Could anyone tell me what a plus sign + written above a note would mean on a score by Respighi in the horn part? This comes up as a question on a theory past paper and I'm stuck!

Anybody help please?

Sara (non horn player )

I think it means that the note should be hand-stopped (i.e. the pitch and quality of the note should be changed by pushing the hand more into the bell). The sound is more brassy and nasal, and since the pitch is changed by hand-stopping, the player has to transpose by a (further) semitone.

Chris

Good grief! That sounds really specialist stuff. How on earth are you supposed to get that right

Thanks, Chris

I guess it's tricky for the player, but as far as the composer or the listener goes, it just means a different sound. It's also called bouche (should be an acute accent on the e).

Chris

There is no hard and fast rule; some fingerings work better but that also depends on the instrument itself. A lot of the time it's guess and hope (using a keen ear, of course!)

It might also appear in German as gestopft (sp?)

Its a standard technique - you'll need to know stuff like that for the orchestral questions eg. harp/string harmonics and flutter tounging.

Thanks. I don't know much about brass technique

Sara

i wouldn't worry, this is probably the only brass tech. thing you'll get apart from mutes or con sord etc.

On the F side, you practise; on the Bb side of a high specification horn you have an extra valve that you depress for hand stopping.* If you don't have that valve, you stick to the F side for hand stopping, since on most of the pitches on the Bb horn the standard three don't give you the right adjustment.

* Your hand has to be fairly tight in the bell to get the right sound, and a small hand goes in further than a large one, so the amount of extra tubing you need varies. Having a dedicated valve allows you to adjust its tuning slide for this.