French Horn
F4 on the French Horn
Written F4 — sounds concert B♭3. Tap the diagram to hear it.
Plays the real sound: written F4 sounds concert B♭3 on french horn.
Written F4 is valves 1 on the F horn: the 6th partial, 2 semitones below open G4. It sounds concert B♭3. This slot is close to in tune, so it is a good reference for the hand position 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 F4 is valves 1 on the F horn: the 6th partial, 2 semitones below open G4. It sounds concert B♭3. This slot is close to in tune, so it is a good reference for the hand position 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 1
- Written pitch: F4 · Concert pitch: B♭3
- Sounding frequency: 233.08 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 6 — the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for F4
- B♭ side (thumb): open: Thumb (B♭ side), open. 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.