I’ve been self-learning bassoon since last October due to a determined plan to fulfill one of my childhood dreams of playing bassoon. I don’t know what has always fascinated me about that instrument, but it has always attracted me into playing.

Now, as a beginner bassoon player who’s only played ukulele, flute and piano her entire life, getting my hands and lips on a reed was a very new and difficult experience. I didn’t really know how to vibrate my reed, nor did I know how to control my breathing on a reed.

However, my band teacher so thankfully was able to connect me to her college friend, Bryce, who currently is a biology teacher who did study a minor in music. It was so interesting to meet him as he had very, very similar experiences with the same instruments I played (he also used to play flute and began playing bassoon in October!)

I was so thankful for this experience as he was able to help answer all my questions I had that I couldn’t find answers to on the internet. I’m really thankful for this experience as it taught me so many new things. I’m also very thankful that he was so patient with me all the way and even spared an extra 15 minutes off of his dinner time to help me with my bassoon.

So here are some things I want to note that I learned before I forget, or could be helpful to you, readers, if you are beginner bassoon players.

1. Reed problems – I had stranger problems recently associated with my sound. After changing to a new reed, my sound has not come out fully and I could only hear the sound of my breath blowing on the reed. However, this problem has been fixed by his advice to wet the reed enough and store it in a cup of water when not playing during practice. He also advised that I could use pliers to either expand or contract the hole opening between the double reed of the bassoon, after he had noticed my double reed gap was a bit narrow.
2. OCTAVE KEYS?! How did I NOT know about this? My band is currently practicing “How to Train Your Dragon” as a collaborative performance with Middle School band, so I have to play my bassoon part for this piece, but the high octaves were too difficult to play with my breath. However, I learned that there are these keys called flick keys? I tried playing high Bb with the keys and they were magical. They work so well.
3. When the head joint of your bassoon is stuck – slightly push down the jammed two joints down on your knee, while slowly turning it – it should release some of the pressure and slowly disassemble.
4. Way to check if your key pads are not fully closing – on the very bottom part of your bassoon, you can suck on one of the holes while playing your cheek on the other hole. If you feel a vacuum on your cheek from the air you sucked out of the part, then your key pads are fine.
5. Tonguing – place your tongue on the tip of your reed instead of flicking your tongue ON the reed.

I’m so glad I was able to learn all of these tips during this session!!

Also, I was introduced to some awesome solo pieces that I could practice for my upcoming solo. Argh!

– Joanna Kim, March 30th, 2022, 5:25PM KST –