French Horn
A♭3 on the French Horn
Written A♭3 — sounds concert D♭3. Tap the diagram to hear it.
Plays the real sound: written A♭3 sounds concert D♭3 on french horn.
Written A♭3 is valves 2-3 on the F horn: the 4th partial, 4 semitones below open C4. It sounds concert D♭3. This slot is close to in tune, so it is a good reference for the hand position in the bell. Low register on the F side: relax the jaw and let the air slow down rather than forcing.
About this note
Written A♭3 is valves 2-3 on the F horn: the 4th partial, 4 semitones below open C4. It sounds concert D♭3. This slot is close to in tune, so it is a good reference for the hand position in the bell. Low register on the F side: relax the jaw and let the air slow down rather than forcing.
- Primary fingering: F side + valves 2 + 3
- Written pitch: A♭3 · Concert pitch: D♭3
- Sounding frequency: 138.59 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 4 — the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for A♭3
- B♭ side (thumb): valves 2-3: Thumb (B♭ side) + valves 2 + 3. The same note on the B♭ horn (3rd partial). Safer to hit in fast or loud passages; check the tuning against the F side.
French Horn fingering data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.