IMSLP Forums

Hello IMSLP. I came to ask about some help in transcribing some music. I'm a trombone player so I generally don't have to deal with finding my key too much on my instrument, but my question is this.

If I were to have a standard french horn, key of F instrument. How many steps would I have to go up or down to be in the key of D?

Up a perfect fifth from concert pitch will do it, although there are some provisos. Be careful about going above the treble clef staff. A good professional horn player can get up to about high C (2nd leger line), although this is better left to the rare occasion, and I think they prefer scalic approaches to these high notes rather than leaping, since it's like grabbing at something unstable that might not be there. Also bear in mind that in orchestral writing, the 1st and 3rd horns are the "high" players, and 2nd and 4th are the "low" players. This means 2 staves can be used efficiently without any crowded notes. Hope this helps!

A440 for an Oboe (in C) = E in the Top Space of the Staff (for a Horn)

Hope this helps.... (I'm a horn player who often has to do this with trumpet music (in Bb) and Sax music (in Eb) so I KINDA know how you feel)