The Breathing Book for Bassoon by Kristin Wolfe Jensen is appropriate for college through professional bassoon players.

Breathing well is fundamental to playing the bassoon well. To breathe well means to breathe free of tension, and bassoonists who breathe well create a resonant tone quality. The Breathing Book provides concise information about breathing alongside etudes, excerpts, and movement explorations encouraging the application of this knowledge in musically meaningful ways. The Breathing Book teaches the truth about breathing, establishing a reliable foundation for improved resonance and technique. As you practice from The Breathing Book, your breathing will become more efficient and automatic, you will unlearn detrimental habits, and your imagination will be left free to focus on amplifying your musical intentions.

“One of the great challenges of playing and teaching the bassoon is that our sound production is largely internal, rendering it out of sight and difficult to conceptualize. To that end, Kristin Wolfe Jensen has written an accessible, science-based, practical exploration of one of the most fundamental and, in some ways, most widely misunderstood aspects of making music on the bassoon. This is the book I have been waiting for!” - William Short, Principal Bassoon, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Faculty, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Temple University

“Kristin Wolfe Jensen has written an essential book on the dynamics of breathing and its integration into expressive playing on the bassoon. The anatomical descriptions of how we breathe and use the whole mind-body self are clear, accurate and readily understandable. I highly recommend this book equally to all players, from beginners to highly trained professional bassoonists, to better understand how to make an important step on their musical journey.” - Benjamin Kamins, Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Bassoon, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music; Certified Alexander Technique Teacher

“This book invites a practice of physical and mental awareness that can be transformative through easily accessible lessons and exercises. Playing a simple scale, overcoming a technical challenge, performing under pressure, confronting discomfort, or just moving through the day begin to take on the same objective—accessing the body’s innate ability to function efficiently.” - Sue Heineman, Principal Bassoonist, National Symphony Orchestra

"This new book by Kristin Wolfe Jensen is required reading for any aspiring bassoonist, or aspiring wind player for that matter! I cheered aloud while reading. A famed pedagogue, Jensen brings her teaching on breathing to us all. In this concise manual, she roots instrumental breathing in human anatomy and physiology, dispelling damaging falsehoods that have dominated our industry for generations. Jensen’s clear and approachable style simplifies a once complicated topic. She includes exercises to guide readers through physiologic structures’ role in playing bassoon, creating a depth of understanding not possible through text alone. This book is accessible to all levels and schools of bassoon playing. Kristin Wolfe Jensen understands that when we work in cooperation with our bodies, we are healthier, happier, and free to make music." - Christin Schillinger, Associate Professor of Bassoon, Ithaca College School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; Author, Bassoon Reed Making: A Pedagogic History

65 pages, spiral bound to lay flat on the music stand

Click here to order the PDF download version.

Click here to learn more about the author.

For bassoon players wanting to get healthy and stay healthy, try our Healthy Pack! This set of valuable resources also includes: Cross Training for Musicians: An Interdisciplinary Guide Promoting Healthy Music Making and Notes of Hope: Stories by Musicians Coping with Injuries. Click here to order the Healthy Pack for Bassoon at a discount.