French Horn Vs Piano Research Paper

French Horn v.s. Piano - Maxwell Miller The french horn and the piano were invented long ago and since then changes have been made to further improve the instruments and make them more suitable for playing music. These instruments are used very differently from each other in music while they both hold key roles. Both instruments are a challenge to learn and to master, and both have unique characteristics that make them difficult to play.
The Horn was invented for the purpose of hunting and sending messages across large distances. The earliest brass horn was simply a round tube that the user would wear around their body that the user could play only shelves on one key based on the size of their horn. They would play while riding on horseback so that they could easily alert others of a situation by playing different notes. Even before these horns, the earliest of all horns were animal horns that were blown through for signaling since it could only play one note. The horn was first used musically in the 16th century for operas as a simple part. The larger bell found on modern horns first came about in the 17th century as the horn became more for the purpose of music. Later in 1753 movable slides were added to the horn allowing the user to tune their horn in order to change the key in which they
are playing. 1760 came and a new technique called handstopping was invented. This technique allowed the player to change the note that they played by blocking the bell with their hand. This technique is still used today in modern music in order to change pitch, or more so to damper or change the sound and tone of the instrument. In the 19th century the first modern french horn came to be as valves were added which made it so that all notes could be played on the horn by using different fingering patterns for different notes and different shelves. The piano was invented for the purpose of music but had many predecessors before it was invented. With the knowledge of stringed instruments, in the 14th century the earliest version of the piano was made called the dulcimer. This instrument used strings that were struck by wooden hammers in order to make sound which was amplified by a box of hollowed wood. Soon after, the clavichord was invented and based off of the ideas of the dulcimer. This instrument is the first to show resemblance to the modern piano with a similar key board and box that the strings and hammers rested in. When a key was struck, the attached hammer would strike a string inside the box creating the according pitch to the struck string. After the clavichord, the spinet, virginal, clavecin, and gravicembalo were invented in the 15th century with similar construction leading to the modern piano. Following the gravicembalo was the harpsichord which very closely resembles the modern piano with nearly identical appearance and application. The issue that the harpsichord presented was that it lacked the ability to alter the loudness and tone of the music. The piano fixed that problem allowing the player to change the loudness and tone of their music depending on how hard they hit the keys. The first modern piano was made in 1709 forever changing music. Today there are even digital pianos that are capable of doing all the things a regular piano can do as well and record music, play music, provide a metronome, etc. The piano is a very versatile instrument that can be and has been played in many situations. Weather classical, jazz, modern or minimalist, the piano has a place in all genres of music. It can be the only instrument, the main instrument, or an accompaniment to just about any kind of music. Its an instrument that allows you to play any kind of music you want to and can set the mood of a room within seconds. The french horn is limited in the kinds of music it plays but holds a key role in where is excels. Jazz may not be suited for the horn, but symphonies depend on it for background as well as starring in shocking solos. The horn has a large range that provides horn players with a wide variety of parts in music. Different techniques enable the horn to have different brassy sounds or smooth elegant and flowing sounds. It can be staccato, legato, fortissimo, pianissimo, and everything else. With the french horn comes the challenge of playing it.
It requires being able to buzz into the french horn in such a way to easily switch between and recognize the different shelves in a key while using different fingerings that can be the same for some notes on different shelves or completely different for other notes. Some notes can even be played with multiple fingerings which can be useful depending on the situation. Memorizing the fingerings is one thing but learning to correctly hit all the shelves and play both high and low notes with good tone and volume is another. Playing the french horn takes years of practice to learn and a lifetime to
master. The piano presents the challenge of being able to read and play several notes at a time in both the bass and the treble clef. Learning the notes of the piano is a fairly simple task as the notes ascend left to right chromatically but being able to read the music and play is quite difficult. Learning to correctly position your hands is important because you need to be able to swiftly fly across the keys and accurately press each key at the correct time with the right tone and volume. The piano isn't simply keys though, pedals at the feet are used to change the sound by softening the music, sustaining one played part, or sustaining everything played. The use of these pedals adds to the music and its complexity as well as the beauty of a piece. Both the piano and the horn were invented a long time ago and went through many changes, but today these instruments have very different roles in music and have different complexities to playing them. These instruments are essential to music today and hold important roles in history. They have influenced people in many ways and have brought the creation of new music that wouldn’t exist without them. The piano and horn may seem extremely different from each other but they do indeed find common ground.