For orchestra I NEED to learn high A. I know how to play it but, how can I stop it from sounding like a strangled cat??

Thanks

Tighten your embouchure?

Not being a bassoonist I've no idea

sorry, that will only make matters worse on the bassoon. what you need to do is to imagine your mouth as a "cathedral" and that is where your sound is produced. therefore it needs to be as large as possible on the inside of your mouth. Your embouchre needs to be tight, but you shouldnt feel that much more different from bottom Bb. Moving up the reed fractionally may help also.

And of course, diaphram support is the key to higher notes, make sure you support the notes properly. Also make sure your crook is clean, when i was grd 4, i could not get a top G.....I cleaned out my crook, and that was the only note i played for a week i was soooo happy i could play it

hope that helps, if you need any more bassoon oriented advice,dont hesitate to contact

Don't tighten your embouchure or you might kill it

There are a few things you can do to help get the high notes out.

1) Make sure you aren't pinching the reed. When students are afraid of the high notes, they tend to tighten their embouchure and it sounds terrible. Keep it relaxed as for the rest of the range.

2) Use a faster air speed - this will change the aperture of the reed and make the higher notes sound more comfortably.

3) Try putting a bit more of the reed in your mouth.

4) Which fingering are you using? Some fingerings are particularly bad on some instruments for obscure reasons like position of tone holes, etc.

In case you don't know the alternate fingerings, here they are:

Eb
x x x | o o x
a c#



Eb
x x x | o o o F
a c#



Eb
x x x | o x x
a c# Bb


I usually find that the last one is the best and has the most pleasing tone, but it will depend on your bassoon so you should try all of them.

Thankyou!