finds many videos with excellent demonstrations of how to do this. String can be purchased through your music dealer or you may have luck with Dacron fishing line, as recommended by many websites devoted to French horn playing and care. Have your older students learn to re- string their own valves. All they need is a fresh length of string and a small flathead screwdriver. It should follow the same path as the strings on the other valves.
Oil each valve on the back where indicated in the picture, just below the screw.
If your students use a regular valve oil they have to
oil the instrument more often. All of the slides should be treated with slide grease. If the valves are not work- ing properly and a little oil doesn’t help, send it into the shop. The rotary valves are delicate and temperamental and taking them out is a job best left to a professional. The slides should all be lubricated with slide grease
so they move freely. Horn players will often find their water hiding in one of these slides and need to get them out and in quickly and quietly. The slides should not be pushed all the way in. Each slide is a tuning slide (on most models) and therefore not manufactured to be in tune all the way in. The smaller the slide, typically the farther in it needs to be. The main tuning slide is always the first tuning slide reached after the lead pipe. It tunes the entire horn and will affect all pitches played. The oth- er slide (usually on the back side of the horn, sometimes going up, and sometimes down) is the “F” tuning slide. It only tunes notes on the “F” side of the instrument. Your students should tune the “B-flat” side (thumb valve down) with the main tuning slide and the “F” side (no thumb) with the “F” slide. Because there are two sides to a double horn (“F” and “B”-flat), each valve has a cor- responding tuning slide—tune a note that uses 1st finger only with its corresponding slide on the top of the horn. Add the thumb and tune the note with the slide under- neath the top slide, continuing for each slide. To add a little more complication, some horns (such as the Holton Farkas 179) have a “B-flat” tuning slide that tunes all the notes on the “B-flat” side. In this case, your students can tune the “F” side and “B-flat”side in any order, keeping in mind that the main tuning slide will still effect both sides of the instrument. One of the most common and easiest repairs on French horns is re-stringing valves. A quick search online
MARCH 2018
7. Know where to find the answers Although the French horn can be a daunting instru- ment to teach, knowing where to find answers to your questions or problems your students may have will help you be successful. YouTube videos are helpful with minor maintenance and repair issues. Private teachers in your area probably have a lot of specific knowledge and are usually great resources. A wonderful, time-honored re- source is The Art of Horn Playing by Philip Farkas. I par- ticularly like his pictures for holding the horn, restring- ing a valve, and right hand placement. A great online resource is
http://hornmatters.com/ Please feel free to contact me at the email below if I can help answer any questions that may arise.
RESOURCES:
“Beginning French Horns: Five Tips to Save Your Sanity.” By Mike Pearce.
www.banddirector.com
The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, published by Alfred Music, 1995
Sherry Baker, sh
erry.baker@fay
ette.kyschools.us, is completing her
fourth year teaching elementary and middle school hand for Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, KY. She is currently teaching at Crawford Middle School and the Carter G. Woodson Academy, as well as elementary schools. Before becoming a band teacher, Baker held playing positions with the Battle Creek Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony, the Richmond Indiana Symphony, and the Lexington Philharmonic. She held teaching positions at Arkansas State University, Grand Valley State University, The College of Mount St. Joseph, and Centre College. She continues to perform and teach private French horn lessons in the Lexing- ton, KY area. She is married to Michael Baker, a theory professor at the University of Kentucky. They have two children. When she s not working or spending time with her family, Baker enjoys reading mystery novels, quilting, and knitting.
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