Fun Bassoon Solo Repertoire for Beginners
Finding the perfect bassoon solo can be challenging. It’s not always easy to find quality books and solos for bassoon. But there are lots of fun, engaging pieces out there that are perfect for bassoon.
I’ve outlined a few of my favorite recommendations for solo repertoire for beginners through intermediate bassoonists in order from least to most challenging. I also highly recommend BassoonSolos.com for a nice selection of easy bassoon solo pieces!
These pieces are perfect for anyone who has been playing the bassoon for a few months to a few years. Most pieces are in simple key signatures such as F or B-flat. Most of the pieces listed here will also focus on the middle range of the bassoon and have comfortable tempos.
Hopefully, you’ll find something fun to learn and maybe even perform at a recital or solo festival! If you need something a little more challenging, I have a list of great solos for intermediate and advanced bassoonists too.
📚 Great Bassoon Repertoire Books
If you’re looking for a book with lots of solos to choose from, I highly recommend these! I have all of these in my library and used them with students frequently. The great thing about buying a book is that you have a wider variety of styles and pieces to choose from. In addition, most solo books come with recordings of the bassoon and piano to play along with.
Standard of Excellence - Festival Solos Book 1
Festival Solos is a collection of solo Literature perfect for contests, festivals, concerts, and private study. Each of the 15 instrumental part books comes with an instrument-specific CD containing a demonstration recording with piano accompaniment for each solo, plus a play-along accompaniment-only track. Program notes for each solo are included in each book, and a Piano Accompaniment book is available separately for performance or practice with a live accompanist. This book includes works by Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and more. Book 1 is great for bassoonists who have been playing for a few months up to a year or two.
Standard of Excellence - Festival Solos Book 2
Festival Solos Book 2 offers fifteen additional solos written for students in their second year of study. The arrangers have chosen classic literature from master composers, providing young musicians with unparalleled musical experiences. As with Book 1, Festival Solos Book 2 comes with an instrument specific CD for listening and accompaniment purposes. A separate piano accompaniment book provides opportunities for practice or performance with a live accompanist. Perfect for contests, festivals, concerts, and private study! The pieces in this book are slightly more complex and challenging, but still really fun and playable for a bassoonist who has been playing for a year or two. Book 2 includes works by Mozart, Gluck, Beethoven, Schumann, Bach, Grieg, and more.
Classic Festival Solos for Bassoon
Classic Festival Solos offers the advancing instrumentalist an array of materials graded from easy to more challenging. There are different titles for each instrument, and an assortment of musical styles has been included in each book for variety. Many of the solos appear on state contest lists. This book includes works by Galliard, Haydn, Franck, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and more.
⭐ Beginner Solo Pieces
The range of notes in these pieces varies from Low F to Flick B-flat (1.5 Octaves)
Minuet in G (in B-flat) - Bach (Petzold)
Serenade from Don Giovanni - Mozart
Country Gardens - English Folk Song
⭐⭐Intermediate SOlo pieces
The note range in these pieces varies from Low D to High G (2.5 Octaves)
March - R. Schumann
⭐⭐⭐Late Intermediate SOlo Pieces
The note range in these pieces varies from Low B-flat to High B-flat (3 Octaves).
Bouree I & II from Cello Suite No. 3 - J.S. Bach
from Solos for the Bassoon player edited by Sol Schoenbach
Sorcerer's Apprentice - Dukas
from Solos for the Bassoon player edited by Sol Schoenbach
And if you’re looking for fun, short melodies check out the Blue Moon Bassoon Book featuring 100+ lines of familiar folk and classical tunes arranged in a fun storybook format for the bassoon! Perfect for beginners through early advanced students.
