Practicing
How much should I (or my child) practice?
Parents always ask about how much their child should practice bassoon. The short answer: a minimum of 30 minutes every day (emphasis on daily practicing). The long answer - lessons, instruments, and reeds are a big investment both in time and money. In order to make this investment worthwhile, daily practicing is necessary. If a student of bassoon is hoping to be accepted into a music degree program in college or is hoping for scholarship money, 30 minutes a day is no longer enough. An hour or more of practicing per day, just like homework for good grades in class, is the only way to achieve the standard of excellence that colleges are looking for.
How much should I (or my child) practice?
Parents always ask about how much their child should practice bassoon. The short answer: a minimum of 30 minutes every day (emphasis on daily practicing). The long answer - lessons, instruments, and reeds are a big investment both in time and money. In order to make this investment worthwhile, daily practicing is necessary. If a student of bassoon is hoping to be accepted into a music degree program in college or is hoping for scholarship money, 30 minutes a day is no longer enough. An hour or more of practicing per day, just like homework for good grades in class, is the only way to achieve the standard of excellence that colleges are looking for.
Reeds
What is the difference between a $5 (or $10) reed and a $20 reed? Is it necessary for a beginner bassoonist to purchase a more expensive one?
Yes, good reeds are expensive. There is no way around it. Can you buy $5-$10 reeds? Yes. Do they work? Not if you want to play bassoon.
So why is a good, easy blowing, nicely vibrating reed so important?
Our bassoon reed controls:
A good quality reed is important, especially for beginner bassoonists, because they are still learning how to accomplish all these things. If they have a reed that either cannot accomplish them or makes it difficult. Often a new bassoonist will blame themselves. This leads lots of beginners to quit thinking that they, wrongly, are not good at bassoon.
Can a less expensive reed be fixed to work in bassoon lessons? Yes, I will always interrupt a lesson to fix a reed if it is causing problems. However, this is using your child's lesson time to fix that reed, usually making it not worth the cheaper cost in the end.
I purposely sell my reeds to students at a discounted price (with little to no profit for me) just so that they can have a reed that will allow them to succeed.
What is the difference between a $5 (or $10) reed and a $20 reed? Is it necessary for a beginner bassoonist to purchase a more expensive one?
Yes, good reeds are expensive. There is no way around it. Can you buy $5-$10 reeds? Yes. Do they work? Not if you want to play bassoon.
So why is a good, easy blowing, nicely vibrating reed so important?
Our bassoon reed controls:
- ease of notes speaking
- intonation
- tone quality
- position of embouchure
A good quality reed is important, especially for beginner bassoonists, because they are still learning how to accomplish all these things. If they have a reed that either cannot accomplish them or makes it difficult. Often a new bassoonist will blame themselves. This leads lots of beginners to quit thinking that they, wrongly, are not good at bassoon.
Can a less expensive reed be fixed to work in bassoon lessons? Yes, I will always interrupt a lesson to fix a reed if it is causing problems. However, this is using your child's lesson time to fix that reed, usually making it not worth the cheaper cost in the end.
I purposely sell my reeds to students at a discounted price (with little to no profit for me) just so that they can have a reed that will allow them to succeed.