Various Bassoon Techniques

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Bassoon Techniques

Embouchure

The main purpose of an embouchure is to make sure air is not escaping through any other place than the reed, thus making it one of the most important aspects of any instrument to master.

Thought it is at first tempting to cover somewhere between one-half to two-thirds of the reed when first encountering the bassoon, one must resist this urge. Instead, the player should cover the front third of the reed.

The teeth should never come in contact with the reed. Only the lips should be touching it. The lips should be firmly holding the reed, but the student should take great care not to put too much pressure on it by either rolling the lips inward or overtightening the jaw (this usually happens because a student attempts to force the bassoon to change the pitch with their mouth, not the air pressure). This leads to biting, which causes problems not only in sound production, but in tone quality, intonation, and fatigue for the player (one would be amazed at how fast even a little bit of tension can wear a musician out).

Once the embouchure is set, a student can check how if the embouchure is correct through a process called crowing. This simply involves having the student blow through the reed (mind, not a lot of air is necessary for this process). If the embouchure is correct, the sound made should be multiphonic, or, it should sound like several notes are being sounded at the same time. Many have likened it the sound of blackbirds screeching, hence where the term crow-ing gets its name.

Like anything that has to do with music, it will take time for the student’s embouchure to develop and happen without outside assistance. A teacher should always be on the lookout for errors that th...

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...l the air would simply rush out), and steadiness is the key to proper exhalation. Any time a student plays a note, he is exhaling. If he were to relax his support, air would come faster (or even leak out) and ruin the solid tone he was producing. But if his air support stays steady and constant, the tone should, in theory, stay the same.

A good exercise to practice that can help with support and exhalation involves taking a small slip of paper and holding it at embouchure level against a wall. Stand about six inches away from the wall and begin blowing. As soon as the air hits the paper, remove the fingers. If the air being released is steady and constant, the paper should be held, unmoving, against the wall. If the paper falls or moves around slightly, the air support (and possibly embouchure) needs some work.

Fingering Charts

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