Steve, Since I'm in digest mode, someone may have already answered this question before I get to it. But to make a long story short,
This concert D you speak of is not available as an in-tune harmonic on the F horn. To play it open would require much adjustment, either with lip or the hand, and would render it very difficult to play with steady pitch and/or good tone. So th 1-2 valve combination, or 3rd valve alone, will work much better. You are correct that this concert D can be played open, but only on the B-Flat horn. But typically, even though "less is more" with tubing length, the sound quality will not match very well with notes played just below this range on the F horn. Many American players, in concept, play the F side from concert C on down, and the B-flat side from concert C# on up. The difference in length between the F-side "C" and the B-flat side "D" played open is substantial. Hence, it will make a much cleaner tone transition on a double horn if a continuum of shortening tubing length is used: Concert pitch: Bb3 F side 1 B3 F side 2 C4 F side 0 C#4 Bb side 23 D4 Bb side 12 (or 3) In this manner the tubing length is more graduated and allows the tone colors of the two horns to match better in passages which require working in and around this range. Hope it helps more than hurts, Brent >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? >I'm learning pretty much on my own - my son takes lessons, we bought him a >new horn, and I'm playing the old one, which is a loaner from a school at >which his teacher works. When I asked my son's teacher about how to choose >among multipler fingerings, he said the general rule was to blow through as >little tubing as possible, so an open fingering is preferable to one with >valves held down. Why, then, is concert D not listed as open in the book? >The horn I have is a double and I get the B-flat horn with the thumb key. > >Put another way, I can play the first five notes of a major scale in concert >F, starting a fifth below middle C, by alternating open and the first valve >- why, if I hold the thumb key down, wouldn't I use the same way to play the >first five notes of a concert B-flat scale? The book shows 1 and 2, which >also works, of course. > >-S- >Steve Freides >Ridgewood, NJ Brent A. Shires Horn Instructor, University of Central Arkansas Studio Phone: 501-450-5768 Cell Phone: 501-472-3350 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.arkansashorn.org _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
