Methods

*Bassoon Student  Student Instrumental Course – Level One (Elementary) by Henry T. Paine and Fred Weber (Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp.)

This is a method for individual instruction. Lessons 30-32 fit within the current range (low F to upper F) and provide useful supplemental material.

*Caution: I include this method only for the musical examples it contains. The written instructions are outdated and contrary to the modern approach to bassoon playing. The author encourages forcing the embouchure into an exaggerated overbite and instructs the student to “Bite reed tighter”.  There is no mention of the speaker keys or change in air speed for upper notes.

Etudes

The Singing Bassoon – Forty legato studies, Op. 17 by Giuseppe Concone Edited by June Emerson

Legato studies ideal for developing full and consistent breath support, centered tone, phrasing, and smooth slurs. Range of the etudes is generally on the bass staff rising frequently to D above the staff and occasionally to E and F above the staff.

Solos (short tunes without accompaniment)

Blue Moon Bassoon by Amanda J. Turley

Chapter 4: American Spirit tune 31

Chapter 5: Night and Day tune 38

Chapter 6: Enchanted Forest tunes 42, 46

Chapter 7: Dance Party tunes 51-52, 56, 58

Chapter 8: Festive Season tunes 61-62

Chapter 9: On the High Seas tunes 67, 72

Chapter 10: At the Symphony tunes 75-76, 78

Chapter 11: Haunted Grove tunes 82, 84-86, 89-90

Chapter 12: Yuletide Celebration tunes 91, 94

Chapter 13: Out West tunes 96-97, 99-100

Chapter 14: Wolfie and the Gang tune 107

Solos (Collections)

A Miscellany for Bassoon, Book I by Michael Rose (The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music)

Hornpipe   Range: middle B to upper E    (unaccompanied)

Folksong     Range: low A to upper E

Ballad        Range: low A to upper F

Intrada      Range: low G to upper F

March      Range: low G to upper E

A Miscellany for Bassoon, Book II by Michael Rose (The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music)

Habanera     Range: low F to upper F

Polka     Range: low F to upper E    (unaccompanied)

Tango     Range: low G to upper F

Dance     Range: low A to upper E

Waltz      Range: low A to upper E

Classic Experience Collection (Cramer Music, London) Favorite Classical Themes Arranged for Bassoon and Piano by Jerry Lanning

Moonlight Sonata First Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven     Range: low G to upper F

Overture from Carmen by Georges Bizet     Range: middle B to upper E

Two Themes from Peter and the Wolf by Serge Prokofiev     Range: low A to upper F

Sheep May Safely Graze by Johann Sebastian Bach     Range: middle D to upper F

Vesti La Giubba from Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo      Range: middle D to upper F

Waltz from Coppelia by Leo Delibes     Range: low G to upper F

Classic Festival Solos for Bassoon (Alfred Publishing Co.)

The Happy Farmer by Robert Schumann (arr. Roy D. Johnson)     Range: middle Bb to upper Eb

Waves of the Danube by Ivanovici (ed. Henry T. Paine)     Range: low G to upper Db

Saraband and Minuet from Sonata No. 6 by Johann Galliard (transcribed and edited by Harry R. Gee)     Range: low C to upper Eb

Elegy by Jules Massenet (arr. Roy D. Johnson)     Range: low A to upper Eb

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (arr. Roy D. Johnson)     Range: low A to upper C#

Allegro Appassionata, Op. 43 by Camille Saint-Saens (arr. Henry T. Paine)     Range: low E to upper F

First Book of Bassoon Solos – Bassoon and Piano, edited and arranged by Lyndon Hilling and Walter Bergmann (Faber Music)

26. Landler by Franz Schubert     Range: middle D to upper Eb

27. Rustic March by Carl Maria von Weber     Range: middle Bb to upper D (w/ upper C# grace note)

First 50 Songs You Should Play on the Bassoon (Hal Leonard)

Songs from this book fit within this 2 octave range

Collection includes movie and TV themes, rock and pop tunes, anthems. ballads, etc.

Master Solos Intermediate Level – Bassoon (Hal Leonard Publishing Corp.)

Romanze by Edmund Siennicki     Range: low F to upper F

NYSSMA Folio for Bassoonists (Jack Spratt Music Co.)

Aria from the opera Tigraine” by Alessandro Scarlatti (arr. Clifford P. Barnes)

Second Book of Bassoon Solos – Bassoon and Piano, edited and arranged by Lyndon Hilling and Walter Bergmann (Faber Music)

4. Gavotte from Trio Sonata for Two Violins, Op. 5 by G.F. Handel    Range: middle D to upper E

5. L’Hiver (Winter) by G.P. Telemann    Range: middle D to upper F (all tenor clef)

16. Andaluza from Spanish Dances by Enrique Granados    Range: middle D to upper E

Standard of Excellence Festival Solos, Book 2, 15 Easy Solos for Young Musicians (Neil A. Kjos Music Co.)

Minuet and Trio by Ludwig van Beethoven     Range: middle C to upper Db

Rondeau by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg     Range: middle Bb to upper Eb

To a Wild Rose by Edward MacDowell     Range: middle Bb to upper Eb

Polonaise from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach by Johann Sebastian Bach     Range: middle B to upper Eb

Time Pieces, Volume II arr. by Ian Denley (The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music)

Song to the Moon from Rusalka by Antonin Dvorak     Range: middle D to upper F

Montagues and the Capulets from Romeo and Juliet by Sergey Prokofiev     Range: low F (E#) to upper F

Fughetta from Ten Easy Pieces by Alexandre Tansman     Range: low G# to upper E

Vocalise from Portraits by John McCabe     Range: low A to upper Eb

 

Solos (Individual Pieces)

“Arm, Arm Ye Brave” from Judas Maccabeus by G.F. Handel (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle Bb to upper F

Ave Maria (arr. for bassoon and piano by Neil Ramsay) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: low A to upper F

Caprice No. 13 from 24 Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 (arr. David R. Werden) Publisher: Cimarron Music Press     Range: low F to    upper F

Concerto in C minor (trans. from Oboe Concerto in G minor HWV 287) by G.F. Handel Publisher: Editio Musica Budapest     Range: middle C to upper F

Concerto in C minor (trans. from Oboe Concerto in G minor HWV 287by Vincent Pezzi) by G.F. Handel Publisher: Southern Music Company    Range: middle C to upper F

Fugue from Fantasy and Fugue No. 7 in C minor BWV 537 by J.S. Bach (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle Bb to upper F

“Happy, Happy, Happy Pair” from Alexander’s Feast by G.F. Handel (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle C to upper F

“Happy, Happy Shall We Be” from Semele by G.F. Handel (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle Eb to upper F

Jabberwocky by Harold L. Walters Publisher: Rubank, Inc.     Range: middle Bb to upper F

Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened from Coronation Anthem No. 4 by G.F. Handel (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle G to upper Eb

Minuetto from Don Giovanni by W. A. Mozart (arr. Frank Erickson, ed. Arthur Best) Publisher: Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp.     Range: middle Bb to upper Eb

“Pour forth no more Unheeded Prayers” from Jeptha by G.F. Handel ((arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle C to upper Eb

Prelude No. 17 in A-flat Major, BWV 862 from Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: low G to upper F

Saraband by Roy D. Johnson, Publisher: Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp.     Range: low F# to upper Eb

Sonata in Bb Major for bassoon and keyboard by Jerome Besozzi Publisher: Oxford University Press (third movement has some tenor clef)    Range: low A to upper F

Spanish Dance No. 2 by Moritz Moszkowski, Publisher: Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp.     Range: low G to upper E

“Swell the Full Chorus” from Solomon by G.F. Handel ((arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle Bb to upper F

The King of Kings from Deborah by G.F. Handel (arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: low G to upper F

Two Alleluias from Coronation Anthems No. 2 and No. 4 by G.F. Handel ((arr. Ronald Dishinger) Publisher: Medici Music Press     Range: middle C to upper Eb