Mellophone

The mellophone isbrass instrument thattypically usedplace offrench hornmarching bands.

Likehorn,mellophone has three valves. However,valvespressed withright handmellophone, instead ofleft forconcert horn. Also, although some ofmellophone fingerings aresame as those ofconcert horn,generally resemble trumpet fingerings more than horn fingerings. Mellophonestypically pitched inkeyF, like concert horns.

The main reason thatmellophoneusedplace ofconcert hornmarching isweight ofconcert horn, which makesall but impossiblemarch with. The mellophonealsobell-front instrument, so thatsound goes indirection thatplayerfacing. Thisespecially importantdrum corps-style marching,whichaudiencetypically standing or sitting on only one side ofband. The direction ofbell, as well asmuch-reduced amounttubing (as compared toconcert horn) makesmellophone look likelarge trumpet. In fact, most mellophones use trumpet-style parabolic ("cup") mouthpieces rather thansmaller, lighter, conical ("funnel") mouthpieces used on concert horns.

Naming issues

Althoughterms mellophonemarching French hornoften used interchangeably, theseactually two different instruments. The marching French horntypically larger thanmellophone, plays inkeyB flat,uses french horn fingeringsmouthpieces.

External links

• See http://www.hornplayer.net/archive/a129.htmlsome archived discussion about mellophones.
• Mellophone fingering chart