The French horn is made of brass. A metal cup-shaped mouthpiece produces the sound. Its tone blends nicely with all woodwinds. The sound of the French horn is soft and round, which makes it an ideal companion to the woodwinds. A French horn has practically two horns in one, the F and Bb.

When the French horn is not muted with right hand, the notes produced can be unstable. Muting the bell by hand diminishes the projection of the higher notes and this stabilises tonal integrity. Muting the bell raises the pitch half a step, half-muting it lowers the original pitch by a half step. Muting also alters its timbre.

Legato is beautifully performed with the French horn (provided the range is smaller than tritone), which is why it is used often for long melodic passages. Originally it was introduced to the orchestra as a pedal instrument and to support the dynamics of the strings. Two French horns in octave unison is a particularly well-functioning combination and this is used very often. This technique produces an airy and archaic sound. The lower the melody is written, the more space should there be between the two French horns, or another brass instrument.

As with other brass instruments, it is possible to sing into the horn while playing and alter the tone with the valves.

The French horn is tuned to F, so the material written for it must be transposed perfect fifth up.

Recommended combinations:

The French horn is often combined with flute
The French horn with clarinet (also bass clarinet)
Muted French horn with strings 'sul ponticello'
The French horn with oboe (or cor anglais; not used as often, but works)
The French horn with bassoon (not used as often, but works)

Problematic combinations:

Two French horns closely arranged
The French horn and trombone closely arranged (esp. in the lower register)

Listen to the audio samples:

Melody (320 KB)
Buzz (105 KB)
Dobbelzunge (99 KB)
Trippelzunge (110 KB)