Why Bassoons are NOT allowed in Marching Band 

My school allows us to do it but we have to sign waivers lol. I just play piccolo for the Marching season.

We need more marching cello players anyhow.

I was fortunate that my band teacher didn't make me do anything at all. But, I did find that there's a thing called a single Reed mouthpiece for a bassoon. It uses an E flat clarinet Reed. I never used it for marching band, but I did use it for jazz band. It didn't change the tone a lot, but it did add just a hint of that sax snarl for jazz.

This is the EXACT reason I'm in color guard! My band teacher originally put me on cymbals and it was so boring compared to the bassoon. There were like, three ways to play. So I then went to color guard. I really didn't feel like learning another instrument freshman yeah smh. The big reason that I tell people is the "if i trip, it goes down my throat" and then no one aruges.

BOTTOM LINE: The bassoonists are the ones who don't allow them outside, because they love and respect their instruments too much. Thal love and respect is justified. (I am not a musician, but I love the music that emanates from them.)

There is a classic double reed instrument that is traditionally played outdoors in all kinds of weather. It cleverly addresses most all the issues you identify. The reed is in a separate enclosure so is not affected by walking movements. There is a separate air reservoir so tone is not affected by walking. The setup facilitates carrying on the shoulder. Rain does affect it but the major problem is that it doesn’t merge well with other instruments for most band repertoire. I am of course referring to the Great Highland Bagpipe or GHB for short.

In 8th grade as a bassoonist, I wanted to join the drumline. After our last concert of the year, I was approached by the band director with a proposition. He said "Hey! Here's a mellophone!" So now I can play that too! Yippee! That was 9 years ago. And to be fair, I was not the only bassoonist he did that to. One of my best friends at the time got a tuba that year. I loved marching mellophone though and since I hung around french horn players a lot, I have a really weird sense of humor now ;p

Even in 1972 when I was in band I did NOT march with my bassoon. I pretended to play the flute. And as expected out of 200 band members there were exactly 5 bassoonists. Really enjoyed your video - like a blast from the past.

i played oboe in middle school and remember my band teacher saying if i wanted to do marching band in HS id have to switch to percussion, but he never explained why. thanks for the informative video!

In the massive marching band featured in the final scene of The Music Man (1962, Warner Bros.) there was a whole row of marching bassoonists, and despite the presence of seventy-six trombones, each bassoon had its big fat say.

We definitely had a bassoon in our marching band and we were one of the most competitive bands in California. She used a different mouthpiece of course.

“Most high school band programmes have 4-6 bassoon players” My band that has 0 bassoons:

Years ago someone made a clarinet-like mouthpiece with a single reed that fit a bassoon bocal for outdoor use. Made that aspect easier. I've played my old plastic Linton outside on the march using either a Fox or Legere plastic reed. Not exactly comfortable, and totally inaudible, but still fun.

My HS band marched bassons and oboes. The only instrument changes we had for outside were flutes changed to piccolos, french horns switched to bell front FH, tubas switched to sousaphones, and upright euphoniums were switched to curved bell baritones.

This was a great video. Also, it's so affirming what you said about the saxophone and the bassoon, I play both and I feel the similarities, I transfer a lot of the saxophone techniques to the bassoon.

y'all get 4-6 bassoonists on average??? we basically have a party for every bassoon we can get

Thank you for this informative purposed, inspirational and educational recording formatted video, on the reason(s) for the absence of bassoons and other double reed instruments in marching bands. I enjoyed the video editing and was engaged by the light additional humorous references. Much appreciated and looking forward to your future videos.

My school did a bassoon feature with our 8 bassoons so it is real, (texas highschool marching band lol)

2003 ( I think) BOA grand national champions Westfield HS had 4 bassoons playing “Dead Elvis” by Dougherty. It was a bop.

Fabulous video. It takes a smart mind to make a 7 minute show about bassoon safety. I was in marching band in the 1960's. When first asked, I told the band director I wanted to play piano. Everyone laughed and I didn't know why, until I really thought about it. Been a party/dance band leader for 50 years. keep up the good work.

Loved the video! I was a French Horn player, and for marching band, the director handed me not a mellophone, but an E-flat alto horn that some of my bandmates called a baby baritone, which is kind of what the instrument looks like. A lot of what you said about not being able to hear a bassoon outside, especially when played with typical marching band instruments, and faking an instrument reminded me of Peter Schickele's introduction to "PDQ Bach's Sinfonia Concertante for Six Solo Instruments and String Orchestra". While talking about the solo instruments, he says, "When the bagpipe is playing, you can't hear anything else, whereas the lute is such a quiet instrument that if there is simply another instrument in the room with it, you can't hear it, whether it's being played or not." After telling the audience that PDQ Bach never found any solution to this imbalance, he finishes with, "But the lute looks nice. ... It's a very nice lute, and we hope you enjoy it ... Think of it while listening to the bagpipe."

I was a tuba player in high school (sousaphone for marching band). Our band director loved marching band and that rubbed off on us. It's been a while, but I think I remember one of our oboe players playing alto sax during marching band, another swapping to clarinet, and our bassoon player played sousaphone with us tuba players. I kind of maybe remember us having a second bassoon player, but I'm having a hard time remembering. This was more than twenty years ago, so there's a lot I've forgotten.

Great explanation! Thanks. I always wondered about that. I wanted to play bassoon in Jr High, but was put on bass clarinet so I could be on the marching band. I never knew the reason why until now. I just knew "bassoons aren't in the marching band." Much appreciated.

I have said this before and will say it again, THE BASSOON HAS THE SOUND TEXTURE OF A BROWN CRAYON. Thank you for your video.

Coming from germany, i never knew marching bands were a thing. In Germany we have what's called a Blaskapelle. It's basically a small band-club for wind instruments playing folk songs for example.

As a tuba player, I can confirm that I have become a radar dish.

Not sure why this was in my feed, but you gave great explanations for your topic.

Very entertaining and informative video. Well done and thanks.

I was the only bassoonist at my high school, and I played oboe in marching band. It actually worked decently well - if you're marching correctly, your head stays level, and you don't need to worry about the reed too much. I played the flute part - yes, at pitch lol

I judged the Tupelo High School Band from Mississippi three years ago in West Tennessee and they opened the show with a bassoon quartet. Yes, you heard it right-a bassoon quartet. I have also seen a band or two from the panhandle of Florida marching bassoons.

Interesting, liked the presentation.

From experience, Basoonist make FANTASTIC tenor sax players.

3:56 Glad to see THAT reference is still kicking...

We started marching horns a couple years ago, and I don’t mind it.

The "moving with the bassoon" part is so real, I hurt myself laughing 💀

I’ve seen bassoons in marching band before. Very very rare. And needs special rigging compared to orchestral use.

2:33 I was taught to carry my bassoon differently. On the long joint there's this ridge in the metal rods that connect the low B and Bb keys to their tone holes/pads. I place my thumb under this ridge and wrap the rest of my fingers around and over the A thumb key. I believe this is the safest way to hold a bassoon because it's closer to the center of balance than anywhere on the boot joint. The only situation in which it might be unsafe is if the tenons of your wing joint and long joint are too loose which is a separate problem in and of itself.

Fun ! Thanks.

A few years ago my school had a bassoon oboe duet for marching band, I wasn’t there that year but I hear it was pretty cool

I clicked "I'm feeling lucky" on the RU-vid app and it took me to this video randomly... Wow, I learned a lot about a topic I had no idea existed 😂 here is a like 👍 and a comment for engagement!

That thing of walking from one room to another describes me going g from the band room to the stage

When I was in England I saw a bassoonist marching with the changing of the guard. My sister played oboe in high school. One year she played cymbals, and several years she carried the banner.

My school district allows us to march bassoons and they love using them for solos. Also that thing in the beginning is a contrabass tuba/marching tuba,usually bach

This is hilarious, man

The bassoon movement part is so relatable.

Me, playing the bassoon in a marching band

Our school is just like "meh, if you wanna march with a double reed we're not stopping you" Hence why I'm a marching oboe :P We have marching violins too and judges love it at competitions

In 1976 we had a single bassoon player in the marching band. Montebello HS, Montebello, CA. Good times.

I actually showed up as a woodwind tech to camp and had oboes and bassoons outside. I told them to take those things inside where they belong and I would sort it out with the band director. We had some extra mellophones, pit, and bass clarinets. And yes, some drill had to be rewritten. I did it. If I change something undesirable to me, I'm gonna also work it correctly.

This question has always been in my head because I never seen a single bassoon player in any marching band

When I started doing marching band at the college level (my freshman year... It's now MUCH different at ASU), the band t-shirt said "Pride, Sweat, and a Great Farmer's Tan". I can attest I did have a great farmer's tan. Still do to some respects, even though I work primarily indoors.

They don’t want to make the other instruments jealous

My HS had the option to march cymbals or play in the front ensemble for the double reeds. I really enjoyed learning cymbals and ended up marching a couple seasons in DCI.

i did see one show where they had a bassoon(not marching, just playing a solo on a mic) and it was actually pretty cool

I played Bass Clarinet, for marching band the band director got the school's alto calrinet repaired lol I did play the bass for football games when the alto was out for repair ... and I got to play it at Graduation . I will say chipping the reed while matching was a common thing... but happned to sax and regular clarinet as well so

Def taught and marched at schools with bassoons and oboes. I think they make these wicked synthetic reeds now to help keep down the reed cost and our schools got them for a discount for the students. But I highly recommend the students to switch to a low brass instrument, partially because more brass more betta. and builds up their lungs

Have not heard someone call the Fr. Horn substitute for marching a Melophone since 1969 (first year in high school marching band, before that I marched with a french horn) the next year it was called a euphonium. In high school our double reed players switched to clarinet or the the Glockenspiel (bells).

Played bassoon during concert season, and tuba during marching season 😁

In high school, i played oboe in concert band and bari sax in marching and pep band

"Double bell euphoniums and big bassoons Each bassoon having it's big, fat say" - The Music Man

Very interesting, I know next to nothing about instruments. I saw my favorite band had clear plastic bags around their clarinets. Was raining earlier that day of their performance. Now I know why lol. One year when I was in high school the gym floor had to be repaired or replaced cause the wood warped about 3 feet high the total length of the court, so I do know what happens when wood gets wet. Definitely not a pretty sight.

Huh, never thought about it before, but what you say totally makes sense. I love the bassoon sound, but I guess I can settle for getting it in wind quintet chamber music, the odd concerto, and old Frank Zappa records. Thanks for the education.

British military bands, and those of commonwealth countries do have bassoons as well as French horns, including the Household Cavalry Band which often plays mounted on horses. Incidentally the saxophone was actually invented for mounted military bands in France.

My HS band director never told me it was hard to march with an oboe so we had oboes, bassoons, even bass clarinets on the field. Great concert sound. First oboe in the University of Texas Longhorn Band to march. There were 4 of us at one point!!!

I have a 1950’s tenor Sax. I love it.

A friend told me her son started on bboe for his first instrument. Once he got to marching band age, he learned the clarinet. Now that he is the age to be in the jazz band, he wants to learn sax. I say, start kids on the doubles early. I learned to be proficient on saxophones in high school, but didn't get the opportunity for bassoon or the other woodwinds until college. I did finally get to play bassoon in the concert band for 2 years.

You are right. Marching with the bassoon is very hard. That's why I learned the cello. 🤣

At my school in 6th grade everybody starts on a basic instrument like percussion, clarinet, alto sax, flute, trombone, trumpet then in 7th grade brass can move to tuba or the other trombone I forgot the name, then woodwinds can move to tenor or berry sax, bass clarinet, bassoon, and then I’d you can march with your instrument you move to your first instrument because you already learned how to play it, it works well for everyone because if we don’t need those instruments they can hop on the other instruments at anytime

My coaches have the worst sandal tanline, we still have tubas, and this is very accurate

My sister played clarinet first then learned bassoon and loved it

I once saw a bassoonist getting ready to go on the field at a marching competition and it s h o o k e t h me.

I play oboe in concert band. For marching band, I decided to go with colorguard! I didn’t really want to learn another instrument at the time (haha lazy freshman moment go brr) and colorguard seemed to be the easiest to pick up. Not to mention I liked the pretty silks and uniforms. I’ve been in colorguard for 3 years now, and I enjoy it a lot! Although I’m now learning trombone, baritone, and piano on the side, just for fun. I’m also doing percussion in intermediate band 😂 still play oboe in advanced though!

There are instruments that are just too awesome for marching band.

I was a trombone player in marching band, and I actually have two trombones one that I use for practice and football games and won that was only used at competitions and during concert season.

When I was in band, we had a couple of double reed players that marched different instruments. We had a clarinet (Yes I know that’s single reed shut up) player march tuba. He switched to bassoon my sophomore year and still marched tuba. My junior and senior years there was an oboe player that marched clarinet, one bassoon player marched alto sax, and another marched tenor sax. Me? I’m a simple clarinet player. 😂

“Hey honey, let’s go bassooning this week-end” - Garrisson Keillor, The young lutheran guide to the orchestra…

This is why Im almost glad I play brass

In middle school, I marched in two parades, and our band director taught us a march so that we wouldn’t bounce. I played the Bassoon in one (forgot my reed for the second parade so I was on banner holding duty). Then in high school, we had a pep band that was also our concert/symphonic band, where we played at home football games, while I often ended playing baritone or trombone parts. I never really noticed much sound degradation. Then again I never really took playing it seriously.

We have a bassoon solo but it’s stationary on a podium and it sits there

Meanwhile, you have Bassoon in the British Grenadier Band marching up and down London LOL

I marched flute and then bells. Reeds cost at least $4-5/each, 45 years ago. When you found a specialty shop that carried them. #ForrestsMusicBerkeley

I was always told that double-reed instruments would be too awkward to march and play with, plus they wouldn't be audible enough. Therefore I joined the drumline and made friends and memories there, while still playing bassoon during the concert season.

and at my school theyve been given a whole song as a feature

There was a young woman who would dance as she played the violin. I thought she was fun to watch (the two times I saw her perform on video). What the world really needs is a dancing bassoonist.

In my school I just had to join front for marching season

Tuba player here. Transporting the instrument is half the fun.

I had a few concerts in Europe that we were playing outside and with my black composite bassoon. It expanded and multiple keys didn’t work for the majority of the confers 😢😢

Our band marches plastic oboes. I did it for one year and I was the first to do it. (Even tho my oboe would never work and I was going through reeds like crazy) Since then it’s been a common thing. Last year we had 2 oboes on the field marching. After that the next two years I played synth in the pit and let the other oboes suffer instead of switching to another instrument like the other oboes had to before I came along.

Personally, I'm hoping that the marching bands start having more harpsichords.... but I digress. I remember in my high school marching band there was a girl who played oboe -- FOR MARCHING BAND!! It was the oboe version of everything you mentioned, except bashing everyone around her. The reed were always breaking, the tone sounded like a really bad (and weak) bagpipe, and I can't believe her wooden oboe didn't crack given the sweltering summer heat and high humidity and the freezing fall and winter temps we played through in Ohio. I actually used to play bassoon in symphonic band, but played PICCOLO for marching band -- Piccolo rocked! You could carry your instrument in your jacket pocket, put it together in two seconds, my marching piccolo was metal and plastic, and we got some really cool parts.

Come to Texas. You'll see double reeds on the field there, along with bass clarinets. Not all bands march them, but some do.

My band class recently watched a high school marching band competition and there was one oboe

My band director made my friend come watch the whole first half of our football games so she could play one minute solo in "Variations on a Korean Folk Song". (Since she was the only one at the mic, she took the 10 second horn part of the solo too). Then she...went home. And did I mention despite us having timpani, we could NOT get them down to even our own home field. But...in my case I actually volunteered to join the drumline on crash cymbals (Despite normally only covering timpani and CONCERT bass drum...Which is NOT ANYTHING like the 5 to 7 basses my HS band called for...

Old UVA Pep (scramble) band used to have a bassoon. And a double bass. And a grand piano.

I always wanted try to bassoon

we have a bassoon solo in our marching band show this year💀

6:43 my band this year and last year has had a bassoon solo lol last year it was in a tango part in this year it’s in the opener

In the UK I’ve seen bassoons in the army bands marching

Kinda related but not really, I really like the sound of 17th-18th century works that were composed for wind bands to play in royal, military or festive contexts: pure double reeds, brass and percussion! The sound of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks comes to my mind: 24 oboes and 12 bassoons! (and one Contra) plus nine trumpets, nine horns, timpani and snare drums.

I've always wondered, makes sense now. Question now is how it became okay for clarinets, bass clarinets and saxophones?

As an oboe I do color guard during marching season, and our bassoonists play mellophone.