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Article
Arizona State University

Arizona State University: Why Was the Valve Invented?

For Students 9th - 10th
Dr. Ericson holds firm to his beliefs that the valve was not invented as "a mere crook changing device." Dr. Ericson embraces the idea that the "co-inventors of the valve clearly intended to perfect the brass instruments by making them...
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Article
Arizona State University

Arizona State University: What Was the Omnitonic Horn?

For Students 9th - 10th
This Arizona State article suggests that the omnitonic horn and valved horns were invented in the same era and for the same reasons. However, further reading points out the differences between the two. The explanation for their invention...
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Article
Arizona State University

Arizona State Univ.: Horn Folklore & "Urban Legends"

For Students 9th - 10th
This Arizona State University article more appropriately falls under the heading of literature, but Dr. Ericson's statement in the first paragraph, "I am amazed by the rather large body of plausible sounding folklore which has been...
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Article
Arizona State University

Arizona State University: Natural Horn & Its Technique

For Students 9th - 10th
Arizona State's descriptions of the horn are broken up by illustrations of the horn, players, and music. There is a big discussion of crooks (not the kind that go to jail), but the kind that are made when you bend metal! The author notes...
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Article
Other

French Horn Stopping Why the Pitch Shift?

For Students 9th - 10th
The opening four points of this article point out the 4 special challenges of playing the modern French horn. When the player uses the "stopping mute", he/she must transpose the music down one semitone in order to play in the correct...