Concert Time Beginning Band Book 1 - French Horn: French Horn Method Book

Balmages and his co-composers understand that beginning hornists need variety to stay engaged and motivated. The 15 pieces span different styles and compositional approaches, which means you're not asking students to drill the same harmonic or rhythmic patterns repeatedly. This collection rewards early progress while still providing material that challenges growing musicians without overwhelming them.

A well-curated setlist rather than a drill book. Each piece has its own character and voice, from straightforward melodies to more intricate textures that respect where young hornists are developmentally. The cumulative effect is one of progression through styles rather than monotonous repetition.

First-year band students ready to expand beyond fundamentals, and second-year students starting fresh at the beginning of the school year. The collection works equally well for hornists taking on solo lines in a beginning band setting or serving as part of a section learning to blend.

• Introduce pieces thematically rather than sequentially. If a particular student struggles with a style in one arrangement, the variety means you have options nearby without skipping material.
• Use contrasting pieces back-to-back in rehearsal to highlight what makes each one distinct. This helps hornists understand stylistic shifts and keeps their ears active.
• Start with shorter, rhythmically straightforward pieces to build confidence, then layer in works with more compositional complexity as the book progresses.

Slot these pieces into your concert repertoire throughout the fall and winter months when you're building foundational skills. A few arrangements work well as warm-up material or sight-reading fodder at the start of rehearsal, while others belong on full concert programming. The stylistic range means you can program one piece that feels jazz-inflected, another that lands in folk idiom, and a third with a more classical sensibility, all from the same book.

• Reading and executing articulation in multiple styles
• Sustaining tone across the break with growing control
• Responding to dynamic shapes at the beginning band level
• Balancing between melodic independence and sectional blend
• Sight-reading confidence through exposure to varied rhythmic and melodic patterns