Natural Horn in an ensemble setting

Horns at work


Initially sharing a playing technique with the trumpet, the two instruments belong to the natural brass family. Both trumpet and horn are restricted to the natural overtone series and are played without any interference in the bell. Any corrections of pitch done to the 11th and 13th partials are through use of lips and air to bend these tones closer to tempered pitch. Virtuosi were able to apply this technique to bend partials down to include a few lower neighbor pitches.