workbook - bassoon for band directors · bassoon for band directors workbook ... 2016 jonathan...

Bassoon for Band Directors

Workbook

For use alongside video course available at

www.bassoonforbanddirectors.com

Jonathan Bletscher - PA #2


Workbook

Table of Contents Bassoon Anatomy 3

Assembly 5

Inspection 6

Maintenance 7

Playing Position 8

Air and Embouchure 11

Building Tone 15

Bassoon Keys 16

Create Your Fingering Chart 17

Fingerings 21

Adjusting Reeds 23

Articulation 25

Intonation 26

Picking Your Bassoon Player 27

First Lesson Plan 28

Helping Your Bassoon Player 29

Additional Exercises and Resources 30

Durran Exercises 31

Tuning Tendencies 33

Wire Shapes and Tip Openings 34

Reed Adjustment Effects 35

Diagram of All Bassoon Keys 38

Buying and Repairing Bassoons 39

Workbook Sources


2016 Jonathan Bletscher PA #2 3

Bassoon Anatomy

Complete the labels for the different pieces of the bassoon:



Bassoon Anatomy

What is the (optional) bassoon hand-rest called? _________________________

The flattened shaved half of a bassoon reed is called the _______________ and the

round threaded half is called the _________________.

Bassoon reeds have ____ wires total, and ____ of them are used for adjusting the reed.

H

I



Assembly

List the steps necessary to correctly assemble the bassoon: What should students be taught to avoid when assembling the bassoon?



Inspection

Explain how you would inspect the following parts of the bassoon

Bocal

Reeds

Body



Maintenance

What details should a student be taught right away about bassoon maintenance?

What are two ways a student could easily cause expensive damage?

How is a bassoon reed soaked?

A. Only the blades (the front half of the reed) are soaked in water for 2-3 minutes

B. The reed is soaked in the bassoon player's mouth for 2-3 minutes

C. The entire reed is soaked in water for 2-3 minutes

D. Bassoon reeds are stored in water so they're always ready to play

Why is it better for a bassoon reed to be soaked in a container of water rather than a

student's mouth before use?

List at least 4 maintenance "DOs" and at least 4 maintenance "DON'Ts".

Do…

Don’t...



Playing Position

Seat strap

Explain how the seat strap should be placed and where the player should sit.

What symptoms might a student complain about if the seat strap slips slightly or is

misplaced toward the back on the chair?

Posture

Describe the most important aspects of good posture for playing the bassoon.

What do you look for to see if a student is sitting correctly?



Hand Position

Where should the weight of the bassoon be supported? Which hand controls the “roll” (rotation) of the bassoon? ________________ Mark the primary resting places for fingers on the front of the bassoon

Left Right

Mark the primary resting place for each thumb

Left Right

(Trick

question!)

Playing Position



Playing Position

Hand and Finger Position

Look over the ________ side of the instrument at the music stand and conductor

while playing.

The left thumb generally rests on the ____________ ______.

Describe the position and primary use of the right thumb when playing the bassoon.

What can you teach new bassoonists to help them prevent future hand injuries?



Air and Embouchure

In order to have a clear goal for tone development, all bassoon students need to…

Playing the reed and bocal alone should produce a ____ or slightly lower.

If I hear ____ instead, there's too much tension in the embouchure resulting in too

much lip pressure. The tone will sound pinched if the student doesn’t...

Air

Give at least two helpful illustrations or "tricks" for proper instrumental breathing.

What often happens when a young bassoonist is playing with insufficient air?



Air and Embouchure

Embouchure

Explain the bassoon embouchure as you would explain it to a student.

List 3 methods or “tricks” to help students form the correct embouchure.

1.

2.

3.

When playing the reed and bocal alone, what pitch should you hear? ___________



Air and Embouchure

A quick way to form the bassoon embouchure is _____________________________

______________________________________________________________________.

What makes a good bassoon embouchure? What can you look for to visually assess

whether the embouchure is formed correctly?

Name at least one common embouchure mistake you should look out for:



Air-Embouchure Balance

What is the Air-Embouchure balance?

More air through the reed causes the pitch to go ________.

Less lip pressure applied to the reed causes the pitch to go ________.

About ____% air and ____% lip pressure from the embouchure is a good estimate to

keep in mind for the air-embouchure balance .

Crow

Describe the desired sound of a bassoon reed crow. What sounds should you hear?

What is the Bomb Drop technique for achieving a crow?

Air and Embouchure



Reed and Bocal

What can a student practice by playing on just the reed and bocal? Describe at least

two useful exercises/activities.

Vibrato

What type of vibrato does the bassoon use? Intensity Vibrato Pitch Vibrato

How can a student start practicing vibrato?

Building Tone



Bassoon Keys

Label the indicated keys on the bassoon.

Return to complete this page as you learn new keys:

* indicates this key is an alternate option for another key

*

* *

J



Create Your Fingering Chart

Fill in the basic fingering for each note on the bassoon.

For reference, visit www.foxproducts.com/resources and click on “Let’s Play Bassoon”

Notes with very common or especially important alternate fingerings have two diagrams.

Complete one diagram for the basic fingering and the other for the alternate.



Create Your Fingering Chart (Page 2)




Notes:



How are bassoon fingerings related to clarinet fingerings?

Name the notes produced by putting down the following fingers (1 is the left hand

index finger, 6 and 7 are the "home" keys of the right ring finger and pinky). Assume

the whisper key is down for all fingerings:

Whisper only = __________

1 = __________

1 2 = __________

1 2 3 = __________

1 2 3 | 4 = __________

1 2 3 | 4 5 = __________

1 2 3 | 4 5 6 = __________

1 2 3 | 4 5 6 7 = __________

What are three simple tunes a beginning bassoonist can be taught to practice sets of

fingerings (include which notes the tune will help the student to practice)?

Fingerings



Fingerings

Half-hole

What are the three most common notes that utilize half-hole technique? Draw them

on the bass clef staff.

Flick Keys

Draw the notes which use each indicated flick key on the adjacent bass clef staff.

Hint: 1 note

Hint: 3 notes

Hint: 1 note



Adjusting Reeds

Tools

List the tools in a basic reed adjusting kit and explain the use of each tool in the reed

adjusting process

Tool Use

Adjusting Wires

1st wire

2nd wire

Adjustment Effect on Tip Effect on Tone Effect on

Pitch

Effect on Response

Squeeze sides (Make rounder)

Squeeze top and bottom (Make more oval/flat)

Adjustment Effect on Tip Effect on Tone Effect on

Pitch

Effect on Response

Squeeze sides (Make rounder)

Squeeze top and bottom (Make more oval/flat)

Fill in the effects of each adjustment to the 1st and 2nd wires For help, see “Reed Adjustment Effects” in the back of this workbook.



Adjusting Cane

Name three common issues with bassoon reeds.

How would you check for each one?

What can you do to fix each one?

Adjusting Reeds



Articulation

"Touch the tip of the ____________ with the _______ of the __________________"

If you notice jaw movement as a bassoon player is tonguing, what direction should

the jaw be moving? Should you ask a bassoonist to stop all jaw movement?

How can you help a young bassoon player learn to tongue more quickly?



Intonation

What is the expected intonation problem with this note

and what can be done to compensate for this problem?

What is the purpose of having multiple bocals of different lengths?

How does the air-embouchure balance relate to intonation?



Picking Your Bassoon Player

List 5 personal or physical characteristics to look for in a potential bassoon player:

You've just chosen a student very similar to the one you described above to move to

bassoon. What specific instructions will he need to be successful on the bassoon

based on where he or she is coming from?



First Lesson Plan

Lay out your own plan for a first lesson.

Check the "First Lesson" video again to make sure you cover the most important topics. Pick at

least one simple tune to teach the student near the end! Revise and improve this plan as you

learn more about the bassoon.



Helping Your Bassoon Player

How can you help your bassoon player during rehearsals? What can you do before

rehearsal to proactively help them solve bassoon-specific problems?

List 5 ways you can help your bassoonist develop throughout the school year:

Additional

Exercises and Resources

30



Durran Exercises

Pitch movement relative to the pitch the student plays when voicing “dew”



Durran Exercises (Page 2)

“Leave Early” Low Jump Exercises: The placement of the letters indicates the

approximate time the thumb should either leave the whisper key or be placed

back onto the whisper key. Fun fact: Using the low E key (pancake key) holds

down the whisper key pad (seals the nib on the bocal).

Durran, Daryl. "Bassoon Clinic." American Band College. Ashland High School Auditorium, Ashland, OR. 30 June 2015. Lecture



Tuning Tendencies



Wire Shapes and Tip Openings

8 Bellamy, Cayla. Diagnosing and Adjusting Your Bassoon Reed. N.p.: Caylabellamy.com, n.d. Print.



Reed Adjustment Effects



Reed Adjustment Effects (Page 2)



Reed Adjustment Effects (Page 3)



Diagram of All Bassoon Keys

P



Buying and Repairing Bassoons



Buying and Repairing Bassoons (Page 2)



Buying and Repairing Bassoons (Page 3)


Workbook Sources

Digital Images B Burnette, Dr. Sonny. Diagram of areas to "trim" on a bassoon reed. Digital image. MUS 215: Bas-

soon Reeds. Georgetown College, n.d. Web. 19 July 2016.

H Ferree's Tools Bassoon Crutch (Standard). Digital image. Amazon. Amazon.com, Inc. Web. 21 July

2016.

I Bassoon Reed. Digital image. Bassonic Bassoon Reed. Bert Murdock Music. Web. 21 July 2016.

J M24 Bassoon. Digital image. Miller Marketing. Miller Marketing Co. Web. 21 July 2016

K C# Alternate Fingering. Digital image. Let’s Play Bassoon. Fox Products Corporation, 2000. Web.

21 July 2016.

L Bassoon Wires. Digital image. Bassoon Reeds: An Intro. Jessica Gouldbaum (Bassoon). Web. 21

July 2016.

P Standard Bassoon Fingering Keys Diagram. Digital image. Work of 京市 . Wikimedia Commons.

Web. 25 July 2016.

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