Testing Alternate Fingerings on a Bassoon to Determine Their Effectiveness Compared to the Base Note
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physics
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
The music industry is wildly developed and constantly evolving in every category possible all around the world. Bands around the world use instruments to create music whether it's for songs, movies, or plays. The bassoon is used throughout the world and is a part of many bands from highschool bands all the way to the professional level. While there is a lot of research on playing the bassoon correctly and correct intonation, there is very little research on alternative fingerings because it is such a handful of tasks to endure with little promise of results. The purpose of this study was to identify possible alternative fingerings that would perform better at creating the correct note then with the common fingering provided in a basic bassoon fingering chart. In this experiment six different fingerings, three notes, were played 30 times and a tuner was recorded to measure the cents off each note was. After the data from each alternative and normal fingering was collected and compared with the respective fingering it was suggested that the alternative fingerings performed better in both the G-flat and the D-flat. The results of this experiment indicated that there was significant difference in the difference between each fingering based on a one way ANOVA test with an alpha value of 0.05, (F(2.21) , p < 0.0001), as p < 0.05, meaning that the null hypothesis could be rejected. Therefore there was significant evidence to suggest the use of the alternative fingerings.
Recommended Citation
Bartlett, Marvin "Louie", "Testing Alternate Fingerings on a Bassoon to Determine Their Effectiveness Compared to the Base Note" (2025). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 102.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2025/all/102
Location
PENNY 216
Start Date
4-5-2025 11:00 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
Yes
Testing Alternate Fingerings on a Bassoon to Determine Their Effectiveness Compared to the Base Note
PENNY 216
The music industry is wildly developed and constantly evolving in every category possible all around the world. Bands around the world use instruments to create music whether it's for songs, movies, or plays. The bassoon is used throughout the world and is a part of many bands from highschool bands all the way to the professional level. While there is a lot of research on playing the bassoon correctly and correct intonation, there is very little research on alternative fingerings because it is such a handful of tasks to endure with little promise of results. The purpose of this study was to identify possible alternative fingerings that would perform better at creating the correct note then with the common fingering provided in a basic bassoon fingering chart. In this experiment six different fingerings, three notes, were played 30 times and a tuner was recorded to measure the cents off each note was. After the data from each alternative and normal fingering was collected and compared with the respective fingering it was suggested that the alternative fingerings performed better in both the G-flat and the D-flat. The results of this experiment indicated that there was significant difference in the difference between each fingering based on a one way ANOVA test with an alpha value of 0.05, (F(2.21) , p < 0.0001), as p < 0.05, meaning that the null hypothesis could be rejected. Therefore there was significant evidence to suggest the use of the alternative fingerings.
