Tom Hardy Bassoon

Private Pupils Wanted - bassoon and contra bassoon

I am keen to hear from anyone wanting bassoon lessons in London. I am happy to give regular one to one lessons for young pupils as well as adults. I am also available for one off consultation lessons for any adult amateur player who wants specific help on breathing, embouchure, reeds, technique etc.

Here's a recent quote from an advanced amateur player who came for a lesson:

"In a matter of minutes Tom Hardy had singled out the right crook for my setup from among many. He then specified the right scrape for this crook and this reed, and proved it with a few deft scrapes to my number two reed, which then instantly became my number one reed! Invaluable session!"

He also said:

"I had reached a very low limit of staccatto speed. Tom Hardy took one look at what I was
doing and not only showed me what was slowing it down, but followed that up with a written set of exercises for me in particular to keep me from falling back into bad habits. Extremely useful. I will go back regularly from now on."

The magic of recording a lesson

I recently discovered that making a recording of my pupils and a separate recording of their tunes with me playing has helped speed progress. It also got unanimous positive feedback from the parents who can hear how the tunes are supposed to go!

With a small hard disk recorder I can capture the MP3s at a good quality and email them to parents to put on their ipods.

It spurs me on to get cracking on the bassoon DVD for intermediate players.

Teaching Summit

Having taught bassoon for several years following my studies at the Guildhall then taken a break I came back fresh to teaching and have a bunch of young and keen bassoon players each week. Amazingly I find now I know a great deal more about breathing and embouchure than I did then and now have ways of describing things to others that I couldn't think of before. As most of us are not actually taught how to teach this sparked an idea for a meeting of teachers to try and distill and codify the basics and then create an instructional DVD. As there seem to be as many ideas as there are bassoon teachers this might prove quite a challenge! However, reading through the basic texts that are available - William Spencer's book on the Art of Bassoon Playing, Bill Waterhouse's fantastic but highly technical "The Bassoon" in the Menuhin Series for example - it would seem the need is not for advanced texts but for the beginner to intermediate student who would rather surf YouTube or Facebook than practice or read a book on how to play the bassoon. Ideas on a postcard please....

Sutton Music Service

www.suttonmusicservice.org.uk/sat.shtml#satMS
where I currently teach nine "endangered species" - bassoons, from nine years old to eighteen. I also coach the wind sections of their Young Musician's Orchestra and Sutton Youth Symphony Orchestra. A very active and highly successful music service.

www.learn-theory-music.com

www.learn-theory-music.com/

This site is being added to each week and contains pearls of wisdom on the fundamentals of music. If you ever have to teach music to adults or children then read this site and watch this space! There is a glossary of basic musical terms that you can buy which is fantastic.

This even has an RSS feed with strange and wondrous bits and pieces to amuse (that's really simple syndication or variations on that theme which means you can get the news pumped into your chosen reader - either on your email or on your google homepage. The opportunities are endless...)

Tonguing

I wrote some ideas about tonguing and double tonguing in an email for two good amateur bassoon players who asked me how I did it. That email has been forwarded on to others so I thought I would put this on my site now so I can amend it rather than have the original email wander off into cyberspace with a life of its own. None of these ideas are new and maybe lots of people know these things already. But in the interest of better bassoon playing I wanted to share this:

I will edit this and reference as many of the sources as I can once I have worked out where these ideas came from (as they are an accumulation of tips from different people over the years).

Tonguing thoughts:

1. The further the tongue has to move the less chance you have of going fast.

2. If there is jaw movement in producing a note then there is no way you will be able to tongue fast.

3. Double tonguing is not possible without sufficient air support to make the notes work with a kuh.

4. A responsive reed is also key as the kuh has to produce a note easily.

5. Most people form a short staccato by tah then put the tongue BACK on the reed. This is fine for slower staccato where the comic dry staccato is needed but for just "separated" notes in the classical repertoire this is too short and often ugly. The note is started with the AIR and the tongue is just the valve to let the air through. The tongue should only lightly touch the reed to start the note and the next movement will be to start the NEXT note (cutting out half the effort many make in putting the tongue back on to STOP the note!!).

6. Fast tonguing is done by thinking LEGATO and lots of air and minute movement of the tongue.

The less movement the better.

Faster Single Tonguing:

A.Stand in front of the mirror and practice starting notes forte. From bottom G up to tenor C is fine as below this and above this involves other problems. See if you can start these notes with NO jaw movement - set the embouchure first and have nothing move when you start the note Tah... Ping pong ball on top of an air stream. toothpaste squeezing out of a tube - whatever analogy gets you thinking about breath support all the way from the tummy up. The "diaphragm" can't PUSH - it's a muscle that you use to pull the air in FAST. It's the rib cage, tummy muscles etc. that are involved in KEEPING the support whilst you breathe out slowly. Once you have really found this you will increase your dynamic range a great deal. If you are really putting the air through in volume you will feel the whole instrument vibrate under your fingers. The embouchre doesn't need to be tight - just support around the reed.

B. Try starting notes with the air alone and no tongue. A kick from the diaphragm (read stomach muscles really but we are so used to talking about the diaphragm as doing the work!). It will usually sound like a sick cow but do a few minutes of easy scales slowly "ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa".

It gives you an idea of how much support you need to make the note speak without the tongue.

C. With that SAME sensation of support now introduce the Tah very lightly. Once you find how little you have to move the tongue (and keep the JAW STILL) you will be able to tongue single note semi quavers up to around 120 bpm no problem. Adding moving the fingers for an upward scale will often show it's the co-ordination of the fingers and tongue at fault and not the speed of the tongue! You can overcome this by practicing a fast scale in PAIRS (half the tongue). You will probably develop your own exercises.

Double Tonguing.

A, B above apply here too. Then

E. Try starting notes with the KAH - with at least the same air support as above if not slightly MORE!!

F. Now move onto tah kah tah kah - you can practice this away from the bassoon anywhere you like! Just make sure you keep the mouth still, move the tongue a minute distance. No jaw up and down. Embouchure relaxed but firm and a HUGE amount of air support.

Rather than trying to double tongue continuously it's better to practice two semi quaver then quaver rhythms - the fifth Weisenborn Study in book two (with da da daah da da daah rhythm is great for this.

If tah kah is too aggressive then dah gah may give you a better idea - it is NOT a big TAAAH KAAAAH - it's a small movement with lots of air.

Tonguing - other sources

I put up the above article on tonguing some time ago and see that this is one of the subjects that is a popular search in Google! I thought it time to start to compile other sources of help on tonguing and double tonguing on the bassoon as this is a hot subject.

www.morellibassoon.com/cybermasterclass.html
has a detailed approach from one of the world's top bassoon players, Frank Morelli.

Also the two orchestral excerpt CDs on Summit(Classical) both offer fantastic (and different) advice. David McGill is the first bassoon from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (and previously from the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra) and presents Volume 1. He does not double tongue and so offers good advice on fast single tonguing and how to maintain this.

Chris Millard was the first bassoon in the Vanouver Symphony Orchestra for years (now in Toronto with the NAC Orchestra as well as presenting podcasts on Classical music that you can find on iTunes) presents Volume Two. He has great advice on double tonguing.

Volume 1 can be previewed on www.emusic.com and both are available from many CD sites. Just google for the best price! Emusic also has a good selection of Chris Millard's solo recordings.

The Mini Bassoon

There is no doubt about it - the Mini Bassoon and the Tenoroon have arrived for the younger generation.

www.minibassoon.com/

Sadly this site is currently off line but should be back on soon (March 09)

But you can download information from their main site:
www.howarth.uk.com/download.aspx

Read about these smaller instruments and how they are helping us train the future bassoonists of the world.

How To Practice

www.howtopractise.com/

A great site pooling common sense with new ideas and resources to help both pupils and teachers get more out of their practice time.

Update May 09 - I have volunteered to write a column on bassoon practice each month which will then appear on this site. Now just got to fit it in...