French Horn

Family

Brass

Description

Brass family instruments produce their unique sound by the player buzzing his/her lips while blowing air through a cup or funnel shaped mouthpiece. To produce higher or lower pitches, the player adjusts the opening between his/her lips. The brass family can trace its ancestry back to herald French horns, hunting horns, and military bugles. The main instruments of the brass family include the trumpet, trombone, French horn and tuba.

The horn or French horn consists of about 12 feet of narrow tubing wound into a circle. The player obtains different notes on the horn with a clear mellow sound by pressing valves with the left hand and by moving the right hand inside of the bell.