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Practicing Warm-ups Air/Breath Support Flicking Vibrato Tonguing Phrasing Body/Instrument Position Reeds Instrument Care
more exercises to come ... but this is a good sampler/beginning to get everyone thinking
Help! I don’t have time to practice!
LISTEN TO RECORDINGS/PERFORMANCES
PLAY FOR PEOPLE - parents, friends, siblings ... it doesn't matter, but it will change your playing & how you perceive/hear it
A bassoon lesson podcast by Elizabeth Rusch Fetters; I don't fully agree with some of her ideas, but generally a good podcast
Warm-ups & Scales
Just as all athletes do, so must we Prepares the body, mind and instrument Literally warms the instrument up! [especially true and useful in the winter!]
Octave Tone / Intonation Exercise
Air must always flow -- notes ‘ride’ on the air
You must never use a ‘lack of air’ as an excuse for not being able to play a long phrase!
Strong Breath Support – NOT with embouchure
Embouchure - Tim McGovern
Acoustic Profiles of Woodwind Instruments
Exercises: Long-tones Barrick Stees: regular, advanced Carmine Caruso's Embouchure Calisthenics for the Bassoon (David Granger) Straw & 3X5 card ‘trick’ ‘Teacher Challenge’ -- if you can play longer than Gerik … EXERCISE!!! -- aerobic exercise regularly
Voicing of 'Overblown' Register Voicing of Altissimo Register
Flicking is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary as a standard part of the technique on bassoon I advocate actually holding down the 'register keys' rather than just flicking them, as many bassoonists do Exercises: Flicking exercise (by Lewis Kirk) Flicking Trainer (Jim Westhoff)
Flicking Half-Holing
NOT ‘on or off’, but a FULL range of choices from NONE to very quick
Exercises: Long-tones -- no vibrato -- measured vibrato (@60bpm: ¼ notes, 1/8 notes 1/16 notes …) -- unmeasured vibrato (none, start with slow, speed up, slow down, back to none)
Trombonists almost NEVER slur, it’s ALL tonguing
We MUST have nearly as large a repertoire of tonguing styles as them -- various legato -- various staccato -- MANY in between
Exercises: ‘cut’ Long-tones Short (& shorter) staccato -- keeping air going between notes -- stopping air between notes Double-tonguing -- tah-kah/tooh-kooh/… without instrument, then with -- on a single note -- on a scale Metered Tonguing -- using metronome play 16th’s, and keep moving it up! Finger & Tongue Coordination Exercises - David DeBolt
Notes are the letters of our alphabet, intervals are our words, phrases are our sentences, movements are our stories, and music is our art
MAKE IT INTERESTING -- nobody will want to listen if it isn’t! -- I am a bad audience member … the performer MUST keep me interested, or I stop paying attention! -- make people need to listen! -- YES, even etudes are music, and must be interesting
EVERYTHING must either LEAD to or from something -- each note -- each phrase -- etc.
‘Philadelphia’ number system -- assign a number from 1-10 for each note in a phrase, with numbers representing intensity/dynamic/etc.
You MUST be comfortable
Air must be able to freely flow from your lungs/diaphragm through to the bell
NO TENSION – tension can, and does, cause many problems bring the instrument TO YOU, not vice versa
Be prepared to play [body, hands, fingers, air, tongue, throat, …] BEFORE you play the first note
POSTURE is important!!!
At some point you must become self-sufficient with reeds
At an early stage you must learn HOW & WHY a reed behaves as it does
Ways to change how a reed reacts: Wires -- wonderful, as they can be undone! Shape Tip Opening Scraping …
Basic Reedmaking Help by Jim Westhoff Selecting Commercial Reeds by Barrick Stees Reed Adjusting article by Barrick Stees "Making Reeds Last Longer" by Barrick Stees Reed Help by Tim McGovern
Bassoon Key Names by Chip Owen (of Fox) Basic repairs General maintenance and care Taking Care of Your Bassoon by Chip Owen (of Fox)
"Preparing for College Auditions" by Barrick Stees
General Bassooning Tips - Tim McGovern
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