Author: Jessi Vandagriff

In part 1 of this post, I told you about my innovative way to teach more students in a shorter amount of time. Now let me tell you how it went down. Of the four students originally scheduled for the group class, one never showed up and another dropped out after two months. I had to […]

This post is not about leading a group of novice reed makers through the difficult reed finishing process. It is a follow-up to this post where my students formed their own reeds using thin cane* that almost always crows right after you clip the tip. I want my students to have success on their first reed […]

I like my students to start making reeds as soon as possible. I find that most don’t really take to it right away, but once in a while a student will fall in love with reed making. I currently have a ninth grade student who makes all of her own reeds. I rarely have to […]

I live in an area where there are usually one or two bassoonists per high school and one or two high schools per town. Most of my students have to travel at least 30 minutes one way to get to bassoon lessons. Combine the driving distance (and associated cost) with the cost of lessons, and […]