Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 5: Bassoon - Bassoon Sonata, Op.168

by Camille Saint-Saëns

Performer: Charles Kaufmann

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Recite the composer and composition names.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the instrument or topic category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

The next four weeks introduce a new woodwind instrument called a bassoon. As with flutes, musicians produce sounds by blowing to vibrate the air inside the instrument. However, bassoonists play their bassoons with a reed. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Bassoon Sonata, Op.168,' by Camille Saint-Saëns, features the bassoon. As you enjoy the music, distinguish the sounds of the bassoon from the accompanying piano. The painting included in the lesson, 'The Bassoon Player,' by painter Hermann Kern, shows a man posing with a bassoon while two other men compare his pose to a picture.

Vocabulary

Sonata: A composition for an instrumental soloist, often with a piano accompaniment.
Op (Opus): Musical work, typically followed by a number.
Bassoonist: A musician who plays the bassoon.

Category

1. Music lessons group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, woodwinds, and brass.
2. Woodwind instruments in an orchestra typically include flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.
3. Woodwind instruments produce sound when the musician blows across an opening or through a tube to vibrate air inside the instrument.
4. Most woodwind instruments incorporate a reed to produce their distinctive sounds. Study the three bassoon reeds. Note how they fan out at the end.

5. Reeds are attached to the mouthpiece of instruments, where musicians blow to vibrate the reed and the air inside the instrument.

6. Woodwind instruments also have keys or open holes that musicians press to alter the sound. See the keys on the bassoon.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Learn the Parts of a Bassoon

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the bassoon.

Activity 2: Study How to Hold and Play a Bassoon

• Examine the picture of the bassoonist and answer the following questions:
• How does the man use his right hand?
• How does the man use his left hand?
• What do the man's fingers press down?
• How does the man use his mouth and lips?
• How does the man change which sounds the bassoon plays?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Bassoon Parts

Quiz yourself, and identify the following parts from memory on the bassoon diagram:

• Bocal (or Crook)
• Bell Joint
• Boot Joint
• Long Joint
• Wing Joint
• Reed

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'The Bassoon Player,' by painter Hermann Kern, and find the following:

• Bassoon
• Bassoonist
• Photograph
• 2 Top Hats
• Clock
• Umbrella
• Handkerchief
• Overcoat
• Potted Plant
• Drinking Glass

Review

Question 1

What are the five major categories of instruments listed in the lesson?

1 / 5

Answer 1

The five major categories of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

1 / 5

Question 2

Which instrument category does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the woodwind category.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the bassoon.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the bassoon?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the bassoon include the bocal (or crook), the bell joint, the long joint, the wing joint, the boot joint, the reed, and the keys.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians create different sounds with woodwinds?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians press woodwind keys or open holes to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow to manipulate the volume.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major categories of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major categories of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which instrument category does this lesson feature? This lesson features the woodwind category.
3. Which instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the bassoon.
4. What are the major parts of the bassoon? Major parts of the bassoon include the bocal (or crook), the bell joint, the long joint, the wing joint, the boot joint, the reed, and the keys.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with woodwinds? Musicians press woodwind keys or open holes to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow to manipulate the volume.

References

'Woodwind instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Bassoon.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.