Gershwin® by Special Arrangement: French Horn Book & Online Audio

Carl Strommen's arrangements deliver the swagger and style of Gershwin's jazz idiom without asking horn players to improvise or fake their way through changes. French horn players rarely get to sit in the pocket of a real jazz groove with this much confidence, and these charts make that possible from day one. The compatibility across the instrumental series means you can build an entire jazz ensemble from books that actually work together.

Playful, urbane, and effortlessly cool. Gershwin's melodies carry an optimism and lyrical warmth that swing with style rather than aggression. Each tune feels like a conversation between a sophisticated melody and the jazz accompaniment underneath, never forcing the horn player to choose between musicality and groove.

Intermediate French horn players who want to experience jazz repertoire in an accessible, written format. This works equally well for students in a jazz ensemble, hornists seeking stylistically rich solo or small-group material, and directors building a jazz program without requiring every player to develop reading skills beyond their current level.

• Approach the swing eighth notes with the underlying lilt of jazz phrasing rather than strict metronomic precision; let the rhythm section (or the online audio) anchor the pulse while you shape the melody.
• Study the recorded accompaniment before rehearsal to internalize the harmonic movement and the groove of each tune, especially in the variation sections where the arrangement shifts.
• Balance your tone between the brightness needed to cut through the jazz texture and the warmth that keeps Gershwin's lyricism intact; this is not classical legit playing, but it is not brash either.
• Mark the form clearly in your part so you can navigate repeats and variations without losing your place; the 24-page book moves through 11 songs with different structures.

Program these arrangements in a jazz concert or pops concert context where you want to showcase familiar American standards in a fresh setting. Use them as a bridge between the classical repertoire your horn section reads and the jazz idiom you want them to understand, or feature individual selections as solo-with-ensemble pieces in a chamber or recital program.

• Reading and executing jazz articulation and swing eighth notes
• Navigating chord changes and harmonic movement without improvisation
• Shaping lyrical phrasing within a jazz groove
• Understanding form and variation sections in jazz arrangements
• Balancing tone color between classical legit and jazz idioms