Woodwinds · Bassoon family
Bassoon
The bass of the woodwind section: a double-reed instrument with a conical tube about 2.5 metres long, folded back on itself.
- Section
- Woodwinds
- Family
- Bassoon family
- Classification
- Aerophone · double reed
- Transposition
- None (concert pitch)
- Clefs
- Bass, tenor (treble rarely)
- Sounding range
- B♭1 – E♭5
Parts of the bassoon
Two sides of the same assembled bassoon. Photo: Gregory F. Maxwell, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons. Labels added by Musicians Tools.
Range
Notes above about C5 are possible but demanding; E5 and higher only for strong players. Playback uses a neutral tone, not the instrument's own sound.
Writing for the bassoon
- Reads bass clef and switches to tenor clef for higher passages.
- The low register is rich and can be surprisingly loud. Short low notes are a classic comic effect.
- The high register has a veiled, plaintive sound, famously at the opening of The Rite of Spring.
- Very soft attacks on the lowest notes are risky.
- Doubles cellos and horns well and often links the woodwind and string bass lines.
History
The bassoon grew out of the dulcian, a one-piece Renaissance bass reed instrument, during the later 17th century. In the 19th century two systems developed: the German Heckel bassoon, now used almost everywhere, and the French Buffet bassoon.
Listen
Key works featuring the bassoon. Each link opens a YouTube search, so you can pick the recording you like.
- Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring (opening)
- Mozart – Bassoon Concerto in B♭, K. 191
- Dukas – The Sorcerer's Apprentice
- Prokofiev – Peter and the Wolf (Grandfather)