Lordy Lord it seems that all the Oboe threads have vanished in my absence..I see there are a couple one about reeds (no surprise there then.. ) and one by Notmusicmum about Dynamics but all the Oboe ones seem to have vanished..

I have been on my travels recouperating after a long spell in Hospital, having collapsed at the IDRS last summer in Birmingham on the first evening can you believe it..I wound up in Birmingham city Hospital and then got shipped off a few days later to West Bromwich with my Oboe and Cor in their double case..I would like to add that my dear friend Marsha Burkett a lovely American Oboist came completely to my rescue and ran back and forth to the hospital with messages and gifts from so many of the performers and companies with CD's etc, their genrosity and kindness astounded me..Thankfully I lived to tell the tale but it was a bad time..

So its nice to be back online I thought I would stop by and say hello..I hope everyone is well and enjoying their music making. See you all soon..

Andrew

Good to see you posting again Hope you're feeling a lot better now.

There have been a few oboe-y posts/threads since you've been away. Some are hidden within other threads (eg the 'what are you playing' thread), and a couple of new oboists have joined (including katica, flobiano).

All the best to you.

Hello A.U.K!

I was told you'd emigrated! What's happened to the George Clooney picture on your profile

I used to enjoy looking into the Oboe thread... it's a bit like the Organ forum, full of strange but interesting talk and you're all so polite

Good to see you back anyway!

Skylark

Thank you both Barri and Skyers, nice to see the place hasnt lost its regulars.

Glad to be back, just started Oboe-ing again with the Doctors all clear, had a good lesson with my teacher, it was incredible that apart from stamina and embouchure being a bit pants just how quickly my fingers remembered the patterns..I can't tell you how lovely it was to play again..Two more weeks and I should really be back to where I was..Still lots to learn..

Hope you are all ok and having fun..

Andrew

(George Clooney Picture.. ) I had forgeotten that..

Hi!!

So sorry to hear you've not been well. I've missed you loads. I was wondering what had happened to you.

Don't get involved much with Oboe these days as Emsoboe is in the very best place with her new teacher. Sadly the orchestra she was playing with has finished now so she is looking for another higher level playing opportunity on Oboe.

Since September there has been lots of work on technique including breathing, supporting high notes etc. for a while her sound took a bit of a dive but it seems to be going up now. Steadily working towards Grade 8, probably taking it first session 2011.

Glad to have you back.

Only just the other day I was wondering where you had got to. I was aware you had been taken ill at Birmingham but didn't realise you had been recouping all this time.

Good to hear you're better now and playing again - and posting too.

Hello MMUM and PushPull,

yes its nice to be back and more importantly back playing..It has been a long time for me recouperating, I went away for a few weeks between hospital apppointments (of which there have been many) and to be frank it has taken up until quite recently for me to feel more like me again..It was so unfortunate missing almost all of the IDRS but I did have some lovely cards from people and my friend Christian Schmitt called me from Symphony Hall about 20 minutes before he went on to play which was lovely..From what little I saw of the IDRS I have to say that I was very impressed with the Town Hall which was used for many concerts and Symphony Hall is breathtaking..hats off to Birmingham for them..They really would give London a run for its money..

I had a short but useful time, I did see "Fortay reeds"[i] my friends Steve and Lara doing great things and getting even more followers for their wonderful reeds..I also had my Oboe tweaked by Alain de Gourdon from Loree who worked his magic for me and finally sorted out my octave boxes which had been gathering water like a sponge..Sadly I felt so ill that afternoon I really struggled until the evening when I went down like a ton of bricks..I couldn't believe my luck, oh well never mind there is always this summer in OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAK-LA HOMA so maybe I will head off there..if not then maybe next year..

So onwards and upwards..see you all soon..

Andrew

I agree that Birmingham did a really good job of hosting the IDRS. Well at least the bit we saw.

Good that you are getting back to your normal self. Hope the recovery continues.

Hi A.U.K

I am a "new" oboist on the forum. There have been a few threads but it has been a bit quiet over the last month or so! Glad that you have recovered and are playing again. When I first started I spent a good week or so working my way through the very long "oboe" thread. I found your posts very helpful and informative in that - so I am glad to see you back again! :-)

I've been having oboe lessons again since about October last year, having previously got to about grade 5 before work and life got in the way. My previous teacher was not an oboe specialist, so I've spent the last 7 months getting rid of bad habits and sorting out my technique, as well as thoroughly enjoying playing some lovely music. I've also joined a local community orchestra which is great fun. Not really thought about exams yet, just enjoying getting the foundations in place really. Hopefully will do Grade 7 sometime within the next year or so. I'm currently working on Poulenc Sonata and Telemann Sonata in A minor.

Welcome back Andrew. Glad you are feeling better.
Bev

Hello Bev and hello Flobiano, nice to see you both..its good to be able to play again...and it is always nice to see another Oboist join the fray..I am happy to read you have a new Oboe teacher (a specialist is essential for the Oboe)..The Poulenc is no mean feat to achieve either so good luck with that, I find it near terrifying everytime I hear it..I have never looked at the music..not yet anyway..

Currently I am re working the Cimarosa Cmj Conc. getting the Allegros faster and with stronger articulation and better phrasing which sometimes I sacrifice for the sake of speed..tut tut..I am also doing orchestral work with the local (and very good I might add) Orchestra, this summer I have the delights of Peter and the Wolf to contend with, a nice easy start for me there then... There is no way to fake it so I am just going to have to get my Db to C slip very smooth, cant say I am entirely easy about it but I will get it..why he (prokofiev) didnt write it in a more favourable key astounds me.If I ever get to Heaven and meet him we will have words I assure you..

So onwards and upwards..glad to be back. Thanks for the messages..what has happened to Lizbun is she at Chets now..?

Andrew

She did end up at Chet's : and I imagine she's extremely busy!

Welcome back A.U.K!

Yep busy but i'm really enjoying it. I still occasionally look through the forums though.

lizbun good to see you posting! Glad you're having fun at Chet's! < that's an oboe, by the way

Dear A.U.K.

I was also wondering where you were the other day too. Glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery.

The oboe threads have certainly missed you!!

Aww Liz glad you are getting on well at Chets..I am sure its a wonderful experience..I am sure your playing has changed and moved forward in huge leaps..you are very lucky to get such a wonderful oppertunity.

Fantasia, thank you for your kind hello, it is nice to be back in the land of the living.. I can see I shall have to start a new Oboe thread and gather the clan once more..I feel like this is a re-birth period..I had become so over tired that my poor body just gave in and gave up and it has taken the best part of a year to get back to normal or somewhere close..I have a huge amount of work to do Oboe wise, not the least to get to grips with "Peter and the Wolf"..


I hope everyone is having a good day, perfect weather for practicing..
Andrew

Yes, the Poulenc is proving tricky. The first movement is fairly straight forward in terms of playing the notes - but getting the tone, dynamics, interpretation is something else entirely! The second movement is fiendish...not sounding very musical at the momnet. But think it will get there, and certainly stretching me! I really love it though, so not too much of a hardship to put the work in!

Hope Peter and the wolf goes well. We are doing Borodin Polovtsian Dance which has a very tricky oboe part which I'm having to work at as well. Think it's coming together, though there's a bit where the Cor plays the theme in 4/4 and the oboe part above it is in 12/8 and I haven't got my head around that at all yet. I think I will have to record the Cor part so that I can practice putting the oboe bit on top. I think the key is counting 2 to a bar....but it's making my head spin a bit at the moment. It's all good fun though!

Oh I love the Borodin, I have played the Polotsvian Dances, lovely work and some delicious Oboe parts..I do remember the Cor part threw a spanner in the works but it all panned out well enough..

As for the Poulenc well there is so much to it as I am sure you are realising..I also reccomend the Hindemith Sonata..it has to be one of the best pieces written for Oboe and well worth a look..

Hello Andrew
I too wondered what had happened to you and am glad to hear that you are well on the road to recovery.
I have just got back from a few days in the UK with a new oboe
I don't own a car so this is the most expensive thing I have ever bought

I've just been listening to PD and other Prince Igor pieces on a Borodin CD as I drove back over the M62 this evening. Have you ever seen the opera, A.U.K - I don't think I've ever seen a performance of it advertised and it's one I would like to see.

Hello Keri, yes I am back and able to play again thank goodness..I am also pleased to hear you bought a new Oboe...oooh how exciting, what did you buy..?I know how expensive they are so you don't have to tell me..I think I broke out into a cold sweat when I paid for mine..just handing over the cheque made me shudder if I recal l...I just kept looking at the Oboe and Cor and tried to distract myself from the horror associated with the financial aspect...Just keep looking at it and the money aspect will soon pass..I hope you have lots of happy music making with your new friend..

Skyers I have not seen the opera, (in truth I am not an opera fan, shame on me I know) I am sure that at some point I have heard a concert where the PD were played..I do love Borodin...

At the moment for me I seem to be having a Baroque phase, can't get enough of it..Bach in particular..I find that music of this period makes sense for want of a better word..Musically it works and the patterns are helpful for a rythm klutz like me..I dont know why it is but I have the devil of a time finding the pulse sometimes which is usually screamingly Obvious in Baroque Music..My long suffering teacher had words with me the other week about beating a pulse so I really must get my toe going discreetly in my shoe..

Andrew

I will put the Hindemith on the list!! I played his flute sonata when I had a lessons a few years ago. My teacher at the time was a big Hindemith enthusiast!

Before Christmas I asked my teacher for some recommendations to ask for as gifts! So I still have the Saint Saens Sonata, the Britten Metamorphoses and Mozart Oboe Quartet waiting in the wings! I've also just bought Italian Dance by Madeleine Dring on teacher's recommendation. Starting to think about Grade 7!

The Britten Metamorphosis are wonderful but by no means an easy ride..I would go as far to say that really they are diploma level even though some are set for examinations they really do push the envelope a lot..Nick Daniels has a recording of them and there is a CD featuring many players interpretations of them, well worth a listen..

http://www.oboeclassics.com/Britten.htm#contents

I would say that the Saint Saens is by far more user friendly and can really be brought up to a staggering level of playing with work..One of the classic errors with the Saint Saens is that people take it far too slow, it really should hoof along or it becomes laboured, take a listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANF6ZEdJHlQ...feature=related Maurice Bourgue has it right in my opinion..

The Mozart is simply lovely and will certainly get the fingers moving, its very tricky but beautifully written. A friend of mine in Germany just recorded it and the speed he takes it at is simply staggering, however not once does he lose clarity or intonation and his articulation is world class..I will search out a link for it if anyone is interested..We haven't spoken in awhile but I will get in touch with him and see what he is up to..

Madeline Dring's Italian Dance is lovely also check out her "Three Piece Suite", lovely work, very tongue in cheek and not I might add without considerable humour in its writing.

If you really fancy a stretch then I will recomend the Finzi Interlude..I never tire of it, a masterpiece in its writing and melodic line, its a fair blow and not easy but well worth the work..The cadenza is breathtaking for the listener and Oboist alike..Also Herbert Howells Sonata in 4 movements is beautifully constructed and in my opinion often overlooked mainly I suspect because it's quite long..definitely one for the shopping bag..The 3rd movement is set for grade 8 and though on paper it looks straightforward enough its far from it..Nick Daniels has recorded both ..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Finzi-Howells-Patt...0791&sr=1-5

Good luck with it all, I hope the grade 7 comes along well and that I have added some music for you to consider..

Andrew

A bit belatedly, I wanted to add my "welcome back" to everyone else's.

Actually, as barry-clari says, there is a bit more oboe "stuff" out there for you to catch up with. But no doubt we have dispersed ourselves a bit around other threads. We needed you to be our shepherd - good to have you back!

You don't know me but actually it is because of you that I am here (cybernetically at least - in what they call the real world, in Costa Rica). I was googling around for things oboeish after I took up the oboe a couple of years ago and found some interesting posts from you on this Forum. (Everybody does realise that everything we write here is visible to the internet world, right????!!!!) When I finally plucked up the courage to reveal my oboe idiocy and join, you were no longer "around" and I didn't like to ask... so sorry to hear you were very ill. I hope you really are thoroughly better?

Hello Katica, welcome to the ABRSM I am very flattered that you found your way here via my posts on the Oboe Forum. There are Oboists far better qualified than me to comment on most things regarding the Oboe but I share my opinions easily and probably far too loudly.. I am only sorry I wasn't here to welcome you at the time but you all know why I had to take some time away.. I think we all forget that our posts are visable all over the world and to think you found your way here all the way from Costa Rica is staggering so well done, your internet search paid off. Costa Rica sounds very exotic and very appealing and above all else very warm which I like the sound of.

So how are you getting on with the Oboe, are you enjoying it..what are you playing musically..tell us a little more about yourself and the oppertunities for music in Costa Rica (sorry I just love saying Costa Rica)..are you going to try to make a career in music..do you have any problems getting supplies, the reason I ask is a friend of mine sponsors a player in Cuba and I know she has a very hard time getting what she needs..I'll be honest I don't know a thing about Costa Rica..so anything you can tell us would be great.

All that aside, its lovely to meet you, albeit via cyberspace and I hope we can help you with any questions you may have..I am a fiend for repetoire so ask away..I have cupboards full of music and probably an opinion on most of it..

Andrew

Seconded. It's a really interesting collection. Of the three, I find George Caird's playing elegant, but my preference is for Nick Daniels.

If you go to his website http://www.nicholasdaniel.com there are links to Youtube videos of the Metamorphoses (making them looking ridiculously easy) plus the Mozart and Carter concerti.

Mysef, I've so far only had a bit of a go at Pan.

Ooh, I would put in a plug for Britten's Temporal Variations too. I have a couple of recordings and a video of an ex teacher of mine playing it plus this fabulous recording by Emily Pailthorpe:

http://www.oboeclassics.com/Lovers.htm

I would also put in a plug for the Poulenc sonata and the (little known?) sonata by Edward Gregson.

Temporal Variations..... you love a challenge don't you..beautiful but very tricky..

The Gregson is a lovely work, I can't find a link for it but I am sure there must be a recording somewhere..Pushpull do you have a recording of it or know of one?

Andrew

Oh I didn't say I play it

I've only heard it performed once and as far as I know it doesn't have a commercial recording.

I really like Nick Daniel's recording of the Metamophoses...I keep hoping he'll do some more vids to put up!

In case you haven't seen the other thread in general music, don't forget that the Woodwind final of the Young Musician of the Year is on tomorrow night on BBC4 and there are TWO oboists in the final five!

I like freely expressed opinions! I must confess I don't now lurk as much as I used on other more speficic oboe fora because it's very friendly here and I don't mind asking stupid questions or confessing embarrassing experiences. Everyone is really helpful and fun too so now it feels like "home".

In case it's not obvious I should say that I am actually from the UK but I've lived in Costa Rica for 17 years (!). I only took up the oboe here a couple of years ago as a very mature student, so I feel that I really am a "tica" oboist (that's a nickname for Costa Rican, in the feminine form). It is really an unexpectedly wonderful place to have taken up music again! The story of how I came to the oboe is full of lots of wonderful coincidences but itis a long one so I won't bore people again here. When I occasionally regret not having started 30 years ago (no spring chicken, you see) I remember that there really does seem to be a right time and place for things to happen!

I think it would be a little rash on my part to think of changing to a musical career at this late stage but I do sometimes fantasise about it! My first efforts on the oboe advanced surprisingly fast but I seem to have slowed down a lot. It doesn't help that I have a full-time job (in international development, working with volunteers) that is very absorbing and for which I have to travel quite a bit, which is rather interrupting to the music. I never travel without my oboe, though! I am now just now celebrating my second "oboe birthday". My teacher has just thrown the Schumann Romances at me, which is rather daunting and a bit worrying. I don't think I should be allowed to massacre such beautiful pieces and I'm a bit astonished that he's letting me loose on them at all.

You know, I bet I know - at least via e-mail - the Cuban player you mention. She told me she had a US sponsor and I'm pretty sure it's your friend. Her teacher and mentor, who is Principal Oboe of the Cuban Symphony Orchestra, was here with their wind quintet about six months ago and we had a lot of fun with them. They were specially invited by the little community cultural centre where I study (in a small town outside of the capital city San Jos?, which is where I live) and now they want to invite my teacher back to give Master Classes in Cuba! We can get supplies OK here, though it's expensive especially as everything needs to be shipped here. Actually, I ended up donating some stuff to the Cubans. They really do have an awful time of it! I bought various bits and pieces at the IDRS Conference for people to try - they were very taken with some Roseau Chantant reed and with a Winfield brass staple from Howarths (on my shopping list for my upcoming trip!).

Better stop there because I could go on for ever. And yes, the climate is great. Pretty good for oboe playing too (expect when too hot and sticky, which San Jos? mostly isn't).

I will definitely be taking you up on the offer of repertoire enquiries!

Talking of which, have either you or pushpull or anyone else acquired Thea Musgrave's Night Windows yet? Beautifully premiered by Nick Daniels at Birmingham. (Bit of a Nick Daniels fan club here I note - and maybe a budding Emily Pailthorpe one too!)

Kate

My teacher gave Robert Schumann's Romances to me at about the same stage and made me start with the 2nd one, which I think is the hardest of the three. At the time I never questioned his choices but recently I asked him why he had given me such impossibly difficult pieces at such an early stage (this was one, Poulenc was another). He was a bit taken aback and said he had thought of them as challenging, rather than hard.

When I asked him why the 2nd one rather than the 1st or 3rd, he said it was because the 2nd was his favourite and I thought how can he bear to have pupils massacring his favourite pieces.

I know this is not going to be a popular thing to say but I don't like the Schumann Romances one little bit..Shame on me but I dont, however hard I try, I listen to them and can't find anything about them I enjoy..I find I am quite indifferent to them..surely I can't be the only one..

Andrew

What about Clara's? I really like the 1st one of hers (it's what I'm playing at the moment).

I havent had a look at Clara's I am ashamed to say...I do have the music so maybe one day I had dig them out.

Oboeclassics have a recording of it and you can listen to the first few bars on their website. (It really does need the piano with it to appreciate it fully).

There is a bar which goes up to 3rd octave G and I had just about mastered it on my Marigaux (the changes of fingers are very awkward) and the keys on the XL are not quite in the same place so I feel I am back to square one. I now can't decide what to do with it. Obviously practising on the Marigaux is going to be counter productive but I am unwilling to use up my precious time on the XL battling with something in a register I don't particularly like (when it has such beautiful low notes). Maybe I should just leave it aside for a couple of weeks (but not too long because I want to play it with the piano before the end of the school year in June).

I agree about No2 and my prof is quite capable of throwing me in the deep end too for the exact same reason. He was in an unusually easy going mood on Tuesday. . . Maybe he's saving it up for when I get back from the UK and he tells me I have to play all 3 in a recital the following week. Or something equally beastly to keep me sweating.




Oh Andrew you ARE refreshing!

I am still at the puppy love stage with all things oboe related. It's been such a surprise (a pleasant one) to feel that rush of enthusiasm again like discovering the world when you're young and idealistic. 'm enjoying it while it lasts!

However I also look forward to wisening up with the help of the rest of you.

Need to pick the Oboists brains. Which Oboes have 3rd Octave key and at what point are they needed?

Hello Bernie

Most full system (Gillet system semi automatic octaves) Oboes should have a thrid octave key and I would say that anything above top E would be in need of the third octave key..some oboes even need a hand with top E but usually not, anything above that its a help to have a third octave key..

I might add that the third octave key does help with Altissimo entries on the higher notes, it just makes the whole thing a tad easier..some players will of course be able to go right up to top G and G# without the third octave but I suspect in some cases though not all, thats like the "Big Fish" talk that anglers are used to..

Berni its subjective really, I rarely use mine but I rarely go above top F or F# and even then I dont go up there too often so I dont use the 3rd octave key very much.

Andrew

I'm glad notmusimum asked this question as I was going to ask something similar.

My teacher taught me to use the third octave key for E and all the notes above. When I tried the oboes in Howarths, Mike said that the correct fingering was to use the 1st octave key for E and F and the 3rd octave key only for F# and above.

When my teacher tried my new oboe, his initial reaction was that the E and F were too sharp so I told him what Mike had said about the fingering. He tried them with the 1st octave key and they were in tune but he then offered to adjust the opening of the 3rd octave key so I could play them with what he considers to be the correct fingering. I told him I would try with the 1st octave key for a while and if I couldn't get used to a new fingering I would ask him to adjust it.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on third octave keys?

Like Andrew, I don't use the highest notes very much. I do a chromatic scale up to G# but have yet to encounter a G# in any music. I do other scales and exercices up to top G and have one piece with a top G in it. One of the windbands I play in has music which goes up to top F# occasionally (rather a lot in one particular piece where I'm convinced that the composer was confusing the oboe with a flute, although when I looked at the flute part that went even higher).

I think it's a problem with Grade 8 scales where the notes won't come out. It's F# particularly. Unless of course anyone knows alternative fingerings that might help on an S40.

It seems there is no rush but just now is a good time for us to beg for funding.

What's the difference between the S5 and the XL? I'm sure one of you brain boxes will have the answer

I thought the S40 had a 3rd octave key? I use two different fingerings for F# depending on what notes are before or after.
Either like an A with the C key in the right-hand and the 3rd octave key.
Or just the first finger in the left hand, 2nd and 3rd fingers in the left hand and G# and Eb keys (either left or right hand) and 3rd octave key.

If she has got a 3rd octave key, adjusting the key can help but I suggest she asks her teacher rather than trying to do it herself (also her teacher can check it is a problem with the oboe and not with Emsoboe before making any adjustments).

Reasons why the top notes won't come out include:
- lack of breath support
- too slow an air-stream
- tensing up and biting down on the reed,
- a not very good reed

Things I found helped:
- learning an even higher note (that way the one before seems easier)
- playing a chromatic scale up to the note with a huge crescendo (gets the air-stream moving faster)
- doing an exercise first to make sure my throat is open
- playing the passage down an octave and then at the correct octave making sure I can feel the same open sensation in my throat.

The biggest difference between the S5 and the XL for me was the responsiveness of the XL to changes in the air-stream. This gives it a huge dynamic range (but, as I mentioned in an earlier post, can make it feel unstable). I'm not sure that I can be terribly precise about the rest but basically it is smoother to play (both in the way the keys move and in its tone).

That said, before I went to Howarths I wrote and asked them what the difference was (if I can find their e-mail I'll send it to you) but one of the things the said was that some people prefer one and some prefer the other.

Current S40s have a 3rd octave key. Older ones (not that old) like mine and, I believe, Emsoboe's, don't.

I'm not at those dizzy heights yet but I just had a go using the alternatives in the ABRSM scales book. I reckon this one works:

Left hand 1 and 2 (don't half hole or lift the 1st finger), 1st octave key, right hand 1 and 2 (and possibly add the RH F key).

My Patricola doesn't have a third octave key either.

E and F are fine. (Well, not fine but that's my fault...) and I have been known to squeak out up to G# but not very often and it depends a lot on the reed.

My impression is that the fingering to choose depends a lot on the oboe. Maybe even on the individual oboe and not just the system, make and model.

I had a dispute with my oboe teacher on Tuesday, for instance. When I was playing around a while back with the limits of my capacities, I "discovered" a high E flat fingering that happened to correspond to a position in the ARBSM scale book. I find that that the preferred fingerings used here for high E, Eb,F etc are terribly complicated so I was a bit surprised to find scales like 2-octave Eb appearing as low as Grade 4. Of course, with the suggested ABRSM fingering it's much easier. But my teacher wasn't having it.

My oboe also has other quirks. For instance, I find the low forked F sounds just fine while the left-hand F sounds "stuffy", which seems to go against conventional wisdom. My teacher recommends using the left-hand B key to stabilise G2 but I find it doesn't make much difference on my oboe.

On the other hand, I do all sorts of things with my right hand to keep that horrible C2 from blaring and have found myself resorting to harmonic variations for a long A, B flat, B (second octave), especially if the final pp of a concert piece.

But I do wonder how "valid" it is to do this. Especially as I'm quite a new player and I don't want to end up just using these devices to cover up problems generated by bad breath support and the other things in kerioboe's list, all of which I have problems with. On the other hand, I tend to thing that, "on the day", anything goes if it saves myself or my colleagues from complete embarrassment.

Katica, I presume you play a conservatoire system i.e no thumbplate as you mention the C blaring out, are you refering to the C above bottom C? If so, close down the 123 of your right hand and just keep the index finger on the left hand down for C..the right hand closing up the the F#, E and D will stabilise it and make the transistion to the D above the C far easier, quicker and smoother.. You will need to adjust the air flow a bit, step back of it for 2nd Oct C but only a tad just to keep it uniform..

What Keri said about increasing the air flow for the thrid octave is very sound advice, play a scale with a crescendo rather like a singer would, open the throat keep it all very relaxed and let the air through and simply sing the notes out using the Oboe instead of the voice. A Chromatic scale is a great way to work yourself up in steps into the uppper octave and in time you will find that short fingerings are (in fast passages )sometimes the best way to get the hihgest notes..

Low f can be a funny note, my forked low f is stuffy so I add the Eb key and that makes it better, the Left hand F is fine but each Oboe is different..

In the end it all boils down to what works on your particular Oboe, and I think you will find that most Oboists have little tricks and add on fingerings that work for them..

Andrew

Experiment with which fingers to put down to stabilise the C. On my Marigaux, you needed just the third finger of the right hand (ie D) and (depending on the reed) sometimes just resting it on the key rather than actually pressing it down was sufficient. One of the nice things about the XL is that the C is not noticeably different to the other notes.


This was true of my Marigaux but again the XL has a forked F which sounds exactly the same as the other F. (This was one of the things which most impressed my teacher).

Katica, I think there is probably something wrong with the way your oboe is adjusted if the left F sounds different to when you play it using the F key with your right hand, since whether you use your left or right hand to play it, exactly the same keys are open in exactly the same way.

As for harmonics, I use them in windbands as well occasionally. They are actually quite good for practising breath support as if you're not supporting them properly they won't come out. Have you tried alternating long notes with the harmonic fingering and the normal fingering and trying to keep the breath support identical for both. One of the things my teacher told me to check when chosing an oboe was that the harmonic fingerings and normal fingerings were in tune with each other.

Thanks for that.

Pushpull is correct Emsoboe's S40 doesn't have a third Octave key.

It is some quirk with the Oboe rather than a technical problem. Both of her teachers (actual teacher and her deputy) have tried it, one could get it with difficulty the other struggled.

Emsoboe has tried both their Oboes and can get it on them, so not a personal technical issue.

Her actual teacher has tried to adjust the oboe but it makes no difference and infact makes things worse.

They have been trying different reeds too and nothing makes it reliable.

Pushpull that is the fingering she uses sadly but thanks anyway.

In which case you need to have it serviced by an oboe specialist repairer. (Ideally Howarths, although that i is probably not practical for you).

This sort of thing is one of the disadvantages of "older" instruments and it was similar issues which led me to decide that I wanted a new (as in not previously used) oboe.

Her teacher suggested the possibility of having a 3rd Octave key fitted but thought it might cost somewhere in the region as a new Oboe (I wonder about that personally). I will get the Oboe looked at before making any decisions. It has been tweaked by Howarths twice in less than a year.

Thinking it might be worth looking for funding to upgrade. Grade 8 won't be until at least December and even then there is no real hurry. There is plenty of progress to be seen now in technique.

I would tend to agree with kerioboe. Make sure the LH F key is opening the side vent as fully as the RH F key.


2 very good reasons to save up for an XL then.

Or A Loree Royal.....for goodness sake when will you lot ever learn..