Loud Brass Voicings

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Some guidelines regarding brass voicings at a forte or fortissimo dynamic.

We are assuming trumpets and horns have valves.

1. Trombones generally play a complete triad. If lower in pitch, an open voicing is cleaner,
if higher in pitch, a close voicing works well.
2. Trumpets generally play a complete triad in close position.
(If there are only 2 trumpets, they will play 2 notes of the triad.)
3. Distance between highest trombone and lowest trumpet is usually less than an octave.
4. Spacing generally follows the harmonic series, with larger intervals in the bass, smaller
intervals in the treble.
5. If notes of the chord are missing in the middle range, they will generally be filled in with
French horns. Note that the horns, not being able to play as loud as trumpets or trombones,
double up to balance (example A).
6. If only one note of the chord needs to be filled in with the horns (example B), then the
remaining horns will double both the lower trumpet and upper trombone.
7. If no notes need to filled in with the horns (example C), then the horns need not be
doubled up and are typically arranged in close position, doubling the middle voices.

There are certainly exceptions to the above, but the above can be relied on to give a full,
well-balanced sound.

Ex. A Ex. B Ex. C

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Example of problematic loud brass voicing:

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At a loud dynamic, 2 horns per note needed to balance trumpets

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and trombones.

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No interlocking or overlapping of horns and trumpets.
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