to take up brass. Different people find that their mouths suit different instruments though (difference in mouthpieces) so you may find that he prefers trombone to trumpet or french horn in terms of ease. (Although it tends to be that when you master one you can try your hand at any- especially with the valved instruments.)

If he reads music already he has a great head start. I would approach teacher and see if they have some instruments that he can try just to check his aptitude for it and then take it from there.