I am currently playing Mozarts 3rd Horn Concerto, and I am stumped. Some notes sound fine, but others are terrible. Do I go a whole/half step up/down? thanks.

IF you are doing a fingered trill you go with the key signature of the piece. So for Mozart's 3rd horn concerto you would trill from C up to D. Traditioanlly we do a lip trill for this, if you have not learned lip trills then play the C open on your Bb horn and play the D with your 2nd valve on your Bb horn. Technically the 2nd valve D will be out of tune, but with the trill no one will notice. You could also play D with your 3rd valve on the Bb horn but I don't know if you can get your ring finger to go fast enough.

Trills always go up one note in whatever key you're playing in. Some trills will be a whole step, but some will be one half step depending on where you are in the scale. I have recordings of some players starting the trills in Mozart's Concerti on the top note, and others starting the trill on the lower note. So I think you can be "safe" starting on either one, unless you have an instructor that insists on your doing it a specific way. I good idea is to listen to a recording of the piece so you can get a good idea of the style. The 3rd concerto is the most often performed so you won't have any troble finding a recording in your local library.

( I hope this makes sense! Don't be afraid to ask for clarification.)

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