In this video lesson, Expert Katherine Liesener teaches how to sound notes accurately when playing French horn.



Transcript: KATHERINE LIESENER: "Hi! I'm Katie and I'm here on behalf of expertvillage.com, to talk about how to work on accuracy. Accuracy is one of the hardest thing with the French horn because it depends not just on getting the right fingering down but also a exact placement of your embrasure. So really the biggest trick to accuracy in horn playing is muscle memory. It is playing enough time that you know what for example a high F feels like because you played it so many times so that when you get your passage you have to hit that high F your embrasure automatically goes to the exact position. It is very much like for example in golf, a golf swing like at first if you are first swinging in golf swing it is very conscientious but if you do it enough times your muscles remember on there own how to do it. So that F; there it is. If I can try to remember what that feels like then I should be able to hit it from any position. You could play any note before you should still be able to hit it. It is still there because the muscles remembered on there own where it was so it is also another reason to practice regularly so that you can get the feeling of those notes under your lips."

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.