Hi Bassoonists!

I'm only a beginner, but was wondering if the more experienced could give me some tips...

If I play a scale of C Major (2 octaves), I'm fine until I get to the top 4 notes - G to A to B to C (Middle C). Its my left thumb that panics - I don't quite get this business of "flicking" the A & B/C keys. My bassoon does not have a whisper key lock/crook lock, so I'm trying to go from holding the crook lock key for G and then smoothly transferring to the A key and then the B/C key.

Questions!
Do I need to hold down the A key - is it really vital? I seem to be able to sound a decent A without actually holding down the key?

My top C sounds really unstable and reedy - is it just a matter of breath maturity? Will it eventually sound clear?

Many thanks!

Are you having trouble finding the right key? The left-thumb is horribly over-worked and those flick keys can be daunting (after 5 years of playing I found them daunting yet again when all of a sudden I had a high D key!).

If that's the case, try putting a sticker on the A key. All you need to remember then is that the B/C key is the one on top of it. When your thumb remembers where they are, you can take them off again.

For my second bassoon, the keys were set quite remarkably different (or maybe it only seemed like that to me because of my short fingers). So I had stickers on the Bb and F# keys for the right thumb, and stickers on the A key and whisper key for the left thumb (so I could find it again after high register passages, I kept missing and pressing the whisper key lock which was often not what I wanted!)

Stickers are also fairly discreet, being on your side of the bassoon and not theirs!

Stickers! What a good idea...but they'll have to be small enough so my teacher doesn't see them! I don't think she'd approve!

Can you tell me more about this "flicking" business? Do you literally press the key for just the moment when you attack the note - or do you hold the key down for the duration of the note?

Many thanks,

PS tell me more about the tenor in your signature? Make? Model? Mine's a Kung Knick tenor in pearwood - mmmmmmmm!

Hello Petite Joueuse,

'Flicking' on the bassoon is indeed to press the vent key momentarily while attacking and letting go as soon as possible. It's a technique peculiar to the bassoon and it does take some practice. I hope you will get used to it soon.

If you hold the key down for the entire duration of the note, the note will sound airy and sharp. Not recommended indeed. I think it's easier in the long run if you start the right way

Thanks Wai Kit - it sounds like I will have to practise this "flicking"!

Interested to see you play recorder as well as oboe and bassoon! (Sounds just like my family - we are all double-reeders and recorder-mad)

If you could find a clear sticker that could also work, you won't be looking at the keys, you just want to feel them, and then your teacher won't see either



It's a plastic Yamaha 304B. It's very beautiful, I'd love a wooden one but.... teensy bit expensive!

I just got a new descant, another Yamaha - YRS 312B II. It's synthesised rosewood or something like that, and it's yummy. And my brothers aren't even complaining about it!

I was lucky enough to get my Mollenhauer Bass on eBay...and the Kung Knick tenor as well....but we're a Moeck family (currently in possession of some 16 different recorders....and one day I'll get a Great Bass!)

Isn't it interesting that bassoonists are often into recorders as well?

I imagine that bassoonists would need a LOT of thumb training then huh? I heard there's about 20 keys between the thumbs alone!

IrisH - LoonY

Double reeds generally, it seems, or at least a lot of people who play oboe seem to like recorders too

9 for the left thumb and 4 for the right thumb on a standard bassoon.

Wow...

IrisH - LoonY

Yes, the thumbs are quite overworked. They get very agile, though