 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ClarientPlayer
Date: 2013-09-25 01:10
Hello everyone, I am an advanced high school clarinet player and school band isn't cutting it for me. I want a new challenge, playing french horn! I want to take up horn because I feel that i would be more valuable to my school band and I love the instrument. So my question is, will playing french after I practice clarinet each day mess up my clarinet playing, embouchurewise? I'd still play clarinet, but i'd practice horn afterward so my lips dont feel to weird when i play clarinet. It is also worth noting that I have tried playing horn, and I can actually hit some pretty high notes (my horn friend said it was higher than most highschool horn players can play) and play in general without buzzing my lips or putting excessive effort.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-09-25 01:28
In a word, no. You can take up any other instrument you please. In fact, playing a different instrument will improve your clarinet playing by giving you a new perspective.
I sing, play a lot of recorder and a little flute and oboe. These have only benefited my clarinet playing.
The only harm would be neglecting the clarinet for the horn. Learning horn doesn't mean you can keep where you are on clarinet without practicing it just as much as you're doing now.
Ken Shaw
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Author: AAAClarinet
Date: 2013-09-25 06:54
If I play my oboe or clarinet before I play my trumpet my lips won't vibrate properly. But going from brass to clarinet there is no problem.
AAAClarinet
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-09-25 12:33
AAA -
If I jump from contra to Eb, or from bari sax to clarinet, my embouchure feels numb for a minute or so but is fine after that. When I've played bass and soprano clarinet in the same concert, I've practiced etudes, switching back forth at the end of each line. Then I didn't notice the difference.
Ed Palanker -- Did you have any difficulty switching, and if so, how did you cope with it?
Ken Shaw
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Author: rtmyth
Date: 2013-09-25 14:36
I played clarinet, oboe, and recorder, all pretty well, but nonprofessionally, fortunately.
richard smith
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Author: TXMusicMom
Date: 2013-09-26 12:02
My son, like you is a senior and plays Clarinet. He is drum major. Wants to study clarinet performance in college. He has taken up the marching euphonium in order to audition for DCI. It is for him, the easiest of the brass instruments to learn. I imagine it may help with his aural skills and theory.
My concern for him is the time commitment in addition to practice time, college visits, applications and auditions. Marching season is intense without all that other stuff.
The brass instruments do seem to be more fun in a marching setting!
Enjoy your marching season and your senior year!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-09-26 15:26
People whose opinion I trust on this topic point out that of all the brass French horn requires the most subtle of embouchures and single reed playing will deaden your lower lip to these subtleties.
If I were you I'd get some feed back from a decent French horn player. I think you'll have to chose between single reed and horn.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: 78s2CD
Date: 2013-09-26 17:45
Thanks to my friend George Libman for pointing me to this thread. I haven't been on this board for a while.
I've been there and done that. I can't think of anything that could have helped my clarinet chops more than playing horn. It's great muscle building exercise, but the horn needs to be worked on every day with at least a thorough warm up over a full four octave range (once you have the strength). I'd also recommend taking horn lessons. I didn't for several years and I regret that. Learning the fundamentals is really important.
The biggest problem I've had is trying to play at my personal best on both instruments concurrently. It's hard to serve two masters. Playing a two hour band rehearsal in the morning on clarinet is a terrible way to prepare to play horn in an afternoon or evening orchestra concert.
My bottom line is if you love the horn and want to play it, go for it. There is nothing I know of that will inherently hurt your clarinet chops. But be careful. you may eventually find yourself preferring to play horn. And there are a lot of opportunities to play.
Sincerely,
Jim Lockwood
Rio Rico AZ
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-09-26 18:37
You say you want to take up horn?
The nice men with the clean white lab coats are waiting outside to take you away to your new home. We've asked them to be gentle......
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-09-27 02:01
David -
I have always depended on the kindness of strangers (and my streetcar is named Desire).
Ken Shaw
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2013-09-30 18:00
I did this for a few years before putting the horn down. The difficulty I had was going from Bb/A clarinet to F horn. My brain heard the wrong note when I saw it written on the page. That's not a big issue on clarinet for the most part but was a big problem on horn, which really depends on hearing the note first in your head so your embouchure will make the note. This wasn't a major problem on practice days but I always needed to NOT play the clarinet on the day before a performance, playing the horn only in order to get my brain in sync with the horn.
I still plan to get back to it when I have more time in the future. It's an absolutely lovely instrument to play.
MOO,
Matt
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2013-09-30 18:13
That's sort of interesting, Matt...do you have perfect pitch? Do you have the same problem switching from A to Bb to Eb clarinets?
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Author: AAAClarinet
Date: 2013-09-30 18:26
For me, switching from oboe to English horn is no problem, but going from Bb trumpet to D or Eb trumpet messes with my head.
AAAClarinet
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Author: marcia
Date: 2013-10-01 05:12
>That's sort of interesting, Matt...do you have perfect pitch? Do you have >the same problem switching from A to Bb to Eb clarinets?
I am a closet horn player (I play it for a couple of months each year) and the point of the pitch comment is the fact that with any horn fingering, or any brass instrument for that matter, it is possible to play many pitches ie. the harmonic series. On a woodwind instrument if you have the correct fingering, then most likely you will get the correct pitch. On a brass insturment you have to "know" which of the many possible pitches is the correct one. The pitch that comes out the end of the instrument depends on the embouchure. Being able to "hear it" before you play it is essential to playing the correct pitch.
The world of brass is very different from the world of woodwinds. I have heard more than one horn player say that it is possible to play any pitch with any fingering. That might be a slight exageration, but that differs greatly from the woodwind situation of having multiple fingerings for the same pitch.
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Author: William S
Date: 2013-10-01 09:43
I took up the bass trombone last December so I could give myself the opportunity to be inadequate on yet another instrument.
I am mainly a bari sax player, but I play a lot of clarinet and the other saxes too and I switch between them very often. If my experience is anything to go by (and it may not be), going between horn and clarinet will not be in the least bit detrimental to either - other than by dividing your practice time.
As a result of playing bass 'bone I now fully appreciate what "an air-hungry instrument" really means, I have to think much harder about the next note I'm going to play and to pitch/voice it correctly otherwise you can get an unpredictable result. I also think I sing better as a result - which is some kind of miracle.
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Author: 78s2CD
Date: 2013-10-01 15:05
William makes some very good points. Having enough practice time to support to different instruments is tough. That's why, after a couple of seasons of playing Eb clarinet in one band and horn in a couple of others, I'm taking a break from clarinet. Other than the time element, playing horn has significantly improved my clarinet playing, and much of that has to do with learning to manage breathing. I too have become a better singer as a result.
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Author: TAS
Date: 2013-10-01 15:08
Started clarinet in the fifth grade, began alto saxophone in the eight grade, tenor sax in grade ten and flute in grade 12.
After a long career in music, I appreciate the literature for each and the performance opportunities (musical theater, jazz, big band, solo, ensemble and classic orchestral/ wind band).
Not enough folks master more than one major instrument.
With much of current wind band literature nothing short of an insult to competent clarinetists, I can understand why you want to play something else 
TAS
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2013-10-01 16:34
clarinetist04:
I do not have perfect pitch but yes I can easily hear the differences between A/Bb clarinet. Marcia described the issue very well. A brass player needs to hear the pitch of a note in his/her head before he/she can play it because the same fingerings can produce many different notes, mostly wrong. For the most part, all a clarinetist needs to have is the fingers in place before he plays the note. Not quite true of course but for this discussion it's close enough.
MOO,
Matt
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Author: 78s2CD
Date: 2013-10-01 16:59
My horn teacher 25 years ago said he thought my lousy attacks were due to associating written notes with Bb clarinet pitches. However, I think the truth is I was just a lousy horn player and didn't practice enough to change that. To this day I, and I think many horn players, need to find a pitch reference before each entrance. You need to be able to sing the note, at least mentally.
And, of course, the horn is the most treacherous of all the brass instruments because it is played higher on the overtone series, which means for an attempted note there are a lot more nearby wrong notes with the same fingering than on a trumpet, for example.
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