If there were no such thing as the Horn, what would you play?

hornplayer.net Information archive

If there were no such thing as the Horn, what would you play?

I personally love the sound of an oboe or english horn. An instrument with plenty of challenge, classified as a target for melody most of the time. Plays in concert key. But, how could it be played in a woodwind quintet without the horn?

Cello. Love to listen to them.

Without a moment's hesitation I would have to say the cello. I do play it, but not nearly as well as I like ( middle school players could challenge me out of a chair!). Maybe I need a few more hours in the day for cello practice alone.

I think the cello comes the closest to the horn sound and feeling. Sometimes when doubled with the horns in the orchestra, it takes a good ear to tell them apart. Also, it is a very intimate instrument.

Someone said once:

"If god didn't exist, mankind would be forced to create one because man can not live without god"

If the Horn didn't exist, I would be forced to create one because I can not live without the Horn!

If there were no such thing as the horn, I would probably still be playing the flute (which I still love - one of the hardest things about taking up the horn was that I didn't have time to do both so i had to let my flute playing slide a bit).

Hmmmmmm. Life without horn? I would have to play Bass trombone. But if I didn't I would probably join a mental institute.

Well, I do play double bass and piano, but the only possible replacement for horn would be the trombone, an instrument for which much excellent music had been written by 1600.

I would probably still be playing the instrument I started on...The Clarinet. I switched because the horn was more unique, and it caught my interest...So that is probably what I would play if there were no horns.

Baseball.

I would probably play the other instrument I play now and the one they tried to get me to play when I started band...tuba.

well...definitely not a reed instrument....probably the euphonium because of the richness of the sound. I couldn't handle the constant trebleness of high woodwinds although they produce pretty sounds.....I am hooked on the alto/tenor voice...Heck...I even sing alto!!

If the horn did not exist, I would play harp. There is nothing like the harp parts to Capriccio Espagnol or Nutcracker, not even the opening of Bruckner 4. (Just played both the Rimsky-Korsakof and the Tchaikovsky recently.) Or how about keyboards? The orchestra director here does a wonderful job when playing a harp part in a piece to accompany a bass solo. Some of the best musicians I have known (and wealthiest, to boot) have been keyboardists. I played synth for a few years in high school in a rock band, which was a fun gig. My mother complained about our relative wallet contents. But, well, I'm a horn player.

If there were no such thing as horn, I'd play the fool?!!!

What would I play without horn? Well, I played cello for a few years.. but my future improvement was ultimately retarded because I hadn't started right. I WOULD NOT play another brass instrument besides maybe euphonium. Trumpet and trombone players always have such demented lips. As far as sound goes, in my opinion, any type of instrument, when played well, sounds awesome. However, in consideration of my own tendency to want solos and attention, I would probably switch to violin or oboe so I could sit up front and tune everyone, or I would conduct and be wild. Oboe, seriously, would be pretty nice; especially since I find horn and oboe similar in nature of beautiful tone, difficult intonation. Oboes are expensive, but what the hell, so are horns.

Life without horn....i didn't know it existed!

I would definitely have to play the harp if the horn didn't exist...I have always been intrigued by the harp.......

I would play on the computer because it is almost as enjoyable as horn.

If the horn didn't exist, then neither would trumpets or trombones, right???

The very first horn was probably plucked off some poor ram and then probably the same guy, unaffected by how unhygienic or smelly or dirty the twisted thing seemed, tried to blow through it as hard as he could and miraculously created a crude, constipated note that sounded kind of like your father or brother after eating bean dip and yet it was loud enough to generate an echo from the surrounding hills. Somehow this became a trend, it caught on and men went round plucking horns off poor unfortunate rams.

Without being pedantic (if the horn didn't exist then neither would trumpets, trombones etc!) I'd either play Trombone or Cello. Trombone because, well, because! And also for the other reason someone said - there's music from 1600 onwards for it. Something like the Tuba restrains one to Romantic and 20C works. I'd choose the Cello because it's just got such a beautiful sound (second to the horn of course!)

All the views expressed in these articles are those of the author of the article. Hornplayer.net is in no way responsible for opinions expressed. Hornplayer.net is not responsible for any actions taken as a result of information contained within this website.

Back to the archive index

The information published herein is believed to be correct, however, the author assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Hornplayer.net does not support, condone, endorse or agree with any statement shown on the site, other than those that are explicitly stated as being the official position of hornplayer.net. This contents of this website includes data added by anonymous third parties, and is dynamically included in the pages with no verification by the owner of hornplayer.net. While effort is made to ensure that all third-party data is appropriate and within the bounds of the law, hornplayer.net accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any statements or claims made.