What would be an ideal range to have if you were to play french horn professionally? What's the lowest/highest note ever written for horn? I'm still in high school, but I'd like to know so I could set a decent goal to shoot for.

Many thanks!

The ideal range would be the entire range of the horn.

This morning I had a rehearsal and my lowest note today was the E below the bass clef. In this same rehearsal my highest note was C above the treble clef. Last month I had to play an Eb above the treble clef staff. The highest note actually written for the horn that I know of is an F above the treble clef (and sorry I forget which piece that is).

I would suggest having a note or two higher than you think you will need. That way if you're having a bad day you will still be able to get the notes you need to get and play them well.

Hope this helps.

I'm not really much of a professional (yet) but I'm a constant F above the staff, and I think that concludes most orchestral horn playings. It's also a note in Wicked the Musical (which was amazing btw).

On good days I can hit the C above that, and I once hit a D, but I can't seem to hit that again. D:
I think the lowest note I know of in orchestral playing is a C# below double pedal F.

Hope it helps!

What's the deal with the pedal note terminology? I understand that a double pedal note would be an octave lower than that pedal note, but where's it all start?

P.S. Wicked the Musical was WICKED!!! I went to New York a few years ago with my highschool band and saw it. It's the first musical I've seen, but still, it's amazing!

One octave below our middle C, is considered single pedal C. The C an octave below that is double pedal C. This is the lowest C, the fundamental note, of the French horn.

The F below the staff, is the single pedal note on the Bb side of the horn. The F an octave below that on Bb horn is the double pedal, fundamental note, the lowest F on the Bb side of the horn.

If you want to learn to play pedals, and I strongly advise you do, start with the Bb side of the horn. They're much easier on the Bb horn than the F horn. Practicing double pedals is a great way to develop your embouchure.

Valerie Wells
"The Balanced Embouchure" for French Horn
Wells123456@juno.com

I'm a 5 year French horn player and my range on the French horn is:
Lowest: a Ab-F below the F under the staff (I couln't really tell I had gotten so low. I kind of lost track what note I was trying to hit.)
Highest: on the French horn I can get up to a C above the staff on decent days. But, whenever I'm playing mellophone(aka-the marching French horn) I can get up to an E-F above the staff.

Thanks a lot, everybody!

From what I gather, I'd make a great 2nd or 4th horn player 'cause I've got a decent low range: Fundemental C (I can lip it down to a Bb, but it's not very audible) up to G right above the staff. I can play up to a C, but it's neither pretty nor consistent.

You're welcome! I hope that my information was of help to you! =]

Fredrick,

Don't relinquish yourself to 2nd or 4th horn. My favorite horn positions in order are 4th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd.

Regarding range: as a professional player playing 4th horn you would need a high D (2 1/2 ledger lines above the treble clef). At your age presently with your present range there is no reason you would not be able to accomplish getting a good and consistent high D by the time you enter college.

(Regarding Wicked, I didn't think it went up to an F above the staff)

...but I'm a constant F above the staff ... On good days I can hit the C above that, and I once hit a D, but I can't seem to hit that again. D: I think the lowest note I know of in orchestral playing is a C# below double pedal F. - Kite56

You can consistently play F above the staff? Really? and the C above that? Really Maynard? That is this:




Double pedal as far as I know means the octave below the pedal note. So pedal F is notated on the bottom of the bass clef... and double pedal F is four ledger lines below that.

That means this:





Are we talking old or new transposition? Because I know no human being that can play a written C#1 on a horn. Apparently your range is thus:

Lowest fart




Highest squeals

Regarding range: as a professional player playing 4th horn you would need a high D (2 1/2 ledger lines above the treble clef). At your age presently with your present range there is no reason you would not be able to accomplish getting a good and consistent high D by the time you enter college. - JOhnlovemusic

I don't know a single person other than myself that has put themselves through all the pain to be able to play a D above "high C" at least half consistently at the highschool or early college level just so they could be a 4th horn player. Most people I know have trouble with the high Bb in Mozart and Strauss concerti - and I'm talking 2nd and 3rd year college horn players. I don't think somebody who is happy playing 4th horn should need to strive for a D above high C - that's just insane.

By all means, go for as much range as you can acquire, but don't kill yourself. And take it slowly. If you can pull your horn out of your case and pluck out a high C without flaw after having not played for hours, you have some skill.

My personal range encompasses (but does not necessarily sound good) these written notes:

High: (half note denotes most extreme note I can consistently play)




Low: (starting from a mid C, or written C4, half note means nothing here)




That I think is the range all horn players should strive for. Now a lot of players may HAVE that range, but the real goal is to get COMFORTABLE with that range and be able to make smooth transitions from octave to octave by playing full range scales. Yes, I mean 3.5-octave scales. 4-octave on some if you can, but even that is considerable overkill.

I'm just confused as to how people think they have these insane ranges unless they're counting octaves wrong. 0_o