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30 Lesson 5: Middle E-flat (Eb)

The Resonance Key (Left-Hand Pinky)

The resonance key is the upper key on the long joint and is pressed with the left-hand pinky. When pressed, this key opens a large tone-hole on the long joint and is used to adjust the timbre and tuning of certain notes.

resonance key located on long joint and key diagram

Middle Eb

Middle E-flat (Eb) has a fun fingering. It’s called a “forked” fingering because the left middle finger is up, but the left ring finger is down. This can be tricky to coordinate, and you’ll need to work on getting your fingers to move independently from each other.

This Eb has several possible fingerings but only two of them sound good and have stable intonation. You can avoid a lot of trouble with middle Eb if you use one of the two reliable fingerings shown below. The only difference between the two fingerings is in the right hand. The fingering on the left uses the middle finger and is a little higher in pitch; the second uses the index finger and is a little lower in pitch.

2 fingerings for middle E flat

Matching Pitch on Eb

Play this trying both fingerings to see which one makes it easiest to play the Eb in tune with the reference tone.

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pitch matching exercise on middle Eb

Troubleshooting Intonation:

If you are using your AIR & EAR but aren’t completely in tune with either of the suggested fingerings, try playing middle Eb without the resonance key (left pinky). Most instruments need the resonance key down to be in tune on middle Eb, but not all.

        two middle E flat fingerings minus resonance key

Note: Middle Eb will need a good amount of practice before it feels easy. The finger coordination is a challenge because some fingers will be lifting while others are going down. The next exercise, Practice Patterns, provides options for practicing various note combinations that include middle Eb. These patterns can be transposed to address any tricky combination of notes. You can make them more challenging by adding articulations and dotted rhythms.

Practice Patterns

7 practice patterns for Eflat to Enatural

 

7 practice patterns for E-flat to open F

 

7 practice patterns for E-flat to D2

 

7 practice patterns E-flat to C2

 

7 practice patterns E-flat to B-flat

Eb Neighbors

This exercise uses the finger combinations you’ve just practiced.

moving between Eb2, D2, F2

Eb is the Key

  • A lot of fingers have to move when playing from middle Eb to middle F. You need to lift everything except the whisper key.
  • Play through the exercise slowly to identify the tricky note combinations (probably Eb to F, Eb to D, and C to Eb).
  • Use the isolate and repeat practice technique on each pair of notes before playing through the exercise again.
  • Observe the slurs in bars 7, 8, and 13.

In bar 7 you will articulate all but the last two pitches (the F eighth and E quarter).

In bar 8 you will articulate all notes except for the D eighth notes on the “and” of beats 1 and 3.

In bar 13 you will articulate all notes except for the D eighth notes on the “and” of beats 1 and 3.

16 bar exercise playing from C2 through F2 focus on middle Eb

The Water is Wide

This piece is presented as a duet. The top part is the melody, and the bottom part is the accompaniment. Play this with your teacher or with another student bassoonist. You can even play a duet with yourself by recording one of the parts and playing the other part along with your recording.

Be sure to count and keep a steady tempo. The suggested tempo is quarter note = 96 but practice at a slower tempo until your fingers are comfortable with the notes and you can sing your part easily and accurately in your head while you play.

 

duet using middle Eflat, range F1-F2

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A Modern Guide to Teaching and Playing the Bassoon Copyright © 2024 by Carol Lowe is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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