Many single B-flat horns have a thumb valve. So while you give up something with it compared to the triple, as there are no low F or high F sides to use, you do gain something by losing all that weight that you can’t really visualize without actually trying the horn. Especially for me having played a triple now for several years this weight reduction is quite interesting, the instrument feels as light as a feather and notes speak very quickly.
You don’t realize how much weight you are blowing through with a double horn until you pick up and really try to play a good single B-flat. The biggest advantage of the single B-flat is that the instrument is light and very responsive. But there are still pros that use single B-flat horns to be found, and it may be poised to make a comeback. It was a big controversy then that is still not totally resolved but the vast majority of pros use double horns of some sort today with triple horns coming on strong. Is there any advantage to playing a single B-flat horn?Ī hundred years ago there were professional players using single F horns, single B-flat horns, and the only recently invented double horn. I have a fingering chart posted here that makes the fingerings for Single F, Single B-flat, and Double horn clear. Also, remember, in the hands of the beginner it is pretty arbitrary what the fingerings are, they just need to use the correct ones for the instrument in their hands and they are good to go. A good fingering chart should make clear the proper fingerings for a single B-flat horn. They are not notated in a way that directly ties the fingerings to trumpet or mellophone fingerings and are not the same fingerings as on single F horn either. We would think of the fingerings as being the fingerings that we would use on the B-flat side (“thumb down”) on a double horn when notated in F. For horn players, the world is always conceived to be in F. This photo is of that horn, now being used by my nephew in 6th grade band.Īre the fingerings like trumpet fingerings or horn fingerings or?Īlthough pitched in B-flat, they are not thought of by the player as being in “B-flat” like a trumpet or baritone.
Something like the last movement of Mozart 3 was much, much better on the single B-flat the back to back comparison was undeniable. It was quite interesting as it was obvious from the first notes on this student model instrument that the single B-flat is a much easier instrument to play than the comparable single F, also by Conn, that I had borrowed from ASU. Last summer, working on my book Introducing the Horn, I purchased a basic Conn three valve single B-flat on eBay. I don’t know if I seriously tried one between then and last summer. Years ago, as an undergraduate I did a few trials on single B-flat horns owned by my school. I always tell people they need to keep their eyes open, a better horn is probably out there, keep looking for it.
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