We in band are learning a song called Marches of the Armed forces and neither me nor the other bassoonist can play hardly any of it. Our teacher said to just play as much as we can but it uses half holes and when I cover half the hole it doesn't make any difference. PLease Help!

The trick with half holes is not to move your finger along off the hole, but to roll your finger. That way, your finger stays in the same place and can come back to covering the full hole when you need it to.

Thanks man!

It does take a bit of practice to get it right. The tricky bit is that each note does require a slightly different opening so some experimenting is needed. Once you've got the opening right don't forget closing it again or the the following note might not speak correctly.

Good luck.

Ian

What you have to do is roll your finger off the hole to thepoint where it feels like your finger is no longer on it. The truth is, the excess "flab" from your finger covers the half hole so you don't have to worry about it.

Thanks.