Bassoon facts for kids
The bassoon is a large and important instrument in the woodwind family. It has the lowest sound of the four main woodwind instruments. Like the oboe, it uses a special double reed to make sound. This reed is attached to a curved metal tube called a "crook" or "bocal."
The bassoon is made of several parts. The crook connects to the main body, which has two sections: the 'bass joint' and the 'wing joint' (or 'tenor joint'). These parts join at the bottom with a U-shaped piece called the 'boot'. At the very top of the instrument is the 'bell joint'.
Because the bassoon is quite heavy, players often use a neck strap or a seat strap to support its weight. The bassoon is held to the player's right side, with the top of the boot joint usually level with their hip. When played well, the bassoon can sound very beautiful. It has one of the largest note ranges, from a very low B flat to a high F. It usually reads music in the bass clef, but can also use the tenor clef.
Some bassoons have a white, ivory ring around the top of the bell joint. These are called 'Heckel' bassoons, made in Germany. French bassoons, called 'Buffet' bassoons, do not have this ring. They also sound quite different from German bassoons. Bassoons have many keys to help players cover all the holes. However, these keys do not use the Boehm fingering system like other woodwind instruments. German bassoons use the Heckel system, and French bassoons use the Buffet system.
Even though the bassoon is sometimes seen as a funny instrument, it plays a very important role in an orchestra. The saxophone was actually invented to try and replace the bassoon and oboe. But it didn't sound the same in the orchestra, so it wasn't used as a replacement.
Playing the Bassoon
To play the bassoon well, you need a lot of breath support. Like with the oboe, you can play fast musical parts using "double tonguing." This is like saying "te-ke-te-ke-te-ke" very quickly. "Single tonguing" is like saying "tu-tu-tu-tu-tu."
In most music, the bassoon often plays the low notes, called the bass line. It might play the same notes as the cello or tuba. Sometimes, it can sound quite funny when it plays a simple "um-cha-um-cha" accompaniment. You can hear this in the "Dance of the Cygnets" from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
The bassoon can also sound very melodic and sad. Listen to the second movement of Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherazade to hear this. In the beginning of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, the bassoon plays some very high notes. This can trick people into thinking it's a Cor anglais (English Horn). Even a famous composer, Saint Saëns, didn't know what instrument it was! Prokofiev used the bassoon to play grandfather's tune in Peter and the Wolf. To play the bassoon, a player needs big hands because the keys and holes are quite spread out.
The holes on the bassoon are drilled at an angle. This helps prevent the upper notes from sounding unpleasant or "overblown." "Whisper keys" were also invented to stop overblowing. The bassoon is known for its unique, reedy sound. Its high notes can be sharp and sometimes a bit scary. The middle notes can be used for calm and majestic melodies, like lullabies. The low notes are deep and dark, perfect for scary movie music.
History of the Bassoon
The bassoon developed from an older instrument from the Renaissance period. This instrument was called the curtal or dulcian. These were also double reed instruments, often played with shawms.
During the Baroque period, the bassoon became very popular. It was often used to play the bass line in music, sometimes playing along with the cello. A person named Hotteterre helped create many parts of the modern bassoon. In the late Baroque period, composers like Antonio Vivaldi wrote concertos for the bassoon and orchestra.
Later, famous bassoon concertos were written by Mozart and, more recently, by Peter Maxwell Davies. The bassoon was a very important instrument in the orchestra. Both Mozart and Beethoven gave the bassoon important parts in their music.
The Contrabassoon
In some pieces of music with a very large orchestra, a contrabassoon is used. This instrument plays an octave lower than a regular bassoon. This means it can play notes as low as the bottom B flat or C on a piano. Some contrabassoons can even play the very lowest note on a piano, which is A.
You might expect the contrabassoon to stick up very high because it plays such low notes. But actually, its long tube keeps bending back and forth, making four parallel rows of tubing. Contrabassoons are usually made with the bell pointing downwards. A peg that rests on the floor supports its weight. The contrabassoon used to be shaped more like a regular bassoon.
The contrabassoon adds a rich, deep sound to a full orchestra. If you listen carefully, you can hear the contrabassoon in the hymn-like introduction to the last movement of Symphony no 1 by Brahms. It can also be clearly heard, making a growling sound, at the beginning of the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand by Ravel.
Images for kids
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A spectrogram of the bassoon's B♭ in four octaves.
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Bassoon reeds are usually around 5.5 cm (2.2 in) in length and wrapped in thread.
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Detail of binding around base of reed.
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Dulcians and racketts, from the Syntagma musicum by Michael Praetorius.
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Heckel system bassoon from 1870
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Two views of a Fox model 220 bassoon
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The contemporary quintet Edmund Wayne at the Treefort Music Fest
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viewed from the front]].
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Diagram describing the keys on a bassoon
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Holes and keys operated by fingers on left hand (above) and right hand (below)
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Keys operated by left thumb (above) and right thumb (below)
See also
In Spanish: Fagot para niños
