Customer Reviews

CU96 - Weissenborn Method for Bassoon New Enlarged Edition

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The Weissenborn method is undoubtedly one of the most widely used methods for bassoon and is popular with teachers and students alike. It contains progressive technical excercises, scale and warm up exercises, progressive character studies (etudes) and duets. It also has an excellent fingering chart and general comments about the bassoon and it's technique.

I highly recommend this method. I used it myself when I was a student and also recommend it for my students.

Overall, this book is excellent, although it is a little unclear what the relationship is between it and another entitled "A Practical Method for Bassoon". One problem--mine arrived without the advertised fingering chart, but that's to be expected for what was being sold as a used book. Besides, I have plenty of fingering charts from other bassoon books.

This book provides a very nice selection of graduated etudes that are technically challenging and musically pleasing, and which introduce new notes and techniques in a very logical manner. I had sailed through the Yamaha and Essential Elements series having done little more than learn the fingerings--no work at all on technique or tonality. As an intelligent adult who is already musically accomplished and who is trying to teach himself a new instrument, there is simply too little meat in the standard lesson books. I can only play "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and "Alouette" so many times before they lose their charm! However, Weissenborn in combination with "The Art of Bassoon Playing" has greatly accelerated improvement of my technique and tonality. I play the music in Weissenborn, then I trouble-shoot problems using "The Art..." and return to Weissenborn to practice the new techniques. I wish a book similar to Weissenborn existed for oboe, my other current self-learning project.

This method book is often refered to as "the bassoonists' bible". It uses a step by step process to build technique and improve overall playing ability. It is the book used in the state of Alabama (and perhaps others) for All-state band auditions. This is not a book for beginers, but will take an intermideate player to advanced level and beyond.

Others have written about the book's quality. It's a bit daunting for beginners, but someone has written a "My First Weissenborn" for bassoon newbies. I have "Practical Method" and have used it for years. However, this larger version, called just "Method for Bassoon," is the one to get.

The additional material (compared to "Practical Method") is a popular set of key studies by Milde which are often assigned to students. When I moved and had to get a new teacher, she assigned the Milde studies. So I bought the "Method for Bassoon" book to replace my old, beat up "Practical Method" book, even though the Milde studies are also available separately. Either book will carry a student along for years of learning. This book is still in print and easily available from dedicated sheet music online vendors, even if Amazon doesn't have it right now. When I bought it, it was the SAME PRICE brand new as the "Practical Method." You shouldn't be paying a premium for this version.