Definitions

Bassoon: a conical member of the woodwind family that is composed of six major pieces and produces sound in the tenor and bass ranges (Waterhouse, 2001)

Woodwind instruments: a class of instruments that produce sound when a musician blows air into a mouth piece. The blowing motion creates a vibrating column modified through the body of the instrument producing sound. The character of the sound - including pitch, timbre, volume)is modified by many factors including air pressure as well as modifications to the instrument in the course of fingering the covering holes on the side of the instrument called tone holes (Levine, 2023). 

• Both brass and woodwind instruments produce sound when a musician blows air into a mouth piece. Historically, woodwind instruments have been made of wood, and brass instruments have been made out of metal.  (Levine, 2023).
• One additional factor that differentiates a woodwind instrument from a brass instrument is the mechanism by which a musician can change the pitch of the sound being played. Tone holes allow for pitch change in woodwind instruments, and valves allow for pitch change in brass instruments (Levine, 2023  Wikipedia, contributors 'Tone Hole' 2024)). 

Woodwind instruments can be further subdivided into reed and flute instruments (Levine, 2023).

• Flute instruments require the musician to blow into a hole to create sound
• Reed instruments require the musician to blow into a mouthpiece (reed) to create sound. Bassoons are considered a reed instrument.
  • Reed: a thick strip of material that vibrates to create sound. The reed material differs based on the instrument. Most woodwind instrument reeds are made out of cane. Other instruments, such as accordions, can have reeds made from metal or synthetic materials (Wikipedia contributors, 2024)

Bass: considered the lower pitches an instrument/vocalist can produce (Wikipedia contributors, 2024)

Tenor: still describes a lower pitch sound, but one that is higher than bass and baritone, respectively (Wikipedia contributors, 2024)

 

Background

Construction

The bassoon is a long instrument and can be thought of as a long, hollow tube folded in half. The "inner tube" of the bassoon gradually widens from the reed to the end (bell of the instrument) (Yamaha Corporation - Musical Instrument Guide). The major components of the bassoon include the bell, bocal crook, tenor joint, bass joint, crutch, double joint, and reed (Macmillan, 2023). This makes up six major components with four joints (Wikipedia contributors, 2024)

Importance of individual components (Macmillan, 2023):

• Bell: located at the end of the bassoon and is the part of the instrument that projects the generated sound
• Bocal crook (or simply bocal): thin piece of metal that connects the reed to the instrument 
• Tenor joint (also known as a wing joint): the point on the instrument where the bocal is connected to the wooden bassoon proper, as the name implies, this is also the part of the bassoon that handles the tenor notes
• Bass joint (also known as the long joint): connects the bell to the boot joint (also known as the double joint), it contains a complex system of holes, keys, and rods that allows a musician to create bass notes
• Crutch: a piece of metal connected to the bass joint that the musician can use to hold the bassoon (not pictured above) 
• Double joint (also known as the boot joint): the point of the bassoon where the hollow inner tube "folds in half." This joint connects the bass joint to the tenor joint

Instruments can also be categorized based on the number of reeds they contain. Examples of single reed instruments include the clarinet and the saxophone, while the oboe and the bassoon are examples of double-reed instruments. A key difference between these types of instruments is how the reeds produce sound. In playing a single-reed instrument, the air blown out by the musician directly vibrates the single reed, which in turn vibrates the instrument and creates sound. In contrast, with double-reed instruments, there is additional vibration of the two reeds against one another, which allows the musician to control sound with the positioning of their lips and mouth, otherwise known as the embouchure (Wolfe, 2024).

 

Sound Generation

There are several different components to generating sound on a bassoon. It includes embouchure, breath support, articulation, and finger dexterity (K&M Music School, 2023).

• Embouchure: refers to the positioning of the facial/perioral muscles to create sound. Embouchure differs between instruments.
  • Historically, bassoon players were encouraged to have a pronounced "overbite," referring to the position of the lower jaw being further back than the upper jaw. Currently, music educators, especially those at higher levels, advocate for a more "natural bite," with the lower jaw set only slightly back from the upper. In addition to this natural bite, the lip should be rolled in slightly so that a little bit of the pink vermillion border is visible. The overall goal of the bassoon embouchure is to seal around the mouthpiece and allow for better control of sound generation with the double reed (Burns, 2023)
    • Some analogies for the bassoon embouchure include "drinking out of a straw" and "whistling" (Burns, 2023)
• Breath support: refers to the control of respiratory muscles to produce a forceful stream of air
  • In bassoon playing, the techniques of abdominal breathing, thoracic breathing, and thoracic-abdominal breathing are emphasized. This involves using a combination of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles to expand/contract the lungs and create, sustain, and expel a column of air (Chang, 2018)
• Articulation: refers to tongue movement relative to the reed (K&M Music School, 2023)
  • Two basic articulation styles in bassoon include the legato and the staccato. In legato articulation, the tongue moves smoothly between notes, facilitating smooth transitions and creating continuous sound. In contrast, the tongue moves quickly and sharply from note to note in staccato articulation, creating separation between notes (K&M Music School, 2023).
• Finger dexterity: the many keys along the bassoon must be operated with both hands. There are many patterns of finger positions in playing the bassoon and musicians must have great finger dexterity to switch and maintain positioning (K&M Music School, 2023)(Ewell, 2017)

 

History

Early written documentation describing the bassoon is not entirely reliable, as the modern predecessor to the bassoon was called different names in different parts of Europe. However, diagrams depicting the instrument have been more reliable and have led historians to believe the dulcian, the predecessor to the modern bassoon, was in use up to the beginning of the 18th century (Waterhouse, 2001). The major difference between the dulcian and the bassoon is their underlying construction. The dulcian is a single piece instrument, whereas the modern bassoon is a six piece, four jointed instrument that can be disassembled. The shift in popularity from the dulcian to the bassoon parallels the changing range of other instruments and music. Evidence of this transition from the dulcian to the bassoon can be seen in many iconographic and textual pieces, with concrete evidence of the modern, four-jointed bassoon being found in England in the late 1600s. The turn of the 19th century spurred additional advancements and improvements to the bassoon, giving rise to the modern bassoon. These advancements were driven by a need for instruments with a higher range and louder tone, to create better quality sound to accommodate larger orchestras and concert halls (Waterhouse, 2001)

 

Types of Bassoon

Because bassoon predecessors were played throughout Europe, different regions of Europe arrived at slightly different versions of the contemporary bassoon (New World Encyclopedia, 2023). The contemporary bassoon can be categorized based on the system to which it belongs - the Heckel ("German") system or the Buffet ("French") system. The Heckel system is used by the majority of bassoon players around the world, and "bassoon" is typically synonymous to the Heckel system. However, the Buffet system is more popular in in France, Belgium, and parts of Latin America. The biggest difference between the two systems is the design of the keys. The Buffet system has a simplified key system, which requires more complicated fingering to produce certain notes (Wikipedia contributors, 2024). 

 

Medical/Health Considerations 

Bassoon players tend to have high rates of musculoskeletal pain and underlying pathology. In one study by Brusky, 78% of bassoon players reported some kind of musculoskeletal pain, with 31% of players having a diagnosed musculoskeletal condition (Brusky, 2009).

In general, woodwind players tend to have higher rates of musculoskeletal conditions. Woodwind instruments have to be supported by the musician for long periods of time. This support requires increased muscle tension in one part of the body versus another, which can lead to asymmetric musculoskeletal complaints. Depending on the instrument, hand and wrist issues may develop with different finger positioning and movement. Commonly reported pathologies include wrist and thumb pain, deQuervain's tenosynovitis, flexor tendinitis, and ulnar nerve entrapment (Yang et al, 2021).

In order to prevent these types of injuries or help musicians recover from them, a variety of approaches may be utilized. Straps and harnesses can help musicians support their instrument to decrease musculoskeletal pain. Additionally, proper posture and ergonomics should be emphasized as a prevention strategy - adaptable to either a sitting or standing position. For musicians with existing orthopedic hand problems, splints or other orthoses can be used to offset pressure and encourage ergonomically favorable fingering patterns. 

 

References

Waterhouse, W.  (2001). Bassoon. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 27 Sep. 2024, from https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592....

Wikipedia contributors. Woodwind instrument. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. June 25, 2024, 12:38 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Woodwind_instrument&oldid=123.... Accessed September 27, 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. Reed (mouthpiece). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 24, 2024, 17:06 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reed_(mouthpiece)&oldid=1247517642. Accessed September 27, 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. Tenor. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. September 23, 2024, 23:24 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tenor&oldid=1247354395. Accessed September 27, 2024.

Wikipedia contributors, "Tone hole," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tone_hole&oldid=1232727861 (accessed November 18, 2024).

“The Structure of the Bassoon What Kind of Musical Instrument Is a Bassoon?” The Structure of the Bassoon:What Kind of Musical Instrument Is a Bassoon? - Musical Instrument Guide - Yamaha Corporation, www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/bassoon/mechanism/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024. 

Macmillan, Laura. “The Different Parts of a Bassoon: Its Anatomy and Structure.” Hello Music Theory | Learn To Read Music, 26 Nov. 2023, hellomusictheory.com/learn/parts-of-the-bassoon/#:~:text=Here%E2%80%99s%20a%20quick%20overview%20of%20the%20seven%20pieces%20that%20make. 

K&M Music School. “The Unique Sound, History, and Essential Role of the Bassoon in Orchestral Music.” K&M Music School, 15 Mar. 2024, kandmmusicschool.com/blogs/bassoon-lessons/the-unique-sound-history-and-essential-role-of-the-bassoon-in-orchestral-music/#:~:text=As%20a%20woodwind%20instrument%2C%20the,softest%20pianissimos%20to%20booming%20fortissimos. 

Wolfe, Joe. “Double Reed Acoustics: Oboe, Bassoon and Others.” The University of New South Wales Music Acoustics, newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/double-reed-acoustics.html. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.

Burns, Michael. “Strategies for Teaching the Bassoon Embouchure.” North Carolina Music Educator. Volume 54(4): 22-23.

Chang, Xiaochuan. “Analysis of embouchure and Breath Control of Bassoon.” 2018 International Conference on Culture, Literature, Arts & Humanities (ICCLAH 2018), 2018, https://doi.org/10.25236/icclah.18.077. 

Ewell, Terry. "Teaching the beginning bassoonist." Journal of IDRS 23 (2017): 35-43.

Bassoon. (2023, September 20). New World Encyclopedia, . Retrieved 20:14, October 1, 2024 from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Bassoon&oldid=112....

Brusky, Paula. “High prevalence of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders in bassoon players.” Medical Problems of Performing Artists, vol. 24, no. 2, 1 June 2009, pp. 81–87, https://doi.org/10.21091/mppa.2009.2017. 

Yang, N., et al. “A musician-centered approach to management of performance-related upper musculoskeletal injuries.” Journal of Hand Therapy, vol. 34, no. 2, Apr. 2021, pp. 208–216, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2021.04.006.  

Levine, Mike. “The Woodwind Family, Explained.” Yamaha Music - Blog, 26 May 2023, hub.yamaha.com/winds/wood/the-woodwind-family-explained/.