French Horn
E♭4 on the French Horn
Written E♭4 — sounds concert A♭3. Tap the diagram to hear it.
Plays the real sound: written E♭4 sounds concert A♭3 on french horn.
Written E♭4 is valves 2 on the F horn: the 5th partial, 1 semitone below open E4. It sounds concert A♭3. The 5th partial sits flat, so lift it with the air and open the right hand slightly in the bell. Most players stay on the F side up to written G4, where its partials are still far enough apart to find.
About this note
Written E♭4 is valves 2 on the F horn: the 5th partial, 1 semitone below open E4. It sounds concert A♭3. The 5th partial sits flat, so lift it with the air and open the right hand slightly in the bell. Most players stay on the F side up to written G4, where its partials are still far enough apart to find.
- Primary fingering: F side + valves 2
- Written pitch: E♭4 · Concert pitch: A♭3
- Sounding frequency: 207.65 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 5 — the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for E♭4
- B♭ side (thumb): valves 1: Thumb (B♭ side) + valves 1. The same note on the B♭ horn (4th 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.