Thank you for your detailed reply, Paul. I was into math and science before I was into music, and I'm well acquainted with the overtone series. I was one of the few in my undergraduate music school who actually enjoyed the class - most of my fellow musicians found it torture and I ended up tutoring quite a few of them. My current fascination is with the "inharmonicity" of the overtone series on piano strings (which is largely, as I understand it, the reason that octaves must be stretched when tuning a piano).
I'm enjoying my adventure with the horn. Most of my practice right now consists of just sitting (or standing) around and playing things I know already. The difference between the 2 concert D's is something I did notice but, I confess, I take steps to correct everything I play on the horn without even thinking about it most of the time, and since I'm not playing anything quickly yet, I have plenty of time to listen and correct as I play. I seem to be correcting to even-tempered, A-440 pitch, probably a habit I will have to unlearn at some point but it's just what comes naturally to me now. So far, all my bending is happening by lip or breath - I'm not using a change in hand position because I don't know how to do that. And I frankly don't know whether it's lip, breath, or both that I'm using. Perhaps a slightly longer introduction is in order. I used to teach Theory at Mannes College of Music in NYC (mid-80's to late 90's or so), and have perfect pitch to an almost ridiculous point - in college, someone had a metronome with every pitch from 435 to 445 on it, and I could correctly identify which 'A' was being played, to the exact cycle per second, almost every time, and certainly to within a number or two every time. My skill in this area has probably waned a little over the years but I very much enjoy the ear/brain process that goes into tuning and am looking forward to learning more about all this as I learn more about the horn. I've never had occassion to use anything but even temperament that I'm aware of. Fascinating instrument, this horn. Thanks again to you and to everyone who has responded. -S- > -----Original Message----- > From: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > du] On Behalf Of Paul Mansur > Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 11:52 AM > To: The Horn List > Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Newbie question > > > On Thursday, October 7, 2004, at 11:59 AM, Steve Freides wrote: > > > A question: why is the fingering for concert D above middle > C (written > > as A above middle C for horn in F if I've got this right) > not given as > > open (no > > valves) in the fingering chart in my beginners horn book for B-flat > > horn? > > > Hi, and welcome, even if you do think in concert pitch. In a > nutshell, there are lots of alternate fingerings all over the > horn and you need to know them. The concert D, written a' > for horn in F, played on a Bb horn is a fifth harmonic of > the open Bb horn. This note is about 14 cents flat because > of the acoustic laws in force. It will be beautifully in > tune with a concert Bb, f' played on the Bb horn but out of > tune with the piano, a consequence of our out-of-tune tuning > of a tempered scale. The pitch will be higher, closer to the > piano if played with valves 1-2 as that note is a sixth > harmonic of the root, concert G. What is extremely important > for you is to learn the harmonic series of overtones from a > root or pedal tone of each fingering on the horn. You will > learn that an open dominant 7 chord is lovely on four open > horns, but quite raunchy if forced into equal temperament. > One of the great beauties of this beast of an instrument is > that you can control pitches with valve choices, with your > right hand in the bell, and with your lip, enabling you to > bend notes into tune with the instruments you are playing > with. All the fifth and tenth harmonics are flat. Sometimes > they are the best way to go, and sometimes they must be > altered. Don't give up, though. Keep going and you shall be > rewarded with some interesting experiences and have fun on > the way! (Have you noticed yet, that the 1st line e', eb', > and the d' > under first line are also flat on the F horn? That is > because they are fifth harmonics on the F horn.) > > CORdially, Paul Mansur > > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > unsubscribe or set options at > http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/steve%40fridaysc omputer.com _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
