The Stratosphere
High E-Flat, E, and F occupy an intimidating place in the bassoon range. I think this can be helped with some slightly off-the-beaten-path fingerings. Note that, like all extreme register fingerings, these don’t work equally well on every instrument. However, I’ve seen enough success with them, on enough different equipment, that I think they’re worth sharing.
Worth Keeping in Mind
Stronger reeds work better in this register.
Keep your embouchure very close to the first wire, with very little overbite.
Your vowel sound, created by repositioning the back of your tongue, should be very closed (an “E” rather than an “O”, with the back of the tongue quite high in the mouth).
These fingerings don’t respond well to heavy articulation—air attacks are generally best.
Your air stream requires a bit of finesse in this register—you can’t overblow.
Thanks to Bernard Garfield for these fingerings and to Bret Pimentel for his fantastic fingering diagram builder.