Recently I have been teaching my students lessons that have been based around their own interests. A few of my students have been interested in contra and so I’ve brought in the contra for them and some of my student have been interested in reed making so I taught them about reed adjustment.

I think that it is important to break up the gloom and doom of regular lessons, etudes, and scales with something that really pique students’ interests. Most bassoonists think its very fun to try new equipment, and playing contrabassoon is a useful skill for learning bassoonists.