Learn to Play the Bassoon! Book 2: Bassoon Book

Eisenhauer builds tone production and rhythmic foundation simultaneously rather than treating them as separate concerns. The careful grading means students progress through genuine musicianship milestones, not just fingering patterns, which makes Book 2 feel like earned advancement rather than busywork.

Focused and grounded. The emphasis on tone production means each exercise has a musical goal beyond note-reading; you're learning to voice the bassoon rather than just survive the page. The rhythmic development feels purposeful and cumulative.

Bassoonists moving into intermediate material who need strengthened rhythmic vocabulary and clearer concepts of how air support and embouchure shape sound. Students who completed Book 1 or equivalent repertoire and are ready to tackle more complex rhythmic figures without sacrificing tone quality.

• Isolate the rhythmic concepts introduced in each exercise before adding the melodic contour; this reinforces the stated emphasis on rhythmic sense.
• Return to tone production fundamentals whenever a new passage feels stiff or mechanical; Eisenhauer's method assumes you're refining embouchure and air support throughout, not just at the start.
• Play through exercises at a tempo where tone quality remains consistent, even if it means slower than marked; rushing compromises the tone production work that makes this method distinctive.

Use Book 2 as the core method for intermediate bassoon students during the school year when daily practice is regular and feedback frequent. The 48-page length supports consistent progress across a full semester without overwhelming daily assignment load.

• Rhythmic independence and reading mixed meters
• Tone production concepts including air support and embouchure control
• Intermediate melodic phrasing and articulation
• Technical facility across the middle and upper register