french horn

[cungryhatterpillar]

Ds came home from school with a french horn yesterday. He is 8 and likes loud noises. I am nearly 40 and don't. How long will it be before it gets better? Ds is fairly musical and has done g4 on his first instrument already. He was trying to play the first five notes of the scale but it mainly sounded LOUD, LOUD, LOUD, LOUDER, EVEN LOUDER.

You won't want to hear this but the only way he'll get better is to practise! The French hot in a beautiful instrument imo but difficult I think. Is he having lessons?

Horn not hot, stupid phone!

If he learns to play it well, he will be in much demand as good horn players are rare. What's his main instrument?

He has just started his lessons. I'm resigned to practice (this is actually ds1's third instrument so I'm used to the lovely and less lovely sounds of child music). Fortunately he is a weekly boarder at school so four practices per week will be in the next county to me. We'll have to get ear defenders for the weekend until ds gets a bit more control :)

Crazy his main instrument is recorder.

In that case, I would recommend speaking to his recorder teacher as soon as possible then OP. If he is starting another wind or brass instrument he needs something where the embouchure is similar e.g. flute or clarinet.
The other problem with brass instruments is that you have to blow much harder to get the notes than flute or recorder. He may try to transfer this across to his main instrument which will have an adverse effect on his playing.

Crazy - we asked the head of music at his school and she was happy to let him do french horn. He's got sufficient awareness of the tone he's producing on the recorder that he'd notice if he was over blowing. I'd have loved it if ds had chosen clarinet as that's what I play but he fell in love with the horn a year ago and has been determined to take it up.

I shall grit my teeth and put my fingers in my ears for a bit.

tbh brass instruments are (usually) less torturous than other instruments.
it is fairly easy to get a good sound going, that doesn't grate as much as, say, violin.

there are also good training mutes available.

french horn (or any brass instrument really) is great fun. have a look at the proms tonight, or at some of the other prom concerts (brahms, mahler symphonies) for some cool brass action.

can you tell I'm a brass player?

brahms 2nd beautiful

I have brass playing children. Once past the very beginning stages the french horn is much more mellow than other brass instruments.
They do however cost a bloody fortune!
We currently have a mattress in the room where they practice as that absorbs some of the sound. As long as he practices he should get better pretty quickly.
I'd suggest just buying some earplugs as the easiest solution though.

tschaikowsky pathetique for some loud action

DS2 plays trombone and clarinet, he has no problems with his embouchure across the two.

I love brass. Start saving though

tbh compared to other instruments brass instruments are 'cheap' and very forgiving (dents can easily be repaired).

I'm saving by the fact his other instrument is recorder. You can get all the way to g8 on a decent quality plastic one (well perhaps a decent quality plastic two or three but nothing compared to the horrors of intermediate level string instruments or bassoons).

Loved the post about LOUD, LOUD, LOUD, LOUDER, EVEN LOUDER, but suggest that you buy him a mute.

DD1 is starting class trumpet lessons at school this week (Wider Opportunities), a fact that I'm going to blithely ignore, because (a) She has tried a few times, is quite frankly useless (b) I don't particularly fancy listening to the early stages and (c) I won't be expecting her to practise! She already plays her flute and recorder for a minimum of 7 hours a week, and this week will be double that because it's her first day at South West Music School tomorrow. It's from 10-5, and they are going to be playing for most of that!

French Horn is a great instrument though - please keep us updated!

when they did mahler 1st a couple of weeks ago there were 8 french horns (I think) standing up, with the horn turned up with the hands just on the outside.

that really is LOUD :o

Dd started the horn just short of 8. Her teacher wouldn't usually take them till 9 but she is very physically mature. In spite of her being quite unmusical, unrhythmical and very uncoordinated, she has progressed OK and, after the first couple of weeks, the sound has been very pleasant, even when it's not the correct notes! 2 years later, she has just passed her grade 2, which I am impressed with. She is still playing a mini-horn, which i think has a smaller mouthpiece, though she will move onto a full size one very soon. She wants to switch to tuba, which I have refused to consider; the horn is heavy enough.

DD1 has just started playing at 15.

She has only had one 15 min lesson (the teacher thought here was no point in having longer lessons at first) but I have to say, I can hear improvement in her practising, from when she first brought it home.

Practising mostly consists of sitting next to the piano, playing a note, then trying to replicate it on the horn.

We also have two violins and a bassoon in the family, and everyone sings, so plenty of opportunity for a general cacophony.

I luffs your boy already. He is a 10yr younger clone of mine!

1st instrument recorder - check. 2nd instrument , I'm betting piano or voice, 3rd horn.

My DS also played cello at primary but had to stop at year 7.

Actually he started brass with a cornet but was moved on, probably as he was big and strong! 5 notes by now sounds bril. It's a great choice of instrument - always in demand rather than fighting for places ( the girls are clarinet players though eldest gave up when she left school).

Start saving your 2.5k for a horn he will then leave on the bus and give you nightmares about.....to be fair though it did turn up both times!

Oh and whilst you can do grade 8 recorder on plastic, you just need to hear the difference a really good instrument makes and you'll be sold. However......you can probably borrow said recorder by then as it's likely to be a 1k plus handmade one not your standard £400 moek!

We've never had an issue with embouchure at all.

The recorder players amongst you will understand the only problem we ever had and that was that even to grade 7 dd1 " got away with" playing her clarinet like a recorder - dd2 tells me you should tongue the reed. Eldest never could and fooled both her teacher and examiners (and even double tongued using recorder technique, which you " can't" do on a clarinet!)

Theas your post about leaving the horn on the bus has made me smile as my dd has to transport her £6.5K horn on the train and it makes me feel sick thinking about her losing it! It's terrifying! At least my ds Euph is still only about £750 when it gets left on the bus!

Theas his second instrument is violin but he also sings and has just started as a chorister.

I'm having second thoughts about horn now I've seen posts about £6.5k instruments. Eek.

£6.5k is a professional level instrument.
Most good amateurs will play on £2-4k instruments. (second hand good ones or lesser quality new).

Go for it!

1805 I threatened to have his ear pierced and a dog lead clip from that to the case. The 2hrs prior to the Xmas concert meeting every bus on the circular route in the freezing cold was not fun!

OP all 3 of mine were/are choristers. absolutely the best thing ever for them (no choir school here though, and of course the girls sing up to school leaving age).