Lindsey Showalter

4/2/18

MUED 302

Stees

Adopt A Student Reflection

For my student lesson, I taught a percussion student the bassoon. As a music major,

(student) has spent time around other instruments, but the bassoon was a new experience. She

understood the care needed when assembling and handling the instrument and reed, so that part

of the lesson went well. With a middle school student, I would anticipate spending more time and

repetition of instruction during this part. The embouchure took a little more time to correct.

(Student) had a problem with biting down on the reed too much. It took a few extra minutes to

practice rolling the lips in without biting them down to get a good crow, but eventually she was

able to produce a solid crow. The F major scale took the longest to learn because she often

removed her fingers from the correct keys/holes, resulting in incorrect fingerings. Additionally,

using the thumbs to produce different notes was a new challenge for her. She often forgot to

move them, or moved them at the wrong time. It was slow going, and frustrating at times, but as

someone who experienced similar issues when learning the bassoon, I was able to understand

why she was having these issues and help her through them. Disassembling the instrument was

fairly easy and quick. Overall, the lesson was successful in that she was able to assemble,

disassemble, and play an F major scale. There were different challenges than I anticipated, but I
felt equipped to address each of them. Additionally, some of the challenges I expected (or would

expect for younger students) were not a factor.