Had my second oboe lesson the other day. Finally managed to get some notes out although I currently sound like a honking goose. Found out that is probably because I'm taking a breath between each note. This time, I remembered my oboe but forgot my sat nav and couldn't remember the way and I soaked my reed for the whole morning to make sure it wasn't going to give up the ghost this time. At the moment I am so out of breath trying to play notes and my head really, really hurts but wahay, I can play 5 notes now!

Five notes is good! I started sounding like a dying duck, and I've only improved to a duck with a cold, so a honking duck isn't so bad

I sometimes get headaches when I play. Generally when I have a cold and my nose is stuffed up. I didn't realize until I played oboe how much of my breath went out my nose when I played

A few points:

I don't think you should be soaking your reed for so long.

The teacher should be watching and controlling your breathing.

It sounds like your reed is either too hard or just not very good.


Playing the oboe should not be this hard.


Steve

I absolutely agree with Steven..

I soak my reed for about thirty seconds, just enough to allow it to draw some moisture. By over soaking you are allowing the reed to open up and the aperture will be very wide making it very hard to play. If the aperture is very open give it the tiniest squeeze to gently close it a little this will make it easier to play. don't close it completely or you will never get a sound at all.

When you are breathing imagine you are sepearting your ribs from your spine as you breathe in, allow the stomach to come forward. The best way to feel this is (without your oboe) to cup your waist with your hands, thumbs towards your spine, fingers to the front and feel the action as you fill your lungs with air. Allow the stomach to come forward as you breathe in, breathe in low and deep and not just in the chest. Then allow the air to come out in a controlled manner using your diaphragm to support the air as is leaves.Don't just let the air rush out, control the exit. This will in time become quite natural, push with the diapragm and not the chest muscles.

Your head should NOT be hurting at all which suggests that the reed is TOO hard or just not very good. Seeing as I don't know where you live try Fortay reeds, available on the internet http://www.fortayreeds.co.uk/index.htm, call them direct or email them. They will be very helpful.

You should begin to find things much easier with a good reed, not too open, not over soaked and you will soon add to your five notes, probably faster than you expect...I would reccomend starting with a simple GABC up then down, then add the F below and work your way back up again to C. When you feel confident add the D above 1st octave C and work on the link between the two. Take your time and be prepared to back off the C as it is a notoriously open note on the Oboe...it will all come in time. Play the notes slowly with controlled breathing, don't rush, make as nice a sound as you can and don't blow too hard...Oboes are tiny and don't need to be blown TOO hard to make a delicious sound.

I am sorry if I sound concerned, but playing the Oboe is in the initial stages all about the control of the air flow, a nice relaxed embochure, no biting, play for short spaces of time several times a day your muscles will soon develop. Little and often is the key...

Good luck any other questions PM me. Well done though, you have made some sounds...the honking will with a good reed soon dissapear.

Kindest regards

Andrew

Many thanks AUK for taking the time to give me some great advice. The trouble is down to my current reed, the aperture won't open which is why I've been soaking it but I think I'll take your advice and get another reed as it's taking alot of effort to get notes out and it's really making my head hurt.

I'll definitely follow your tips on breath control, like you say, always best to get correct technique now. I'm probably also huffing and puffing as I got totally swindled with the stick (I will not refer to it as an oboe as that is an insult to decent oboes everywhere) I stupidly brought off ebay - I've just sold it at a huge loss. Never mind, that will teach me to never, ever, ever buy an instrument off ebay ever again. Turns out the Howarth I eventually got from a very reputable music shop is something of a bargain so I suppose that balances the act of me doing something incredibly stupid.

Hello Blackbird,

If your reed wont open, then I would reccomend that you give it firstly a gentle soak for a minute or two, then give it a gentle and gradual sqeeze on the sides fairly low down and give the wire a pinch across the front (side to side not front to back if that makes any sense) and gently open the reed a little more that way. DON'T overdo it or you will make the aperture too open and make the reed dreadfully hard to play and control...

All reeds need a little tweaking now and then this is quite usual.I would reccomend that you invest in a couple of reeds if the pennies allow and give yourself a head start, a decent reed makes life so much more bearable. In truth you will, if you spend a lot of time playing the Oboe become almost obsessed with finding the perfect reed...like the Holy Grail it becomes a quest. I however believe that there is more chance of the Holy Grail coming to light than the perfect Oboe reed ever being discovered.

Your teacher should advise you at this very early stage about breathing and breath control, this is absolutely VITAL. If you are not sure ASK your teacher. It is imperative that you get this subject nailed to the floor before you progress, it will make your whole experience of playing the Oboe much better. May I ask is your Oboe teacher an Oboist? I really cannot reccomend the importance of studying under a specialist more. The Oboe has many quirks and different fingerings some of which can vary from Oboe to Oboe, really they can be that fickle. It is very important that you are given the correct tools to start with...please ask your teacher if you have any questions NEVER be afriad to ask thats what you are paying for.

Please don't take what I say as Gospel...I am not a particularly gifted Oboist or musician, but I am fortunate enough to study under one of the great teachers who is an absolute stickler for technique...I promise you at my first lesson I spent a good hour just working on breathing and control...I barely got near my Oboe...and only then it was all very basic stuff...very much like what I advised you in my first post... I have much to learn myself, control throughout the registers, tonal equality, eveness, sound quality...

Currently I am working on Studies by Freling, Bleuzet and Gillet, the latter are horrendously tricky but I simply slow everything down and concentrate on making it even and accurate...I would reccomend you invest in a copy of the HINKE studies, they are a nice starting point...not overly complex but not overly easy either in places, start at the begining and plod your way through...Also invest in a book of scales for the Oboe...it's vital that you see what you are playing rather than pick your way through them, wrongs notes are very easily learned and stick like glue to your playing, they can be the very devil to shift....Start with C major, then F major, Bb major, Eb major etc adding a flat each time...take a scale a week, dont rush take your time...if you dont have a scale book write them out you will find this much easier than trying to remember the scale and are more likely to get them memorised...Keyboard players have the advatage that the notes are laid out in front of them, instrumentalists don't have that physical reminder...so playing them from a score makes the whole process much more straightforward.

Enough from me...I have droned on...The Howarth Oboe sounds lovely...they have an excellent reputation.

Good luck, feel free to ask any questions but do ask your teacher...

Kindest regards

Andrew

I do not advise just squeezing the sides of a reed (even when well soaked) without supporting the inside of the staple and lower half of the reed with a mandrel. I and probably others have - thinking everything would be fine - squeezed a poor unsupported reed and ended up inadvertently splitting it! It's a mistake I made only once, the mandrel comes out every time these days.

Same goes for adjustments (reed scraping) - use a mandrel and a plaque.....

Blackbird77,
On the whole I agree with what others have said here about playing the oboe. Your teacher should be advising you on breathing. Not breathing out properly before breathing in again (build-up of CO2 in the blood), can cause headaches.

I don't think that Blackbird should be doing anything, mandrel or no mandrel, without guidance from the teacher.

That's what he/she's paid for.... isn't it?

Steve

PS Headaches will be caused by tension in the jaw and neck muscles.

I also think your teacher should be doing something about your reeds. When I turned up to my first oboe lesson with an oboe and a reed (which I'd had for two weeks and had taught myself the fingering for about two octaves) the first thing my teacher did was to adjust the reed. This made a huge difference to the ease with which I could get a sound out. For the first couple of months just by hearing me play a few notes he would say "hold on, I think the reed needs adjusting." After a while he would just ask if I wanted anything done to thee reeds. These days he expects me to say if they need adjusting and also to say what I think is wrong with them and what I think could be done to sort the problem out - the aim of this being that I will eventually be able to adjust them myself.

I just got home from a few days away and found my new reeds on the doormat - fingers crossed that perfect reed is in there, I have an audition next week!

Thanks for your advice everyone. My teacher is an oboe specialist and she has been adjusting my reed as the problem is, is that the aperture isn't opening properly. We're assuming it's because it's a new reed, as she said the reed was by a good maker. She adjusts my reed for me, but has emphasised that I shouldn't attempt it as I'll probably break it (since I've nearly broken it about 5 times now from doing silly things). She's also advised me on my breathing - my problem is that I also play the flute and I am so used to playing a few bars, then breathe in, playing few more bars etc. I am not used to playing a few notes, breathe out, then breathe in, so I keep breathing in, and in, and in and then the massive headache comes on. I apparently also tense up alot when playing and need to relax which is probably why I sound like I should be on a Bill Oddie programme. Thanks for your advice and comments - much appreciated.

I find it a bit odd that you only have *one* reed - I make sure my beginners have at least 2 playable ones, if not 3, so that if one is proving difficult they have a back up.

I do hope you didnt tread on them as you walked through the door... ...

Good luck with your audition...

Andrew

I had the perfect reed and I broke it
The day before my lesson I cut my thumb quite deeply on the broken corner of a table at the university and had a plaster on it and I also still had a painful shoulder. The piano at the music school is flat so I wanted to pull the reed out a little but was very clumsy and broke it I heard it break (and so did my teacher) but you can't actually see the crack. I wouldn't let him throw it away because in my lesson it would still play. He said it wouldn't the next day and, unfortunately he is right


I can't see why it wouldn't be opening properly. Are you sure you're not biting on the reed and closing it yourself?


I had this problem too as I had played the recorder before. Set the metronome on crotchet = 60, breath out for one and in for one, play a note for four beats and then breath out for one and in for one and play another note for four beats. You can go up and down a whole scale this way. Then try one note on each tick but still keeping an in and out breath on each tick eg. C,D,E,F, out, in, G,A B,C out in, C,B,A, G out in, F,E,D,C out.


My teacher makes sure his beginners have 3 reeds and tells them to alternate them.