The Alphorn like other natural horns are limited in the number of different tones you can play. The Alphorn produces the so called overtone series. There are no valves on the Alphorn like on a French horn or a trumpet. This means that not all notes of a scale can be played on the Alphorn and we are limited in the melodies we can play. This is both the beauty and limitation of an Alphorn.

Also, we are accustomed in these days to the well tempered piano scales and that is why we recognize some of the Alphorn notes as being not in tune. Indeed the f# is even sharper than a normal f#, and the b sounds like a b flat on the Alphorn. 

The Alphorn is an archaic instrument which originates as a solo instrument originally played in the mountain regions of Switzerland, Germany and Austria. When played solo or with other Alphorn players using the same length of an Alphorn, the limitation of the notes or the sharpness of the F# is not really a problem, however, when played with modern day instruments or an orchestra, the Alphorn often sounds out of tune. As mentioned above there are also limitations of what melodies we can play.

The Alphorn in Switzerland is mostly played in the key of F#. When played with other instruments, Alphorn players mostly play the F – horn, because the F-Alphorn is easier to integrate with other instruments and can fits well in pieces in the key of C, F, or A. Still, there is the limitation of notes that can be played on an Alphorn. An F-Alphorn has a longer lead pipe than the F# Alphorn.

A combination of a F Alphorn and a F# Alphorn already would give double as many notes as one horn alone, but it is not feasible to change the lead pipe of your Alphorn during a performance or play with two Alphorns, one in F and the other one in F# during a performance. An F-Alphorn has a longer lead pipe, however, to switch from one horn to the other during the performance of a piece is not practical.

It is the beauty of an Alphorn to produce the archaic overtone series, however, there are also Alphorn musicians who still dream of a satisfactory solution to expand the range of an Alphorn to all notes of a modern day orchestra.

Several attempts were made in the past with valves or wholes to expand the range of an Alphorn, but all attempts so far were unsuccessful and did not produce accurate pitches. The quality of the tone was not satisfactory, they were not in tune with some of the notes still being sharp or flat, and the pitches did not lock in easily and could not be played in fast melodies.

WILLSON Band Instruments in Switzerland were approached with the problem of expanding the range of the Alphorn. WILLSON is a very fine producer of high quality brass instruments, and they have a patented system of ROTAX rotary valves which they use for their instruments. They worked together with Alphorn players to produce an Alphorn Adapter which fits onto the Alphorn, and for the first time in the history of the Alphorn the result is excellent. With this ROTAX adapter, all the notes can now be played on the Alphorn, and it now fits easily into a classical orchestra or a jazz band. Because of the high precision of this patented ROTAX adapter it comes at a price, but for the first time in the history of an Alphorn, a chromatic scale can now be played with accuracy and speed. This opens up many new possibilities for the Alphorn! Please contact the International Alphorn Society at info@alphornusa.com for more information.