The Art of French Horn Playing [Paperback]

Philip Farkas (Author, Composer)

Book Description

Series: Art of | Publication Date: June 1956

First to be published in the series was The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, now Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at Indiana University. In 1956, when Summy-Birchard published Farkas's book, he was a solo horn player for the Chicago Symphony and had held similar positions with other orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Kansas City Conservatory, DePaul University, Northwestern University, and Roosevelt University in Chicago. The Art of French Horn Playing set the pattern, and other books in the series soon followed, offering help to students in learning to master their instruments and achieve their goals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Suzuki Method International (June 1956)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874870216
• ISBN-13: 978-0874870213
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Best But Does Need Amendment, March 14, 2003

By 

Reader (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of French Horn Playing (Paperback)

Philip Farkas's book is still the best. May it long be published! (Perhaps I speak prematurely. I have not yet seen Verne Reynolds's new book on horn playing, published by the Amadeus Press.)

There are a few areas where I would like to see it brought more up to date, though. In the chapter devoted to maintenance, Farkas advocates using valve oil for lubricating the valves. That is out of date advice that I religiously followed and quickly wore out my valves' bearings, which made them clack within a couple of months of purchase of the horn. Nowadays, the better advice is to lubricate the upper and lower bearings with key oil, which has much more lubricity than valve oil, and to use valve oil strictly between the rotor and the casing as a space filler, administering the oil through the valve slides. Ever since I started searching for it in 1959, I never did find Linen Cuttyhunk string, but I think technology has moved ahead and what's now available will outlast that string manyfold. Slide greases have also improved greatly, and I don't think anyone seeks out gun grease for slides anymore. (I still use Marvin Howe's old favorite: wheel bearing grease.)

In his chapter on embouchure, Farkas included nearly everything. But he omitted mention of the levator and depressor muscles, the ones that bare the teeth, without whose participation it is impossible to form an aperture, so essential to tone and response. He was obviously using them-- I am sure I see that in the photograph of him playing-- but he might have been unaware of it. The mouthpiece also forms part of the horn player's embouchure. The angle between the mouthpiece and the face isn't quite perpendicular with the horn (or with any brass instrument) because there would otherwise be no way for the upper arch of the lip aperture to form, since the levator muscles are at the side of the nose and do not act on the center of the upper lip.

Nobody seems to take his advice about fingerings. Practically everyone is sure Farkas has ordered everyone to switch from the F horn to the Bb horn at G#/Ab. He did no such thing. He designated the region between G#/Ab to C as an optional area. Many need to reread that section. There is one place, though, where he was a little too arbitrary, and I wish he hadn't influenced people. He advises against ever using the third finger alone to play A on the grounds that trilling to the Bb above it would cause a cross fingering. That's true, but a third finger A is the only one that would make a trill from G# to A possible. He could have gone more into how fingerings need to be selected by what will facilitate playing, beyond what he discussed about the section about the switch from the F horn to the Bb horn and vice versa. Maybe Farkas didn't want to complicate things too much.

His chapter on tonguing emphasizes the need for accuracy. But as for gaining speed, alas! it hasn't helped me much. What he is describing sounds perhaps like a controlled flutter tongue. My tongue just won't cooperate with his instructions, or anyone else's, so I use double and triple tonguing (neither one mentioned in this book but mentioned in his Art of Brass Playing) for successions of sixteenth notes after around 104 beats per minute. I've inquired around, and I've found I'm not alone in this.

His recommendations about breath control appear to collide with those of the school of Arnold Jacobs, the esteemed tuba player also of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and whose teachings about breath control are now sacred among most brass players. In no way would Mr. Jacobs agree to Farkas's proposition that the throat hold back air during soft playing or any other. I'm still trying to sort that one out. A veteran trombone player from that orchestra told me once that Farkas could not have been following his own advice in the matter.

Another area where others might disagree with Farkas is about how to phrase sixteenth notes. I saw a school of thought about that in Keith Stein's book, The Art of Clarinet Playing, in which that author advocated making a slight crescendo through the weak sixteenth notes, so as to make the note that falls on the beat a goal note.

The rest of the book is indeed strong. The use of double exposure to show hand position in the bell was a stroke of brilliance. His warmup routine is a real lip and accuracy builder. The recommended etudes are outstanding, as well. It's too bad, though, that Erwin Miersch's book of etudes wasn't out back in 1956. Farkas must have surely liked it when it appeared. His advice about intelligent practice is unique; I don't know why other method books, even ones for other instruments, don't lay it out so simply. His advice about stage fright is also wonderful, though I think a musician should also consult Barry Green and Timothy Gallwey's book The Inner Game of Music, which adds to what Farkas discusses.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Horn 'Bible', July 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of French Horn Playing (Paperback)

I refer to this book CONSTANTLY as a guide for practicing, and playing. I've also recommended this book to all of my horn pals. It covers (and explains) everything: tuning, warm-up, embouchure, transposing, hand placement, etc. with helpful pictures. If you're serious about horn playing, this is a MUST in your library of books -- leave it in your music folder!!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want to play your best? Buy this book!, January 10, 2001

By 

Jim (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of French Horn Playing (Paperback)

This book made me! Farkas' book is the most complete guide to playing horn I have ever read. It offers everything from lip position to advice for stage fright, and the BEST warmups you can ever use. Play his warmups for about half an hour every day, and in a month I guarantee you'll see results. This book made me the performer I am, and I can't emphasize enough how valuable it is to a horn player on any level. Buy it; it's well worth it!