In this video lesson, Expert Katherine Liesener teaches how to use embouchure and your lips correctly when playing French horn.



Transcript: KATHERINE LIESENER: "Hi! My name is Katie and I'm here on behalf of expertvillage.com and I'm going to show you how to keep your corners set when you play the French horn. So when you go to buzz into your mouth piece like so, it is important that you keep the corners of your mouth set. A beginner player is more likely to buzz very loosely like this something like that and you notice when I did that everything is buzzing here. What you want to do is you want to keep your corners, the corners of your mouth set almost like a pucker like this. If they are set then it focuses you buzz, it focuses the air that way air is not escaping out in the sides of your mouth. One other thing with beginning horn players in particular there is also a temptation to puff out your cheeks and that is something that is probably originated from pictures of seeing Louie Armstrong who's cheeks puff really big. But you don't want to do that because that dissipates the pressure of your air flow. Keep your cheeks in, keep your corners set and then all the air you are blowing is your blowing directly from your vibrating lips and you are going to get the nose out of it."

1. How to Play French Horn: Getting Started
2. How to Hold the French Horn
3. How to Use Mouthpiece Pressure on a French Horn
4. How to Use Embouchure & Lips on a French Horn
5. Sounding Notes on a French Horn
6. How to Play a French Horn with Complex Fingerings
7. Understanding Volume Dynamics on a French Horn
8. Changing Pitch With Embouchure on a French Horn
9. How to Adjust French Horn Intonation With Slides
10. Hand Stopping the Bell on a French Horn
11. Adjusting French Horn Intonation with the Hand-in-Bell Technique
12. Stopping & Muting on a French Horn
13. Slurring Notes on a French Horn
14. Legato Tonguing on a French Horn
15. How to Play Staccato Notes on a French Horn
16. How to Play Accenting Notes on a French Horn
17. How to Play Glissando Notes on a French Horn
18. Emptying the Spit Valve on a French Horn
19. How to Oil the Valves on a French Horn
20. How to Grease the Slides on a French Horn
21. French Horn Practice Tips
22. French Horn Training Methods
23. How to Play the French Horn Standing Up

In this course, eHow Expert Katherine Liesener gives 23 video lessons on How To Play the French Horn. Learn basic tips and techniques for playing this brass instrument, including how to hold the horn, form proper embouchure, and changing pitch using your lips, the rotary valves, or by putting your hand in the bell. Also learn some intermediate French horn skills involving orchestral music, like how to play slurs, legato, glissando, staccato, and accent notes. Finally, get some practical care and maintenance tips for your horn, as well as some basic guidelines for creating a practice routine.