French Horn Solos: French Horn Book

This collection brings together proven contest and recital pieces at exactly the right difficulty for advancing young hornists. Smith and his co-composers understood what works on the contest stage, and the selection here avoids both the trivial and the overwhelming, giving students material that builds confidence while genuinely stretching their musicianship.

These pieces balance accessibility with genuine musicality. You'll find moments of expressive warmth alongside passages that demand precision and control, capturing the French horn's natural character as both a lyrical and virtuosic instrument.

Advancing young French horn players in middle school and early high school who are ready to move beyond beginner method books and tackle contest material. Teachers looking for carefully curated, pedagogically sound solos that reflect actual performance standards will find this collection invaluable for lesson planning and festival preparation.

• Approach the lyrical passages with a full, supported tone; French horn singing voice improves fastest when young players commit to resonant, connected phrasing from the start.
• Work the technical passages slowly enough to lock down the valve combinations without rushing; clean articulation matters more at this level than tempo flashiness.
• Use the piano accompaniment to establish ensemble context and musical shape; playing alongside the published accompaniment volume transforms a solo book into a collaborative learning experience.

Program a selection from this book as a solo spotlight in a winter or spring concert, pairing a student performance with the published piano accompaniment. The pieces work equally well as competitive contest entries or as anchors for a lesson-based solo recital where multiple students perform selections throughout the year.

• Sustained tone production in the upper and lower registers
• Clean valve articulation and rapid valve changes
• Phrasing and musical shaping in both lyrical and technical passages
• Reading and interpreting a variety of compositional styles
• Ensemble playing with piano accompaniment