Baritone & Euphonium Lessons in Denver
Colorado Honor Band offers baritone horn and euphonium lessons in Denver, Westminster, Thornton, Centennial, and Littleton. Our after school music program provides weekly one-on-one coaching and band classes, seasonal public performances, a yearly summer camp, and national and international travel opportunities.
General Baritone & Euphonium Information
The baritone horn is an instrument that all band directors are always wanting in their band since it has a very important role in the music. The baritone horn is a rather new instrument, created in the late 1800’s, compared to other instruments that have been around in the music world for a longer time. Because of this, it’s use has been only in band, including brass band, brass choir, marching band and drum and bugle corps. Due to its “late birth,” only a handful of pieces have been written to include it within an orchestra.
Most students start on a 3-valve baritone horn then later, usually in high school or college, switch to a 4-valve euphonium, which is essentially the same instrument (there are differences but will not be mentioned). These instruments are part of the low brass section, which also includes trombone and tuba. Baritone plays music written in the bass clef and has a beautiful tone quality for playing lyrical melodies. Yet, due to having valves like a trumpet, it can play very technical music. It uses the same sized mouthpiece as a trombone and can read the same music as a trombone Many baritone/euphonium players also learn to play trombone to expand their musical experiences for playing in orchestra and jazz band.
Baritone Horn and Euphonium’s Role in Music
Baritone parts usually have some very lyrical melodies, sometimes solos, showing off its beautiful tone quality and use of vibrato. It can also have very technical parts of rapid sixteenth note passages within a piece, so it gives the player a wide variety of playing opportunities. Beginning players usually will play the same music as the trombone and as they progress, the baritone music becomes a separate part from the trombone part. The range of an experienced player can be almost 3 octaves.
Famous Baritone Hornists
- Simone Mantia
- Leonard Falcone
- Brian Bowman
- David Werden
- Matthew White
- David Childs
- Katrina Marzella
Baritone & Euphonium Repertoire
- Trombone & Baritone Gems, Solo Collection by Vandercook
- Beautiful Colorado, by Joseph DeLuca
- The Carnival of Venice, arr. by Arban
- Napoli, by Herman Bellstedt
- Blue Bells of Scotland, by Arthur Proyor
- Morceau Symphonique, by Alexandre Guilmant
- Guide to the Euphonium Repertoire: The Euphonium Source Book by Lloyd Bone, Eric Paull, R. Winston Morris
- Complete Method for Trombone & Baritone, by J. B. Arban
- Melodius Etudes Book 1,2,3, by Joannes Rochut
Baritone Videos
Carmen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08v0aCrh4Hg&nohtml5=False
Carnival of Venice, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-goWYNsEK8