Toronto bassoonist Kevin Harris has created a deep new resource for scale practice.  Practice materials are available for download on his Patreon page.

Kevin writes:  While working with Nadina Mackie Jackson to produce her book Solitary Refinement, I frequently came up with ideas of how to elaborate on some of the concepts I was putting into musical notation. Nadina welcomed new ideas into her book and encouraged me to continue developing my own practice concepts—something she’d always encouraged when I was her bassoon student at the Royal Conservatory. All of this led me to start building Get More Good, an educational project introducing musicians to new practice concepts and exercises. I aim to empower musicians from all backgrounds to expand on their skills by providing written practice exercises and videos demonstrating practicable steps towards mastering each exercise. Written materials are available as digital downloads from my Patreon.

Kevin is principal bassoonist of the Niagara Symphony and works as a freelance bassoonist, performing across Southern Ontario and the GTA in nearly every established orchestra, including the Toronto Symphony, the National Ballet, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. He is a graduate of the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, where he studied with Fraser Jackson, and Nadina Mackie Jackson. Kevin is also a member of two Toronto based woodwind quintets: Quintagious! and Blythwood Winds, each of whom are known for their innovative projects and engaging concert experiences. He contributes a variety of musical arrangements and transcriptions, and many hours of research to help these ensembles achieve their goals of building a broad and inclusive repertoire. In addition to his woodwind quintet transcriptions, Kevin has undertaken the work of producing editions of previously unpublished bassoon concerti by Canadian composers Jean Coulthard and Imant Raminsh. As a studio musician Kevin has had the opportunity to lend his skills to a number of exciting projects in film, television, and video game soundtracks. Most notably, he contributed to “The Ugly Chickens,” a short film produced by famed novelist and screenwriter George R.R. Martin, and scored by Canadian composer Agatha Kaspar. Other soundtrack credits include the hit video game “Cuphead,” composed by Toronto musician Kris Maddigan. Kevin can also be heard on the 2023 album “Lignum et Spiritus” by composer Robert Lemay, featuring works for solo woodwinds and piano.

 

Accompanying tutorial videos are available on Patreon, but also on my Instagram and YouTube:

https://www.instagram.com/_getmoregood

https://youtube.com/@getmoregood

 

My practice materials are free, but members have the option to support me financially. Eventually I will have exclusive content for monthly supporters, so I invite requests and suggestions from the online community! The excerpt provided here is from my first completed collection of scale exercises: Intervalic Major Scales for Bassoon. It’s a collection of progressive routines that I developed to help me achieve a daily practice of working through my scales in all intervals, and I’m currently working on adapting it for other woodwind instruments.  I hope Get More Good will inspire fellow musicians to work towards community oriented projects and to show off their skills!

Please feel free to reach to me through my Instagram or my email:
getmoregoodmusic@gmail.com