Above photo by www.markbrady.com

Paul Hanson on Bassoon Technique:

I believe in a good classical foundation for the bassoon. Without being overly obvious-if a bassoon student does not have certain traditional skills on the instrument that student will have too hard a time taking on the difficulty of jazz and other improvised music forms. The important point is that without studying long tones, etudes, excerpts and the like the bassoonist won't have the experience with the instrument necessary to tackle improvisation.

That being said-there is nothing wrong with learning improvised styles and classical styles simultaneously. In fact-I believe that improvising is great for one's ear and memorization. It's also good to be able to play what you hear or can sing-this goes for any style. I've seen so many really great classical musicians who can't make up a tune or a musical line on their own; they are definitely talented enough but were never trained to think of music as something they can create.

Developing Technique

The best way to develop technique-whether it be with the fingers or with the air column-is slow and steady. A lot of what applies to a physical workout applies to
bassoon practice. Use a metronome; start slow. For long tones-use a tuner. Get it solid and don't move on until you can play the whole exercise at one tempo correctly. If you are working on short exercises-like the kind in my book-set goals of how many times you can play something correctly before speeding up the metronome. This is a focusing technique that adds another layer of skill to the exercise.

For the upper registers of the bassoon it is very important to go slow and solid; it's so easy to make mistakes with the fingers that will keep you from getting something accomplished out of your practice. Try to be relaxed and focused in everything you do. You don't want to be intimidated up there by the thought that 'this is an area that is hard to play in'. It may be hard-but find a way to make it not hard. Go slow. Think of how a Tai Chi master practices his moves ritualistically slowly. Because of slow practice-his self-defense technique is flawless when sped up in real time. I look at practice as almost a spiritual art; I will never master the instrument and that is fine with me because the joy of working on the instrument is the practice of life itself. We never stop learning-the point isn't to finish. The point is always to be going forward with relaxation and a sense of wonderment at all the possibilities 12 notes and 3 1/2 octaves offers you. How many ways can they be connected and sound great?

When practicing-be sure you don't get too stiff. Relax. When standing up-think about using a balance hanger for your neckstrap. Otherwise the weight of the bassoon really screws up your left hand by making you do too much to play the instrument. Carpal tunnel is all too common in bassoon players.