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Composing for Woodwind:

  • Phrases should be at an appropriate length to allow performers to breathe. Rests and breath marks are a good indication of where to breathe

  • Know the pitch range of the instrument and the tone quality of the registers. Eg. bottom range of an oboe sounds rather coarse (unless you are after that effect)

  • The clarinet is a transposing instrument. Different clarinets are more suitable for different keys. The most common are: Clarinet in Bb, and Clarinet in A.

  • Sweet spot for the bassoon is the tenor register

  • Be specific with articulation - whether a note is slurred or tongued makes a difference

  • Special effects available for wind instruments eg. multi phonics, microtones, fluttertongue, key clicks, breathy tone etc. Do your research!

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