Exploring the
ORCHESTRA
Bassoon
Musical Section:
Woodwinds (Instruments that produce sound when air is blown across a reed or through a hole. Other instruments in this family: piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) . Other instruments in this family: Clarinet, Flute, Oboe
About the Bassoon
What it looks like
A bassoon is a tall musical instrument that looks like a really long wooden stick. In fact, it’s so tall, if you stretched it out, it would be almost 8 feet tall! That’s why it is folded in half, so it fits in a player’s hands. It has lots of silver keys and a little curved metal tube.
The bassoon can make a deep low sound, almost like a sleepy bear or a grumpy neighbor. When it plays high, it sounds a little pinched and squeaky like an overgrown mouse.
Did you know? The bassoon’s wooden body and reed are very sensitive to temperature and humidity, so it takes time for it to “wake up” and sound its best. Probably there are mornings you feel the same way!
How to Play
Mini Maestro
Sit or stand tall, and keep your fingers relaxed and curved over the keys. Place just the tip of the reed in your mouth and blow steady air to make a sound. The keys are tricky and the reed is delicate, so squeaks will happen! That’s okay, slow and steady practice is the way to go.
Young Maestro
Sit or stand tall, and keep your fingers relaxed and curved over the keys. Place just the tip of the reed in your mouth and blow steady air to make a sound. The keys are tricky and the reed is delicate, so squeaks will happen! That’s okay, slow and steady practice is the way to go.
Like the clarinet, the bassoon is a double reed instrument, meaning its reed has two pieces of cane tied together. This can make for the reed to change shape depending on how wet they are or even the temperature outside! That’s why bassoonists carry several reeds, because some reeds sound better than others on a given day.
Sometimes Grandpa Can Be So Uncool
In Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev chooses a different instrument to represent each character in the story. To represent the fussy, old grandfather, Prokofiev chose the bassoon. because its low, reedy voice sounded old, grumbly, and wise. There was only one problem. This piece became so popular that the bassoon got permanently typecast. Even today, bassoonists joke that Prokofiev ruined their “cool” image.
