Fingering Chart French Horn

This virtual instrument allows you to play around with French horn fingerings or even listen out for what various combinations of valves produce. It’s played using your mouse as you click notes on grid. Alternatively, if you prefer something more tactile, then you could use your computer keyboard instead.

The interface can display both the concert pitch and written pitch. This is useful because, as you know, F horns are transposing instruments. Notes appear in the main grid from low F through to high G. A tap anywhere in the cell select that note, while the little dots confirm the pressed valve for each cell too.

How to Use the Virtual French Horn

The large display panel on the right side instantly shows the note name and its concert pitch. It also shows required valve settings. This lets you learn the fingerings visually without having to look down from the screen.

The middle section of the hero panel contains the three large circles that show the status of valves one, two and three respectively. If the valve are active for the chosen note, then its circle will fill with color. This immediately shows you where each finger of your left hand should be placed physically. These big valve circles is also clickable so you can hear current note once more by clicking on them.

In the upper right-hand corner of the controls there’s also a volume slider. It is initially set at a moderate level, but you can adjust it up or down based off how loud you like to listen or what volume works best for your headphones. If you’re in a communal room, or practicing late into the evening, then you might wish to reduce the volume accordingly.

The play all button lets you hear whole range of notes in one go rather than having to click on them individually. It does this by triggering an ascending scale that starts with bottom note and goes through to top of the instrument. It is great for quickly getting used to the structure of the harmonic series and warming up your ears. Again, you can halt the sequence anytime by just clicking the button once more.

Below the diagram of valves is the button to play a note. On its own this will repeat previous chosen pitch, allowing you to concentrate on the timbre and make comparisons in your mind different than other sounds. Because it sustains the sound, you are able to analyse the ring and think about it as if using a sustain pedal during a practice session.

With this device, you can see not only the sounding pitch, but also the written one, making the concept of transposition easier to understand. Note that the horn in F above reads a perfect fifth below what is written but the written note is clearly labelled as such in smaller print just under the larger note name on the panel. That way there’s no need to do any mental arithmetic from one pitch to another.

The how to play button in the upper right corner of the screen toggles a help panel. This panel expands into a short explanation of controls, valves, and valve patterns. It can come in handy when you forget which buttons is used for what or want a quick refresher on notes that require valve pressure and ones that don’t.

There is also a distraction free practice option in full screen mode. Clicking the fullscreen button expands the widget to take up your whole screen. The note grid and valve diagram become a lot bigger, which is useful if you have a small monitor or are using it on a phone. To go back to normal size just click out of fullscreen or hit the escape key.

The interface operates nicely with a keyboard for navigation. Use the tab key to move from button to button or between cells on the note grid. Pressing either space or enter select a cell and plays its sound. The accessibility option makes it possible to use this instrument without having to use a trackpad or mouse if preferred.

You can clearly see in this example that the horn do follow a pattern with its harmonic series but with certain rules to abide by. The open notes that do not require a valve are C, E, G, and the higher Cs. F and D notes tend to use valve one, while B notes is covered by valve two. The other notes arise from combinations of these so having the patterns marked out will aid memory more effective than pure rote learning.

Choose a slow melody and play it through using only your fingers. By choosing the notes one after another, you will find out how moving your fingers changes the pitch. Listen to when you change from an open note to using valve combinations. Notice where some of the changes seem awkward. This information help you practice these changes on the actual instrument.

Before you begin your playing session you will have heard full range using the play all feature. This shows the range of the instrument and how much closer the higher harmonics are compared to the ones lower down in the upper register. More accurate control of the embouchure should of been needed when playing a real horn so hearing the density prepares you for this.

It is effectively a secure sandbox in which to explore fingering. It removes concerns about air support and intonation but focuses solely on the mechanics of playing the horn; specifically, how valves relates to pitch. Each valve and note combination can be explored fully at one’s convenience. Starting with the note of middle C and hearing what it sounds like with all valves closed; then going onto D and noting that the first valve comes into play but still ascending through the scale to identify any changes in pattern. By doing this you are building an aural roadmap of where the notes lie on the instrument. Enjoy discovering the fingering and sound in time at a pace that suits you.