I'm sure all that prtactice will pay off! Good luck for Tuesday!

Grade 5 on Thursday

Ta Ducks, Its not sounding too bad today....

Good luck!




The nov/dec session is still going on

The special visits are always outside the normal exam times and ours are Wednesday and Thursday next week.

I hope all goes well on Tuesday and especially on Thursday...
but learning goes at its own pace, or at least that is my experience, sometimes (not often! fast and sometimes more slowly...but I've noticed a vast difference in my playing over the last 8 months. It's great what a good teacher can do to help you improve.

It does help your oboe playing. When I first started the oboe my teacher used to bring his cor in and let me play that in lessons and my oboe tone used to be amazing just afterwards (for all of about five minutes ). It no longer has such a dramatic effect but my teacher says that whenever he comes back from a holiday where he hasn't played for a few weeks he always starts by playing only the cor for a couple of days to get himself back in working order.



Good Luck for Thursday.



Mine is going particularly slowly at the moment

Good luck for the Grade 5 How many Grade 5s will that be now??

Sara

Hmmm don't know that there is an answer to that one Still waiting for Theory Currently 4.

Curses.... I have finally knocked the guts out of all my good reeds and I have a lesson on tuesday, I am going to have to play on new reeds which will be a real pain...

I actually had two split this last week, one the week before and my favourite reed collapsed this afternoon. Needless to say I have none in my workbox of reeds in progress that are even close to finished or decent enough to play on in front of my teacher...So tomorrow I will have to buy some more, enough to see me through the Christmas period...

Rant over......

On the plus side I had a cracking run through sight reading the Allegro from the Handel sonanta in F which went remarkably well...so much so I had a few play throughs...lovely movement, plesantly surprised myself so that cheered me up...I have worked my socks of over the past two weeks so I am optimistic that I will have a great lesson and please god play well...scales are fine, arpeggios are smooth-ish though top D and top E can be tricky, I am using short fingerings which speeds it up but the support needs to be spot on to hit the notes dead center but I'll get there...these days I never say "I can't" I say " I will" ..... I refuse to be beaten now if only I could get my middle C (octave above low C) to be a perfect clean link and not wild as it is prone to be I will be a happy camper...I am not sure if it's the same problem on a thumbplate system but on conservatoire the 1st octave C stands out, its very open and you have to step back off of it or chaos breaks loose tonally...and is it just me or does everyone else find coming down a scale or arpeggio quicker and easier than going up.....whats that all about...

Must remember to get some airline tubing tomorrow for my Cor Reeds, it makes an airtight seal between the staple and the crook and stops you pulling the reed off the crook if it sticks to the lip...a handy tip I picked up from a Cor player and it REALLY WORKS...

Kindest regards (says he staring at three....no four Mullered reeds )

Andrew

You're not alone Andrew 3 duff reeds and an exam on Thursday..... just hoping someone can sort something out tonight.

Oh lordy Berni, no reeds and an exam on thursday I do hope you get something sorted out...please wish your daughter the very best of luck...

I managed to get half a dozen...sorry to rub salt, but I too was desperate, they will play in nicely but I doubt they will be at their best tomorrow...never mind I'm £87.00 lighter but they will get me through the holidays...

kindest regards

Andrew

Ouch!! I have a concert tomorow and saturday, I'm going to be playing on uncertainly broken in reeds (On clari though and in the midst of an orchestra, so as long as I don't squeak it'll be fine!)

I find it really difficult coming down scales and arpeggios - I can't think backwards!!

Maybe thats my trouble I must think backwards...

I have to agree XD. As soon as I finally reach the top of a scale its easy to come back down. (all the bassoonist have left this forum so...i'm here XD)

Phew!! Phoned teacher this afternon and warned him. He's sorted one of them to make it playable. I havd visions of two reeds in tatters as she was playing with the BBC Philarmonic today (through school) on a workshop leading to a performance in January. There's a concert tomorrow on Oboe and another next week but she's been asked to play Bari Sax in that one.

Gosh, I feel so bad - have hardly practised at all this week, just haven't had the time with other exams and all this ridiculous xmas stuff...(which I do love really)

Well today went well, all went to plan and the practice paid off so I am going to bed a happy man...Scales ran smoothly, arpeggios went easily and we moved swiftly onto pieces. Not my finest hour but then again I did keep going and got through them without too much difficulty apart from som unintended articulation in one or two phrases and my teacher was happy...then we had the obligatory sight reading which I managed to keep going until the last page at which point my lip gave up and we called it a day...

Now I have the christmas holidays to myself so have a few things to work on over the break so will prepare something new to take next time...

Kindest regards


Andrew

Sounds like it went well! Glad your pleased with it all.

What pieces are people playing/ learning/ performing over Christmas oboe-wise??

Sara

Daughter has started playing the Schumann Three Romances and Usher's Midnight Blue (which she thinks is mysterious).

She's been playing some Christmas Music for fun even though her solo performances are mainly requested on Flute. Of course there have also been various Christmas Concerts either on Oboe or Bari Sax (depending how the conductor feels).

If my teacher remembers, the Cimarosa concerto. My teacher was very buisy last weak, so she forgot to bring it in


Also, i'll be getting/playing:
Handel concerto in Gminor
Schumann 3 romances
the 'difficult passages from the works of JS Bach' book
Humoresque from two fantasy pieces.

And all the pieces that I've been playing previously.






playing Grade 7 pieces in year 8!
That's pretty good.

My son's starting the Handel C minor Sonata or will be when he's recovered from a heavy cold and cough. I've also got him the Britten Metamorphoses after Ovid which I hope will whet his appetite as he's not generally that keen on modern works. Can anyone recommend a good recording of it?

Sara

I need ot buy the Handel Concerto in G. She may be in year 8 but she has been playing for 3 years nearly.

I'm doing a nasty study, two pieces from 'have oboe will travel' and part of a concerto by somebody I've never heard of. Not particularly awe-inspiring, though I wish it was...

I'm still working on the handel sonatas.

Bought new reeds today... In love with them at the moment. Ke-Xun Ge which I had been thinking about for a while as I use them for bassoon and havn't looked back even though they do cost a little more. They are lovely and play much better than brittania, regency or Rico. Hopefully get some reed making tools in my stocking this christmas and a good freind (rumoured to be one of the best bassoonists in scotland) has promised me some reed making lessons for both oboe and bassoon).

Which Handel Sonatas do you play? We have the ones written for Flute, have you used these or are yours especially for Oboe?

They are for oboe. Its the Edition Peters. Just two sonatas - C minor and I think the other is G minor if I remember correctly. Both are equally lovely. I do love my baroque music Just waiting on a book from musicroom.com which is more Bach - yay!

Grade 5 out of the way now so just ordered some music for her to have alook at over Christmas as well as the couple she was already starting ot play.

Does anyone else find the G6 a bit dull? She's looked at a couple of the pieces and someone else played one at a masterclass recently but just can't quite take to it.

How did notmusimum's daughter go on with the Grade 5??? I hope it went well Will you get the results or do you have to wait till next term?

Malone are you putting in lots of ornaments in the Handel C minor Largo? My son's teacher said "now go and add some ornaments"!! at last weeks lesson, but he's been too poorly for very much at all let alone ornaments

Sara

Hi Sara

Two exams today, couple of slips on the Oboe scales, but the pieces went well or so I've been told. Recorder possibly went slightly better until she coughed at the end of one piece but managed to keep the note going. Hope the examiner didn't think she was beat boxing lol.

Don't know when we will get the results with a bit of luck it will be before the end of term, if the AB get their skates on.

Gulp! Didn't realize there were 2 exams With the same examiner presumably... I'm sure she did really well.

My son didn't like the Grade 6 much either that's why he went on to G7 lol

Sara

Yes. They come quite naturally I think, but then I am a flautist before everything else!! Not going over board but trills at the cadence points are usually a good bet. Cant remember if they are written in on my copy or not.

Definitely. Not one of the more interesting grades.

My oboe is broken :-(

There are some nice ones on the B list. Nielsen's Romanze is one of my favourite oboe pieces - it really comes into its own with the piano accompaniment which is a piece in its own right. Debussy's Little Shepherd is a rather wistful piece which I am also quite fond of (but then I like Debussy anyway). If you want something more lively you could look at Piernés Pièce.



Oh, no. What happened to it?

Oh Claire I am sorry to read your news ...I am sure that your repair technician will be able to put things right...Don't panic...

I too have a problem...(just the one I hear you all say ) I am suddenly playing slightly flat...about 20 under 440 for some bizzare reason...I have a feeling that I will have to shorten my reeds in future...thankfully I am not playing with anyone else at the moment as I would not be in tune with anyone but myself...I am actually rather hacked off about it but these things are sent to try us...

Oh well Hey Ho...

Andrew

True, the Nielsen and Debussy are quite nice. Trouble is, they are better for a certain kind of personality, I feel, especially the Nielsen - ie. people who can do slow, moody and contemplative. I am teaching a 13 year old and he just doesn't *get* this kind of piece! Slow movements of Baroque pieces are already a battle. He wants to charge through everything. He is doing quite well with the Pierné, although it's not a fantastic piece of music...



I left it - in its case - on a chair at a rehearsal and some *stupid* woman knocked it onto the floor Now the RH little finger keys don't work properly. Will take it to my nice repair man, but he's not open now until Tuesday

[quote name='Claire21' date='Dec 14 2007, 09:15 AM' post='642250']
[True, the Nielsen and Debussy are quite nice. Trouble is, they are better for a certain kind of personality, I feel, especially the Nielsen - ie. people who can do slow, moody and contemplative. I am teaching a 13 year old and he just doesn't *get* this kind of piece! Slow movements of Baroque pieces are already a battle. He wants to charge through everything. He is doing quite well with the Pierné, although it's not a fantastic piece of music...

[quote name='Claire21' post='642225' date='Dec 14 2007, 08:55 AM']

Thank you Claire think you might have just highlighted what part of the p[roblem might be. the other bit is that at one time she tried to play The Busker's Hat, which she never really liked. She can play slow and moody but does like to play faster pieces generally.




She ended up doing them one after the other as the next candidate was late. She did have a choice though and could have opted not to. Scales were always going to be a bit hairy especially as there were more for the Recorder exam. The examiner was quite nice about her double effort.

Hope it's not going to be too expensive a repair. The girl who used to have her lesson just after me, twice forgot to do her oboe case up before picking it up so that the oboe fell out and onto the floor and each time it cost several hundred pounds to have it repaired.

On the oboe disaster line, another one of my teacher's pupils has had her reedcase and three reeds eaten by her dog three times and the last time it also had a chew of the oboe case as well (but fortunately didn't manage to get through to the oboe). You'd have thought the parents would be making sure she kept things out of the dog's reach.

And one that made me smile. A twelve-year-old boy pupil got a new oboe and there was a screwdriver in the case. Being the sort of boy who likes to see how things work he decided to use the screwdriver and unscrew everything he could. Unfortunately he couldn't put it back together again and turned up to his next lesson with the oboe and a bag of bits saying "Don't tell my mother."

I like that one lol

Good luck with the repair Claire

Hmm, must be related to me. That's exactly the sort of thing I used to do at that age - though not with oboes. I think I finally learned my lesson at 18 when I messed around with my moped and ended up with a spare screw. Had no idea where it went!

Putting the oboe back together will be easy, BUT then all the screws have to be correctly adjusted! I just hope he collected them all.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when his mother sees it!

Steve

hi slightly off-topic...sorry!

can anyone reccomend me some nice oboe music to buy and play? Grade 7-8 ish stuff?

Just want something new to work on really fed up of only playing from the syllabus just because it's my second instrument and therefore have less time; so finally getting my act together and looking about for more stuff to play, but finding it really difficult to know where to start really! I don't mind what era/composer, just anything?!

Any thought much appreciated

Thank-yooou

Have you ever tried Ferling's 48 studies? Some really beautiful pieces there!

Steve

Fortunately my oboe teacher knows how to adjust oboes so he got it back in working condition before the mother saw it but he did confiscate the screw-driver!

Here are a few suggestions for you...

Interlude......Finzi
Flute Fantasies.....Teleman, ( yes I know they are for flute but they play well on the Oboe)
Piston suite....cant remember who wrote it but talk with June Emerson music or Howarths
Soliloquiy.....Elgar
Islamite Dance....Eugene Goosens
Sonata....Herbert Howells (4 movements)
sonata....Clara Schumann (not the Romances which are played to death)
and if you can find an Oboe playing friend and one who plays the Cor what about the Beethoven Trios...they are great fun and not overly taxing...

I am leaving out the usual suspects, Poulenc, Saint Saens, Hindemith, Pasculli -( overly sugary in my opinion) but the list is endless and apart fro adding some Madeline Dring I can't think of a lot else...

Hope something catches your eye

regards

Andrew

How about Evelyn Rothwell's "difficult passages from the works of JS Bach". I'm working with that as an alternative to Ferling. Otherwise, I've been working on piece called "Elegiac Dance" by Michael Head, although it might be a little on the easy side for you, I think it might be AB7 level but I'm only guessing. It's a beautiful piece of music and currently I'm finding it quite a challenge to play bang in time, as it's rhythmically a bit complicated.

I LOVE my repair man. I left a message on his answerphone this morning, which gave me the impression he wouldn't be working again until tuesday, but he actually phoned me back at lunchtime and I took it straight round. He says it'll be done by tomorrow evening!!! And it'll 'only' cost me 45 quid, which I can cope with - he deserves it!



Or you could mean the Suite by Walter Piston, perhaps?



Andrew, are you really sure about this? I am a bit of a fan of Clara Schumann and I have never heard of an oboe sonata. Plus I think you mean the Romances which are by Robert (and which are played to death). If Clara wrote an oboe sonata I want to know about it!

ChevvyChev, do you have a good music shop nearby that you can just go and mooch in?

wow, didn't expect such a response so quickly!! Thanks everyone

I shall ask father christmas to go oboe music shopping for me hehehe



Claire21 there are a few which are ok, but I'm off to London next week so could definately find one there

xxx

[quote name='Claire21' date='Dec 14 2007, 05:34 PM' post='642530']


Or you could mean the Suite by Walter Piston, perhaps?

[quote]
sonata....Clara Schumann (not the Romances which are played to death)
[/quote]

Andrew, are you really sure about this? I am a bit of a fan of Clara Schumann and I have never heard of an oboe sonata. Plus I think you mean the Romances which are by Robert (and which are played to death). If Clara wrote an oboe sonata I want to know about it!

Claire I just got the CD from my car and you are right it isnt a Sonata by Clara Schumann but Three Romances for Piano and Oboe Opus 22...I did mean to differentiate between the two i.e Three Romances by Robert Schumann Opus 94 and the Clara Schumann work...I knew the difference but didnt make it very clear

I also have a recording of Four songs or Vier Lieder by Robert Schumann entitled..... Du Bist eine Blume, Intermezzo, Waldesgespach and Mondnacht which I have never come across before. The recording is of Hansjorg Schellenberger playing the lot and though the Robert Schumann Three Romances are on there and still in my opinon Played to death the others were new to me and not half bad...The Clara Schumann are really quite lovely

As for the Piston Suite I suspect you maybe right Walter Piston sounds hopeful...I loved what I heard of it...

I must confess that though I enjoy tthe standard repetoire I do get a little weary of the same old same old being trotted out hence I look out for things I have not heard before...I love the Poulenc, the Saint Saens, the Hindemith etc...though I do draw the line at Ronald Binge and the Watermill which is ghastly in my opinion but lets be honest all the main stuff has been thoroughly overcooked and played to the point of exhaustion...

Have you played the Piston suite Claire...I absolutely love it...its on my "to Play list" one day that is...

Kindest regards

Andrew

Ah okay, those were originally written for violin, it must be an arrangement on your CD.



No, not so far! One of the ones I've never got round to...

Written for the Violin...that would explain why I had not come across them before though Mondnacht did seem familiar which is probaby what threw me...as for the Piston Suite...I think its a must have...from what I have heard of it, it seems like a great piece...I heard a short sample of Joseph Robinson playing it and it really caught my attention...

However for now I just have to address reed issues and tuning...

Hey Ho

Andrew