Horn section

A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular-music genres the term is applied loosely to any group of woodwind or brass instruments, or a combination of woodwinds and brass.

Symphonic horn section

In a symphony orchestra, the horn section is the group of symphonic musicians who play the French horn (or German horn or Vienna horn). These musicians are typically seated to the back of the ensemble and may be on either side at the director's discretion. Placing them to the left with their bells toward the audience increases the prominence of the section, whereas on the right, the sound reflects off the back of the stage. The order from the principal horn (first horn) to the fourth horn is right to left from the director's view. The section is ordered in this way so the principal horn may be heard by all players, as the principal sets the timbre and intonation of the section.

Popular-music horn section

Horn section of Ojos de Brujo

In the argot of American popular music, the word "horn" is used for any wind instrument, most often the saxophone, but it is also applied to all woodwinds and brasses, especially those played by soloists (Anon. 2013). In this context "horn section" refers to a group of wind and brass instrumentalists — usually comprising saxophone, trumpet and trombone players; sometime singularly, and sometimes in pairs or more of each instrument. The horn section usually has written parts which are prepared by an arranger using orchestration to provide a harmonic and melodic accompaniment to a song or musical group. In some cases, the horn section may improvise a simple backing part using well-known "stock" lines.

Horn sections are an integral part of musical genres such as jazz, R&B, blues, funk, calypso, ska, soul music and gospel music. Most of these horn sections feature some combination of saxophones, trumpets and trombones. More rarely, other wind or brass instruments such as flute, clarinet or tuba may be added. Other popular musical genres, such as rock and pop, also use horn sections.

Notable horn sections

Horn sections in blues bands and funk groups may be composed of session musicians playing arranged parts, or they may be a consistent group of musicians. A small number of horn sections use a consistent group of musicians who become well known as a unit.

References

Anon. 2013. "Horn (ii)". Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, Oxford Music Online (11 February; accessed 21 April 2016).

Orchestra and Concert band

Ensembles	Orchestra Concert band Chamber orchestra String orchestra Conductorless orchestra Radio orchestra

Leaders	Concertmaster (in orchestras) Bandmaster Conductor Music director

Sections of the orchestra	Woodwind section Brass section String section Percussion section Keyboard section

Basic orchestra instruments	Flute Oboe Bassoon Clarinet French horn Trumpet Trombone Bass trombone Tuba Violin Viola Cello Double bass Percussion Timpani Basso continuo instruments during Baroque music era Harpsichord Pipe organ Lute Theorbo Violone Viola da gamba

Sections of the concert band	Woodwind section Brass section String section Percussion section Keyboard section

Basic concert band instruments	Piccolo Flute Oboe Bassoon Clarinet Bass clarinet Alto saxophone Tenor saxophone Baritone saxophone French horn Trumpet Trombone Euphonium Tuba Double bass Percussion

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