Bassoon

DISCLAIMER: The quality of equipment (instrument, reed, mouthpiece, ligature) has a very big impact on intonation. If the equipment is not in working order, the information and techniques on this webpage will not be as effective.

Embouchure Check!

Your embouchure formation can either help or hurt your pitch accuracy. Here is a brief reminder about how you should form your embouchure:

Place the tip of the reed on the lower lip.
Now draw (or roll) the reed into your mouth taking the lower lip with it.
Bring the top lip down slightly over the top teeth. Your top lip should be almost touching the first wire.

The bassoon embouchure is an overbite where the lower jaw is slightly behind the upper jaw. The lips are in a 'whistle' formation with little tension.

The Crow

Next, let's make sure that your reed is in good working order. The reed is another factor that effects intonation immensely.
A well balanced reed will make a good 'crow' sound. The 'crow' is a multi-pitched sound with low, mid and high tones. Listen to the example on the right and create the sound that you hear.

How To Tune the Bassoon

Once you have reviewed and practiced your embouchure formation, tune your bassoon using the procedure listed below:

1) Play your bassoon for a few minutes to warm up your embouchure muscles and the instrument.

2) Play diatonically up to 2nd line 'Bb' several times. Then play up diatonically up to 4th line 'F' several times. If these notes are out of tune, then check the bocal and reed lengths.

3) Check the notes 2nd space 'C' and 5th line 'A'. These are the best notes for bassoon alone.

How To Adjust Pitch While Playing The Bassoon

Even after tuning our instrument, there will still be notes that are naturally out-of-tune for various reasons. This makes it necessary for us to adjust, or manipulate, the pitch while playing. Here are some simple ways to adjust pitch:

Lip Tension and Vowels
("Lipping" the note up or down)

Increased lip tension and saying the vowel "EE" inside your mouth will cause the pitch to raise.
Decreased lip tension and saying the vowel "AW" inside your mouth will cause the pitch to lower.

Alternate/Resonance Fingerings

For many notes that tend to be out of tune, you can add or subtract keys to adjust the pitch. A few examples are listed below in the "alternate fingerings" section.

Amount of Reed in Mouth

Put more reed into your mouth to raise the pitch.
Put less reed in your mouth to lower the pitch.

Other Factors Effecting Pitch

Reeds

The reed should be 2 1/8 inch overall.
Do not play on old reeds.
Reeds that are too thin will cause pitch to be flat.
Reeds that are too thick will cause pitch to be sharp.

Pads and Keys

When pads and keys become displaced and move closer to the instrument, the pitch of those notes will flatten.
When pads and keys become displaced and move away from the instrument, the pitch of those notes will sharpen.
Leaky pads and keys will create weak and unstable notes.
Have your bassoon adjusted by a professional at least once per year.

Breath Support/Posture

When playing, sit as if you are standing from the waist up.
Poor breath support will lead to an unsupported, out of tune, sound.

Bocal

A size #2 bocal should work well on a student bassoon.
If your bocal is too short, pitch will be sharp.
If your bocal is too long, your pitch will be flat.

Temperature

When the temperature is hot, your instrument pitch will go sharp.
When the temperature is cold, your instrument pitch will go flat.

Dynamics

As the volume increases, the pitch will tend to go flat.
As the volume decreases, the pitch will tend to go sharp.

Pitch Tendencies

Every instrument has notes that are naturally out of tune. Here is a list of common naturally out-of-tune notes for the bassoon:

VERY SHARP

MODERATELY SHARP

SLIGHTLY SHARP

SLIGHTLY FLAT

Alternate Fingerings

Listed below are alternate fingerings for a few of the naturally out-of-tune notes on the bassoon. For many out-of-tune notes on the bassoon, pitch is adjusted using lip tension, air stream and the amount of reed in the player's mouth. This is not a complete list, however, these fingerings will be helpful.