My First Weissenborn: Bassoon [Paperback]

Daniel Schmidt (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

The latest addition to the My First Series, this book is an introduction to the famous Practical Method for Bassoon by Julius Weissenborn (1837-1888), the bible for bassoonists since the Carl Fischer edition by W.F. Ambrosio was published in 1941. In preparing this introductory book great care has been taken by editor Daniel Schmidt to preserve the format and educational objectives set forth in the original. Logically organized, My First Weissenborn includes fingering charts, “Daily Bread” exercises, exercises for developing tone, Technical Etudes, Chromatic exercises and copious duets. Some concert pieces are also included by G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach, F.J. Haydn and F.J. Gossec, that will give the young student a chance to develop and display his or her growing mastery of the instrument. This is a book designed to improve the technical facility and musicianship of younger players and prepare them for Weissenborn’s master method, Practical Method for Bassoon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 35 pages
• Publisher: Carl Fischer, LLC (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825849632
• ISBN-13: 978-0825849633
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Bother. Get the real Weissenborn instead., January 20, 2010

By 

Bill E. Stivers Jr. "disaffected academic cur... (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: My First Weissenborn: Bassoon (Paperback)

Mr. Schmidt should be ashamed of his association with this particular puff piece.

Basically, this book consists of some random long tone and scale exercises, some arbitrary random studies from the Weissenborn bassoon method that have been poorly re-typeset, and a mishmash of solos that aren't really related to the rest of the material.

This book is neither fish nor fowl: It's not a beginner's book, so "My First" is a misnomer of a title.. it's not a method book like the Weissenborn book is... it's just a trainwreck with no pedagogical or other value.

The solos aren't bad, but aren't worth the price of admission. If you're already dropping 7 dollars on this book, just pony up for the full Weissenborn where all the etudes are in progressive order, and there's plentiful additional supplementary material.

I figure there are some non-double-reed-specialist band teachers who might use this as enrichment material for their bassoon students, and that this could be an introduction to Weissenborn's work for someone who's cut their teeth on a cruddy band method, but honestly: If you're going to go through the trouble to learn the bassoon, find a good teacher who'll start you up right with the real thing. This is, again, just a waste of money.

Also, just a minor quibble: There's a Buffet-Crampon French-system bassoon on the front cover of this book. If you want to learn the French bassoon, Maurice Allard's "Method pour Basson" is a better choice than _ANY_ Weissenborn.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic in Beginner Bassoon, February 18, 2008

By 

Cliff Somers "Cliff Somers" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My First Weissenborn: Bassoon (Paperback)

The cover has catchy artwork. The pages are of quite adequate paper and all notes are clearly printed. Let's face it, when it comes to a beginner bassoon music book, "My First Weissenborn" is a classic. If you enjoyed this review, please check out the ones I wrote reviewing the fabric care instruction labels on sweaters I purchased from the Land's End website.