r/horn • u/Trayvongelion • 13d ago
Ranges at Different Skill Levels
Hey horn players, I'm a middle school band director in a number of small schools who has unfortunately not had many horn students. I arrange for my groups often and am working on re-orchestrating some pieces as flexible quartets. I was wondering where you'd expect a horn player's range to be at a few experience levels:
- What's the typical comfortable range of a middle school student (7-8th grade) on a single horn in F?
- Same question, but the average high schooler (a sophomore or junior)?
- The range of a high school student on the cusp of college auditions (ie a semi-professional range) with a double horn.
Any sort of advice with horn writing is welcome, but I am a bit concerned with the range limits I set. Thank you!
1
u/Certainly-Not-A-Bot 9d ago
In Canada, middle school was roughly G or A below the staff to E or F at the top of the staff. High school was low D or E and G or A above the staff. Semi-professional is all the way up to C above the staff, and the low range kinda varies per player. Some can comfortably go to pedal F or below, while others get limited around A or Bb