page_title: French horn
section_title: Natural horn
hierarchical_section_title: French horn / Related horns / Natural horn
caption_attribution_description: English: Natural horn, French, by Marcel-Auguste Raoux, Paris, about 1826, inscribed Raoux, brevet, seul Fournisseur du Roi, Rue Serpente Paris. Brass and silver mounts, inside of the bell painted in green and gilt lacquer. The instrument is fitted with a series of changeable medial crooks within the outer coil, so that it could be played in a number of different keys. Photographed at the V&amp;A museum, London, 02-Jan-06.
context_page_description: The French horn is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B♭ is the horn most often used by players in professional orchestras and bands. A musician who plays a horn is known as a horn player or hornist.
  Pitch is controlled through the combination of the following factors: speed of air through the instrument; diameter and tension of lip aperture in the mouthpiece; plus, in a modern horn, the operation of valves by the left hand, which route the air into extra sections of tubing. Most horns have lever-operated rotary valves, but some, especially older horns, use piston valves and the Vienna horn uses double-piston valves, or pumpenvalves. The backward-facing orientation of the bell relates to the perceived desirability to create a subdued sound in concert situations, in contrast to the more piercing quality of the trumpet. A horn without valves is known as a natural horn, changing pitch along the natural harmonics of the instrument. Pitch may also be controlled by the position of the hand in the bell, in effect reducing the bell's diameter.
context_section_description: The natural horn is the ancestor of the modern horn. It is essentially descended from hunting horns, with its pitch controlled by air speed, aperture (opening of the lips through which air passes) and the use of the right hand moving around, as well as in and out of the bell. Although a few recent composers have written specifically for the natural horn (e.g., György Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto), today it is played primarily as a period instrument. The natural horn can only play from a single harmonic series at a time because there is only one length of tubing available to the horn player. A proficient player can indeed alter the pitch by partially muting the bell with the right hand, thus enabling the player to reach some notes that are not part of the instrument's natural harmonic series – of course this technique also affects the quality of the tone. The player has a choice of key by using crooks to change the length of tubing.
caption: A natural horn has no valves, but can be tuned to a different key by inserting different tubing, as during a rest period.
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