French horn
The horn is a brass instrument with circularly coiled tubing. Today’s usual horn in F is written a fifth higher than it sounds, traditionally without a key signature. In scores from the era of natural horns the horn’s pitch is given, for example “Corni in E” in Beethoven in the sheet music archive.
- Family
- brass instrument, circularly coiled tubing
- Horn in F
- sounds a fifth lower than written
- Clef
- treble clef, low registers also bass clef
- Key signature
- traditionally none
- Today
- usually a double horn in F and B♭
Circularly coiled tubing
The horn is a brass instrument whose tubing is coiled in a circle. Until the Classical period there were only natural horns without valves. For different keys, horns in different pitches were used, for example one horn in C and one in E♭ for C minor. Today orchestras mostly play a double horn, which combines an F horn with a B♭ horn a fourth higher.
A fifth lower than written
The horn in F is a transposing instrument: it is written a fifth higher than it sounds. In present-day notation this applies in the treble clef as well as in the bass clef. Traditionally the horn part has no key signature; any sharps or flats needed are placed individually before the notes.
Horn in F: written
Our own example, as it appears in an F horn part. This line is for looking at.
The same notes as they sound
A fifth lower: the written C4 becomes F3, C5 becomes F4. A C major triad is written, F major sounds.
Horn pitches in old scores
In scores from the era of natural horns the composer states which horn is meant. “Horn in E” sounds a minor sixth lower than written, “Horn in C” an octave lower. The table sums this up:
| Marking in the part | Sounds compared with the notation |
|---|---|
| Horn in F | a fifth lower |
| Horn in E | a minor sixth lower |
| Horn in C (low) | an octave lower |
In the sheet music archive Beethoven has “Corni in E”, Dvořák horns “in E, then C”: the players change the pitch of their horns in the course of the movement.
Horn in the sheet music archive
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Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 2nd movement: Largo Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), “From the New World”, op. 95 according to the sheet · score · 18 pages
Two staves for four horns: “Horn I II in E, then C” and “Horn III IV in C, then E”. Both have no key signature, while the flutes have five ♭. Above the second staff is “Solo IV”; both begin ppp.
-
Symphony No. 7 in A major, 2nd movement: Allegretto Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), op. 92 according to the sheet · score · 54 pages
The fifth staff is headed “Corni in E”. In bars 1 and 2 the horns hold a chord with the other wind instruments, f with a decrescendo hairpin; in bar 3, pp.
Common mistakes
- Reading horn parts at sounding pitch: The notes show the fingering; on the F horn everything sounds a fifth lower.
- Taking a missing key signature for C major: The horn part traditionally has no key signature; the key emerges from the context.
- Confusing “Horn in E” with the key: The marking names the pitch of the instrument.
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Related terms
TranspositionHarmonic seriesStoppedTromboneTenor hornNatural trumpetScoreOrchestraHorn fifths
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 4 October 2026
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