Welcome to the Building a Bassoonist RU-vid channel!!
I'm Natalie, and I believe that anyone can learn how to play the bassoon, especially when given the right resources and support. On this channel, I want to help you improve your bassoon playing and learn the skills to play anything you want. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on new videos!
Take lessons, purchase reeds, and more at: buildingabassoonist.com/
I went 4 years not knowing any of this 💀 My band teacher just gave me the vented notes for the tenor register and I never knew that flicking would improvey tone quality so much! Thank you so much
Hello Natalie!! I hope that you are doing well and I can see that your RU-vid channel is getting more popular! If you don’t remember me you gave me some lessons while my teacher Dorian was out of town and I was your first fan! I am currently learning the Weber bassoon concerto and I am wondering if you could make a video specifically for that price because it is suck a common price for high schoolers to learn!
Just curious and I think I already know the answer. You put the wrapped blanks to dry with the bottom wire on. When you put the other wires and strings on, is the reed still dry or do you wet it again? I imagine all dry. Also, to cut the tip off, do you wet it again or cut it off while still dry right after putting the wires and turban on? Thanks!
The reed is dry when I put the other wire and string on! I usually let the blanks dry at least 24 hours before working on them. I also wet just the tip before I cut it to prevent cracks. Good questions, and good luck!!
HAHAHAHA I saw another of your videos on how to make a blank. I put my cane to soak in a big cup yesterday, but they stuck out about a third because they were dry. NOW watching this video, I see they sink as they absorb water. I actually put a weight on top to make them go all the way in!!! LMAO Should have watched this video first! hehe live and learn! Can't wait to dig in later today and make my blanks!
thank you for the post! i am a current flute player but i am switching over to bassoon for 7th grade band and 7th/8th honors ensemble and i am learning bassoon over the summer and taking lessons and i didn’t quite understand but now ive started to grasp the idea more and im sure many people thank you for helping us flute/bassoon players!
Thank you for your information. While I enjoy hearing the bassoon music in the background, it is a bit distracting for me. What is your fee for zoom lessons?
Could you please do a video on switching from a plastic bassoon to a wooden one? I'm going into 9th grade and was recently upgraded to one but it's a lot more tiring.
I want to learn bassoon so bad. I already know how to play bass clarinet, bari sax, and tuba. Bassoon and bass trombone are the only lows I need to learn.
I'm so happy that you made this video. I was beginning to think my brain couldn't learn these notes and was getting very discouraged. Thank you so much.
This video made an immediate difference, thank you! I’m just starting out, and I have just this summer to get good enough to join the beginning orchestra class at my community college.
I was struggling to play any notes before I watched this video and every video that tried to explain it was ether blurry or confusing you explained it perfectly and showed what note to play on a different type of bassoon great video I’m subscribed
Hey, just wondering how much does typically 1 bassoon reed cost to make (without the price of tools)? Aka just how much do materials cost per reed. Thank you!
Good question! It depends on what stage of the reed making process you're starting at. If you start with GSP cane, you're looking at around $6-7/reed which includes the cane and a tiny bit for thread/wires. If you gouge, shape, and profile your own cane, the cost is cheaper but the cost of the tools to do these processes is quite high!
middle school bassoonist here. thanks for the video! i had no idea G used the resonance key! as you said, the school books are almost always wrong! thanks for the help :)
I played bassoon in school, and after 35 years I'm coming back to it! I live in Escanaba, Michigan where I play in a baroque ensemble that I cofounded, called Esky Baroque. I've been playing recorders, mostly playing flute parts and doubling violin parts. In our current season we programmed a suite from Rameau's opera Dardanus, and I realized that Rameau wrote some pretty cool bassoon parts. My BHAG 3 months ago was to buy a bassoon, build back my chops, and be able to play bassoon parts on at least a few movements of the Rameau. The concert is this Saturday, and I'm ready for it! This summer, I'll be playing Handel's Water Music, and next fall, Messiah. I'm excited!
I recently came back to the bassoon after not playing for most of my adult life. I played it in high school and college but until now never owned one. I ended up buying a used but well maintained Schreiber from Midwest Musical Imports, a shop in Minneapolis that specializes in double and single reed instruments. They shipped me the Schreiber and a Fox Model 41 for trial. I immediately felt comfortable playing the Schreiber because it was similar to school instruments I played back in the day. I'm happy with the instrument and would recommend dealing with MMI.
I was at a bassoon clinic where the clinician made a good point about school students only carrying a file versus a reed knife due to concerns these days about weapons in school. It was a good point that never occurred to me.
I’m in middle school band right now (going into freshmen year next) and I’m just wondering, would you say one could still get good at bassoon without buying professionally made reeds or getting private lessons? I don’t really have the resources to do things like that.😅
0:18 Natalie, I have learned a lot of techniques from you. I have been playing bassoon since the beginning of March so our community rural orchestras will have a bassoon. I have played oboe for almost 50 years from elementary on. For years I have been principal oboe at 3 groups and only recently had another oboe join. I have switched to bassoon and am having the most fun I've ever had. I still play oboe and English horn in select groups but bassoon has been my favorite. My older sister has also played since elementary school. She doesn't live close enough to work together. Only by zoom. My first concert is June 15th and I am performing Berceuse & Finale. Hey, go big starting out. I have amazed my fellow musicians with my ability. Boasting here but what the heck, I deserve it. Thanks for the f#, c#, d# & g# tips. I may hit you up on lessons over the summer.
Because if you run a swab with a knot in it through a joint in the bassoon, you risk it getting stuck, which requires special equipment to remove! Not a fun situation.
Great video! Every new student should view this video first! And if they are middle or high school students, have their parents view it too. Every lesson with you always seemed to produce "ah-ha" moments for me! You got me off the whisper key and venting/flicking as I should have been. This is all good advice! Thanks for putting this together.
It's great to see you back online, and this video is helpful, as always. I have been enjoying playing with my local community band, thanks to your coaching & helpful lessons. You especially have boosted my confidence in the area of reeds..... how to recognize what the problem might be, and possible fixes for troublesome reeds. Your reed videos are my number one go-to ! I have some questions I might submit for your next "what questions do you have" video. Thanks for your expertise! Keep posting!
It's always nice to have more than one good playable reed in your reed box. If you order several reeds, what do you recommend for their workup? Start one, before starting another, or maybe start all of them.
Great video! Mainly an alto sax player, i've been trying out the bassoon in my band recently! One thing i found difficult was producing a whole sound reliably. Though it may be because the reed is old and a lil cracked, i was thinking what i could do to improve before buying a new reed to remedy this.
With respect to books for bands, I agree with the idea that they can be overly simplistic and generic. I remember learning my first band pieces out of a book prepared by The Canadian Brass, one of many professional ensembles in Canada. I don’t recall seeing fingering charts in these Canadian Brass band books, but if they were included, they likely would have been overly simplistic for each instrumentalist (I was a flute player back then). I completely agree that each instrumentalist should have specific fingering charts that lay out standard and alternative finger patterns. Extra kudos if these charts were/are put together by instrumentalists in each instrument family. Since becoming a bassoon player, I have fallen in love with the Weissenborn bassoon method book (edited by Frank Morelli). There’s a healthy dose of exercises ranging from the easiest to the most difficult. What’s more, each lesson provides players with standard AND alternative finger patterns from Bb (A#)1 to E5. Comprehensive trill charts are included, too. Thanks go to my bassoon teacher for recommending this method book to me. The teacher also recommended the David Wells fingering charts. They’ve helped me immensely. By way of a suggestion, it would be useful for band and orchestra teachers to conduct research on specific instrument method books so they can suggest them to each player. That could save players a lot of frustration when it comes to learning fingerings. My two cents. (-:
I have so many regrets about how I first practiced the bassoon. I was already a well trained musician at the time so everything came easily to me and I didn't practice enough. I didn't take learning all of my fingerings seriously, I was intimidated by playing outside of the basic band fingering chart because it took work and so I just didn't do it. Now, I'm relearning as an adult and I am on a journey! It's a wonderful feeling to come back to something I really loved but struggled with and feel able to commit and learn everything to the best of my ability.
Frustration and discouragement-my biggest mistake up to now. I’ve often been hard on myself when I couldn’t play a phrase properly. Or I’d immediately feel discouraged when I looked at phrases with sixteenth or thirty-second notes. But I received good guidance from colleagues and my bassoon teacher. On the ensemble front, colleagues have encouraged me to simply **relax**. Up to now, most of my bassoon playing has been limited to amateur ensembles. I’ve come to accept that amateur ensembles aren’t professional ensembles; the standards are different in both groups, as are the expectations. In an amateur context, therefore, I should have more fun playing. And if I wasn’t good at a phrase during rehearsal, I’d simply have to practise that phrase at home. With respect to my bassoon teacher, I was given this advice when attacking difficult phrases: take a step back from the music and analyse it. Chances are, phrases I find difficult are simply patterns made of scales or arpeggios. When you’re capable of identifying patterns, learning and practising music becomes a lot easier. Since receiving that advice, I’ve been feeling more confident in my playing. I’ve definitely felt more relaxed. Confidence and relaxation are part of the playing process. Be sure to respect it. (-:
I'm a woodwind teacher, primarily a clarinetist (of all sizes!) and I began studying bassoon seriously this past fall. I took a few months of self study and then had a three hour lesson with the nearest bassoon teacher! He gave me the Weissenborn, the Wells fingering chart, made and adjusted some reeds for me, helped my posture, fixed some embouchure issues, gave me some homework, and sent me on my way! I'm extremely motivated to reach the goals he set for me so I can have my second lesson. (Four octave Bb scale and the Telemann Sonata in F minor....... 🙃)
After not playing since high school, I started playing bassoon again when I retired at age 55. First, I learned that most of the discouragement I remember was due to the fact that my ancient wood Linton had been through some poorly done repairs, including some saxophone pads and poor adjustments that made it difficult to play. If you buy a used bassoon, have a good repair shop that knows bassoons, give it a good look over and adjust or overhaul if needed. I purchased a new Fox/Renard 220 and it was so much easier to play. It came with two “Fox” reeds from the factory and I could not believe how easy they were to play compared to the ones I purchased at the music store. My new bassoon played great for about ten years but I started to notice that my notes around Bb on top of the staff were getting fuzzy and difficult to sustain. After looking at all the key linkages in that area I decided to see if anything was going on in my bocal. I had always rinsed my bocal after every practice and performance, letting it dry after blowing out the excess water. I looked inside as much as I could and saw a coating on the inner surface, Using some Dawn power wash spray down the large end of the bocal and a bocal brush, I was grossed out at the gunk that started to come out. I now r still rinse my bocals but I have added using a bocal swab to throughly dry it out and about once a month, I use a bocal brush too. All the notes are now as easy to play as they were when the instrument was new. One final tip, never lay your bassoon flat on your lap after you have played it awhile. The water that has accumulated in the boot will have a good chance of running into the non-lined part of the boot joint and long joint. That will cause rot and kill your bassoon. Always have a good stand ready to hold your bassoon upright when you are not playing it.
I started bassoon at age 50! Yes, I wish I had started much earlier, but it's certainly possible for an older person to pick it up. I was smart enough to take lessons from a pro who studied with Garfield and she started me with Weissenborn from the start. My biggest regret though is not learning vibrato and double tonguing sooner and really work on it. But playing bassoon can and has opened a lot of doors to the musical world that I otherwise would have missed.
Excellent video. I am an amateur bassoonist, playing in a community orchestra for the first time in many years, and I am approximately adequate some of the time, which is okay for now. "Good enough" is my goal at this time. My wife of eight years, with whom I played bassoon fifty-some years ago, is bravely re-learning the bassoon so she can play in the orchestra with me this coming season. I am her teacher, and I am realizing my shortcomings. I deeply appreciate the time you took to make these videos, and we will be viewing them one at a time for a while. Thank you for doing this, and for doing it well. Your crutch is way cool. Is that custom made?
Liked the video. The first time I tried to practice my bassoon with my ensemble, I couldn’t make a sound on my instrument because one of my keys somehow got stuck open. I thought it was my reed and I felt bad because it was my first time and I felt like everyone was like, he can’t actually play the bassoon. 😢 I ended up fixing it though halfway through. But it was kind of stressful.
