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Ahorn section is a group ofmusicians playinghorns. In anorchestra orconcert band, it refers to the musicians who play the"French" horn, and in a British-stylebrass band it is thetenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the term is applied loosely to any group ofwoodwind orbrass instruments, or a combination of woodwinds and brass.
In asymphony orchestra, the horn section is the group of symphonic musicians who play theFrench horn (orGerman horn orVienna 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. Most of the time, players are seated right to left from the director's view based on seating, with the principal horn (first horn) being seated on the right and fourth horn seated on the left. 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.[citation needed]
Horn sections are an integral part of musical genres such asjazz,R&B,blues,soul,funk,calypso,Afrobeat, andgospel. Most of these horn sections feature some combination of saxophones, trumpets and trombones. More rarely, other wind or brass instruments such asflute,clarinet ortuba may be added. Other popularmusical genres, such asrock,pop,hip-hop,latin, andcountry music also use horn sections.[citation needed] When only woodwinds are involved, the term "reed section" is often used, even when flutes are included (Anon. 2002).
Horn sections inblues bands andfunk groups may be composed ofsession 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.
