Have you created your studio calendar for the 2016–2017 school year? I made mine using Diane Hidy’s very useful template. You can find the template here. This is the studio calendar I made in about 20 minutes using her template. It is easy to use, gets all the dates right, and it’s free. The version […]
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Students who don’t practice
Students who don’t practice can be very frustrating for a teacher. I feel that there are two equally appropriate ways to approach these students: Drop them Embrace what they do bring to each lesson Dropping Students There are many reasons to drop a student. This post isn’t about dropping a student for failure to pay or […]
Continue readingMore TagHow to Write a Studio Policy
A studio policy is essential. It sets expectations for both you and your students. It acts as an authority you can reference when conflict arises between you and a student/parent. It can protect you in certain legal matters. And most importantly, it helps you the teacher decide how you really want your studio to run. […]
Continue readingMore TagMakeup Lessons—Friend or Foe?
If you have switched to the monthly tuition model for charging students, then you will have to decide what to do about missed lessons. It’s a complicated issue, so I will highlight five ideas that have worked in my studio and others. Do whatever feels fair for both you and your students. My own makeup policy […]
Continue readingMore TagBassoon Etudes used by Norman Herzberg
Norman Herzberg (a premier bassoon pedagogue of the 20th century) assigned standard bassoon etude books in a specific sequence. He had every student work through every etude—in order. He required his students to use standard fingerings on every note because, “There is no point in trying to avoid a technical difficulty by changing a fingering. After […]
Continue readingMore TagPlaying High Eb, E and F
Have you ever wished that you could get some special high note fingerings from one of the world’s great bassoonists? Thanks to William Short of the Metropolitan Opera, now you can. His blog post The Stratosphere provides fingerings he learned from Bernard Garfield. You’ll have to link to his blog for the actual fingering diagrams, but […]
Continue readingMore TagHelp for Moldy Reeds
Reeds that are stored in wet, moist, or humid environments often grow mold (sometimes referred to as mildew). I’ve compiled advice from many bassoonists on how to get rid of the mold once you have it. I’ve also written up advice for preventing mold in the first place. You don’t have to do all of […]
Continue readingMore TagStanding vs. Sitting
*UPDATE: See the end of the post for the product that finally got me standing My students love watching bassoon videos on YouTube. It doesn’t take very many videos before they start asking me if they should be playing the bassoon standing up. I have never been really confident in my answer, as I tried […]
Continue readingMore TagVirtual Recitals on YouTube
What do you do when your students have a conflict with a scheduled studio recital? I usually have one or two students in this boat, but this year it happened to over half of my bassoonists! All of my high school students qualified for the Utah State Solo/Ensemble Festival—and the festival just happened to coincide […]
Continue readingMore Tagorchestralbassoon.com – A Review
Once in a while I find a resource that is excellent in every way. Orchestralbassoon.com is one of those resources. It contains performance scores, autograph scores, audio examples, historical notes, harmonic analyses–and the list goes on. It is a clean, thorough, and intuitive website that I return to again and again. I always learn something new. […]
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