All tutors at International Music School Cardiff are hand-picked, highly trained professional musicians with an enthusiasm for teaching their instrument. Lessons take place in our city-centre venue, and it is our vision to create a place where music tuition of the highest quality is delivered alongside regular professional concerts and public performance opportunities for our students.
What should you expect from horn lessons?
In your horn lessons you will learn about the horn’s unique mechanics. You will learn how the instrument works and what to do in order to produce a sound. Once you know how to produce an even sound the vast range of repertoire available to the horn player will be explored.
Your teacher will be an experienced chamber musician and orchestral player and will introduce you to playing music in groups, ensembles and orchestras early on. Because the horn is such a social instrument you will meet a lot of other instrumentalists and make many new friends on your new musical journey.
It is important that you get a good instrument to learn on as nothing is more frustrating for a beginner than having a bad instrument that works against you. International Music School Cardiff’s trusted instrument supplier is Gamlin’s music shop and we will be happy to put you in touch with them.
A little bit about the insturment
The French horn is wonderful instrument to play for a number of reasons. Firstly, because it looks really special with its round shape and long tubing (around 14ft long!). Secondly, the horn produces a unique warm and mellow sound, quite different to all other brass instruments. Thirdly, the horn is a very important instruments in orchestral music and it often symbolizes nature – perhaps because it is one of the oldest instruments known to mankind.
Playing the horn is by no means an easy thing to do. Among the actions required to produce different notes on the horn are pressing the valves, holding the right amount of lip tension, positioning the tongue correctly, raising the soft palate, lowering the larynx, blowing air into the instrument and placing the hand into the bell. All this is required in addition to a naturally strong musicality, of course!
If all this doesn’t scare you and you are up for learning one of the most fantastic instruments, the horn is definitely for you! Once the basic techniques of sound production are mastered, the French horn opens up a huge range of musical possibilities: brass bands, concert bands, military or marching bands, classical orchestras, as well as solo and chamber music.
