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52 Lesson 19: Upper E-flat/D-sharp (Eb/D#)

Fingering

fingering for upper E flat

Intonation

This note tends to be flat so be sure to:

  • Use your very best breath support
  • Blow very fast, cold air
  • Voice a high vowel shape
  • Use the natural space in your oral cavity (do NOT exaggerate the space between your teeth for this note)
  • Firm lips but relaxed, soft jaws

Matching Pitch

Maintain your breath support and experiment with voicing higher and lower to explore the intonation of this note on your instrument and reed.

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Matching Pitch on upper E-flat

Slur fingering for upper Eb

Increasing your air speed helps a lot with upward slurs. However, with upper Eb changing the air speed isn’t usually enough. There is a special fingering that makes slurring to upper Eb much easier than with the standard Eb fingering.  It is close to the regular fingering for upper Eb, but you don’t use the right index finger.

slur fingering for upper E flat

 

Etude for upper Eb

Use the slur fingering for upper Eb in bars 7 and 12.

 

13 bar exercise in Eb major, range middle to upper Eb

 

one octave Eb major scale middle to upper Eb

 

Alma Mater in Eb, range middle Eb to upper Eb

Rubank Andante #2

The composer of this etude included detailed information about the articulation. As the performer, it is our responsibility to honor the composer’s wishes by observing all markings.

Staccato appears as a dot over a note.

  1. It means to put separation or space on both sides of the note with the dot.
  2. It can also mean “play half the value of the note.” A quarter note with a staccato dot can be played the same length as a regular eighth note.

Tenuto appears as a line above a note.

  1. It is a type of pressed or weighted accent.
  2. Tenuto can also mean to make the note a little longer than normal.

There are also slurs of varying lengths, some only two or three notes, others for 6 or more notes.

etude from Rubank method, Eb major, range middle B-flat to upper E-flat

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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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