The Structure of the Bassoon
What Kind of Musical Instrument is a Bassoon?
Learning the names of its parts
Parts of a bassoon
![Parts of a bassoon](/en/musical_instrument_guide/common/images/bassoon/mechanism_p01_03.jpg)
A long tube, folded in two?
The bassoon is an unusually long instrument, and the one that can be seen in the photograph is around 135 centimeters long. Actually, since the long tube of the instrument has a folded shape, it would reach around 260 centimeters if extended to its full length.
At the tip of the instrument (seen on the right of the photograph) a fine metal tube known as the bocal is attached. The bassoonist blows air into the reed attached to the very end of the bocal. The bore of the bassoon extends from the joint to which the bocal is attached, continues downward before performing a u-turn within the metal part at the instrument's lowest point, and then leads all the way up to its highest point. At the very top there is an opening called the bell.
![Bassoon](/en/musical_instrument_guide/common/images/bassoon/mechanism_p01_01.jpg)
Inside, a conical tube that gradually widens
The interior of a bassoon, from the bocal to the bell, is a conical tube the diameter of which steadily widens. The diameter at the very tip of the bocal is around 4 millimeters, while the diameter at the bell it is 40 millimeters. Between those two points, the interior of the bore gradually becomes wider.
![The interior of the instrument is a conical tube that gradually widens](/en/musical_instrument_guide/common/images/bassoon/mechanism_p01_02.jpg)
The interior of the instrument is a conical tube that gradually widens
Musical Instrument Guide : Bassoon Contents
Structure
- What Kind of Musical Instrument is a Bassoon?
- A Long Tube that can be Separated
- The Bocal and its Various Functions
- Unique Features of the bassoon, and How to Play
- [Experiment1]Comparing the Sound of Tone Holes cut Obliquely and Perpendicular
- [Experiment2]Encasing the Bore in Various Materials
- Bonus Experiment
How to Play
How the Instrument is Made
Choosing an Instrument
Trivia
- An Instrument that is Sensitive to Humidity
- Sounds from water in the U-tube?
- There's a needle in the bocal?!
- Comments by conductors caused popularity to tumble?
- Bassoon classics - Chamber music works
- Bassoon classics - Concertos
- Is the "contra-fagotto" a contrabassoon?
- What is the best tool to file a reed?