In this video lesson, Expert Katherine Liesener teaches how to control volume when playing French horn.



Transcript: KATHERINE LIESENER: "Hi! I'm Katie and I'm here on behalf of expertvillage.com, I'm going to show you how to play loud and soft on a French horn. Basically the volume of the notes that you play depends on how quickly the air is passing through the horn and also how much air. So a louder note is one that is pushing a large amount of air as quickly as possible through the horn. A softer note is one using less air and is passing more slowly. The concept is pretty simple but there are a couple of things that you want to remember first of all if you are playing softly you have to make sure that at least enough air is going through that you don't loose your buzz. You require some air pressure to keep the lips vibrating, they vibrate over that flow of air and if the flow of air stops, then its much more difficult to vibrate. So if you are playing soft your just want to keep the note going. You could see that its still very soft but it never peters out. So now one thing to remember when you are playing loudly is you don't want to over blow and that happens when a horn player want to play very loudly and they just push as much air as possible and what happens is that they loose control and it actually pops up to the next note or that it blows sharp. So you want to play loudly but you want to try to control the air and control the buzz that is the biggest thing. When you are playing loudly,don't let it effect your embouchure. So for example and that is how you play loudly and softly on a French horn."

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.