I had my first oboe lesson this evening. I've been playing for 4 weeks after a break of I think 14 years and sorted out a lesson with a music student to work on my tuning,tone and breathing.

Itwent well, although different to what I think I had expected as we did quite a lot of talking. He corrected myposture and gave me some tips on playing from my diaphragm; including suggesting an exercise involving lying on the floor with a book on my stomach! I played through some grade 1 and 2 pieces from mynew book and he set me two grade 3 pieces do work on before we have another sessiona and recommended me some harder reeds.

He gave me quite a lot of confidence in reading music (something I get quite daunted by) andsurprised me when he said he thinks I can already play at grade 3 standard - my aim was to get to grade 2 standard so I can join a local windband.

Good for you
So when are you going to join the windband?

I'm not sure I believe him I played much better during our lesson than I do at home - proving his tips worked, so I need to keep playing like that!

The next windband session starts in April so I may see about popping along...

Thanks for the encouragement, Hardying and Roseau. I'm not sure this is a very impressive show of confidence. I know my teacher has been feeling a bit burned out by teaching beginners - and stagnated intermediate, so presumably me too - and was hoping for a pretext to have bit of a break. But I suppose he must trust me enough not to make a complete hash of it.

Well done MrsB!!!

We expect to be hearing of your windband adventures very shortly.

Today's practice got de-railed by flatmate and myself getting an attack of the sillies and (amongst other idiocies) trying out our altissimo register skills. We both twice managed to do a pretty creditable immitation of Nicholas Daniel's F# attempt, though it was "only" an F (fourth octave). However, we must admit that this was unintentional as we were really trying to get a high C and produced an accidental harmonic. By which time we realised it was past midnight and we should expect a complaint from the neighbours tomorrow.

Flatmate says I should expect my teacher (his ex-teacher) to throw the Haydn concerto at me some time soon. I strongly doubt I'm anywhere near being able even to contemplate it and feel pretty sure teacher would agree. But he does frequently have bouts of throwing out impossible challenges so I may as well get my brain in gear just in case. Who has played this and what's it like to learn?

Excellent, go for it MrsB




I'm sure you'll be great as teacher katica As others have said, he wouldn't let you near beginners if he didn't think you were ready

Thanks for more encouragement. I need it!

While there are some wonderful musicians and teachers here - I feel I've had great good fortune myself - the level of quite a lot of teachers in local music schools can be fairly atrocious, so the bar isn't set very high. I'd never be let loose in the UK and I can't imagine any pupil who'd want someone of my level. After all, I think I'd be pushed to scrape a decent Grade 6 if I sat an ABRSM exam, despite the more impressive-sounding repertoire my teacher occasionally tosses my way - and I can't usually play decently.

Reminds me of something that happened at my summer course last year. Once a day each group of instruments went off to work by themselves on instrument-specific technique/repertoire. Someone in the oboe group mentioned a piece written for Nicholas Daniel (I've forgotten what), which spends almost all its time up above what "normal" people play. The tutor's opinion was that it was an easy way of impressing people but why would you want to play those sort of notes because they are not particularly nice sounding notes on the oboe. Because none of us believed that they were "easy" he proceeded to teach them to us. I can't now remember how high we went (and have forgotten the fingerings) because I thought they sounded ghastly. Anyway, imagine five oboists starting at third octave Ab and going higher, all at the same time with only one of them who really knows what he is doing At the coffee break later on the bassoons (who had been closest to us) wanted to know what on earth we had been doing They said it had taken a while to work out what instrument it was and thought at first they were sick piccolos


I've got a copy and have played through it but haven't ever looked at in a lesson with my teacher, although I have thought about taking it along a couple of times. The first two movements don't seem impossibly tricky (and I can't remember anything about the last movement - I'd have to go and look).

I've got an oboe lesson tonight after two weeks of school holidays



Presumably your teacher thinks you have a good grasp of the basics, which is what a beginner needs to know and refinement of tone can come later. Sometimes I think it can be quite encouraging to hear someone who is better than you but not impossibly better (ie someone who makes you think "that could be me in a few years time" rather than someone who is so good that you know you'll only ever play like them in your dreams).

Does anyone know where I can buy the music for Dave Heath, The Sapphire? I've looked on Emersons and they don't have it. Emsoboe is desperate to play it.

His website says to contact him for music:
http://www.daveheath.co.uk/contact.htm

Just had a listen on Youtube. Quite nice (better than that Gabriel's thing ).

Thanks! Don't know the other piece Em plays his stuff on soprano sax

Hello all,

Well I seem to have recovered from my glandular fever and have been back playing for about 4 weeks now.

Had a very interesting concert playing Faure, Britten etc, then a near disaster playing Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances which were indescribably difficult. The counting alone had my head spinning and I was grateful to be way down the pecking order in the Oboe section. I struggled with stamina and had to edit a lot of the Tutti sections out to save my lip for some more exposed areas. The Tendrese in the Faure was just the strings shimmering with me and a French Horn playing in Canon, I thought it would never end and was jolly grateful when the final bar came up (so was the French Horn by his expression the poor man went purple)

Currently working on "The Flower Clock", lovely work, very difficult and very long..Honestly it's beyond me but I am taking it slow and getting the notes down under my fingers, the music is covered in my writing marking the beats out, there is a lot of jumping about rhythmically so I figured best to write it out, it may look rough but it works and certainly helps. I am having a break from Baroque music at the moment..I was getting all trilled out and felt it was time for a change.

So that's me, I'm back in the land of the living and glad to see that everyone is doing well and having a good time Oboe-istically. It seems that you have all been busy and that we have some new Oboists as well which is wonderful. Sorry to read about a disastrous Oboe service, mine needs tweaking so I must take it to Loree for a Holiday, it's actually cheaper to go to Paris and spend a day or two there and see Alain than have it done here, plus I get a mini holiday at the same time.

Well done to all who had concerts and recitals, welcome to the newcomers to our wonderful instrument, nice to have you join us. When I started this thread a million years ago I had no idea it would run for as long as it has.

Andrew

Good to hear you are feeling better and are back in the land of the purple faced ones.

Well I bought the new medium reed recommended by my tutor. I can play on it, but I'm struggling to make as clear a sound as the soft reed and I can't make any of the higher notes anymore. Will it just take time to adjust or can anyone suggest any tips to work at before I have my next lesson?

I think it's largely a case of air. You need more of it to make a harder reed vibrate properly. That in turn requires more support/stronger abdominal muscles. These things come with practice, like running makes you fit for running. So I would say lots of long notes. A couple of things to visualise might help - my teacher talks in terms of blowing THROUGH the oboe rather into it and FILLING the oboe with air. For those top notes, try playing scales concentrating on crescendoing to the top notes to keep the air strong. You will find your embouchure tires more quickly with a harder reed and you need to avoid biting down as you get tired (I used to get horribly sharp after playing for a while). Maintain a round shape and relax the embouchure as you come down to lower notes. Again this improves as the facial muscles get stronger.

Also, take a look at the reed. It may be more open than your previous one. You might want to close it up a little by VERY gently squeezing it (after soaking of course). Does it crow as well as the old one? If not you might want to soak and squeeze a bit more then give it a few good hard blows until it produces a good crow. If you try to use a reed before it's crowing properly it won't produce a decent sound on the oboe.

If none of that works then ask your teacher to have a go on it (swapping spit and germs is all part of the game).

I would lay a penny to a pound that the new reed is too open. Ideally you soak it for about five minutes and then very gently squeeze the blades of the reed together. Don't do this agressively do it gently. If you are in any doubt then let your teacher adjust it for you..

Air and support are vital, the Americans call it spinning the wind. Increase the air as you rise through the scale, rather like you are singing, add support with your diaphragm and you should remain in tune and not play flat.

Stamina is a problem all oboists have to contend with. Build up slowly day by day and your stamina will improve. Avoid biting the reed at all costs this will damage your embouchure. Your lip muscles will develop in time but the minute you feel yourself biting down stop playing and have a break. I have just done an hour or so, my lip is tired so when I start to feel it getting difficult I stop.

May I ask what reed you bought, we all have experience of different reeds here and maybe able to cast some light onto why you are having troubles.

Thanks for the tips. It is a lot more open that my other reed and it's a Winfield medium.

I don't have any experience of Nick Winfields reeds whatsoever. I think a lot of people use Fortay reeds, Steve and Lara make fabulous reeds and the quality is good. They are very busy and popular reed makers so bear that in mind.

I personally use Jordanov but they can be very hard. I adjust them a lot getting my knives out and almost re scraping them. I prefer unwired reeds and Jordanov's cane and scrape suit me but they take some blowing in and some considerable work. I may go back to a different reed maker like Fortay (if they'll have me) as I would now prefer to work on something freer blowing and easier dynamically which is not something that could be said of Jordanov.

As you are so new I would reccomend you let your teacher adjust your reeds, it's not difficult but takes time to get used to not being heavy handed, especially with the tip which is very delicate. Always soak your reeds to play but not for too long, you just want to wet it for a few seconds, the longer you leave it in water the more open the reed will become. However to adjust the reed you will need to give it a good soak then squeeze it or tweak it with a reed knife but that part comes much much later in your oboe life.

Glad you are enjoying your playing, it's a lovely instrument, tricky at first but not impossible. One of the great myths is that the Oboe is hard, it isn't it just takes a little time to handle the reed and the huge array of keywork on the instrument. The breathing can be a challenge but you'll get used to it.

Oh and one more thing..you will learn to complain about your reeds very soon....we all do.

Andrew

I have used Winfield reeds on my cor in the past. There are two scrapes a continental one and another one; I can't now remember which is which but one is much harder than the other (even though they are both called "medium") and I preferred the harder one.

I liked Fortay reeds for a while but now find them too easy/not responsive enough. My current preference for bought reeds are the Chinese Ke Gung Xe (not sure that I've got the spelling right) but you would probably find these too hard. I tend to only use these in orchestra rehearsals though and in my lessons and when practising at home use ones that either I or my teacher have made.

As the others have said, get your teacher to adjust the reeds for you. When I first started learning my teacher used to adjust them a little almost every lesson until my embouchure became more stable and my technique a little better. These days I mainly know how to adjust them myself but he does it much more quickly than me so I am often lazy and wait for my lesson and get him to do it.

One thing that I am grateful for is that my teacher didn't just listent to how I sounded on a reed and look at the reed but always insisted, even when I first started, that I verbalise what I didn't like about the reed. He would then show me what he was going to do to cure problem X. This helped me to eventually learn to do it myself.

Andrew's back!!!

It sounds as though you're holding up very well, Andrew, with only four weeks back on the oboe.

I've been back on for two months now (though still with some breaks) and I don't feel I've yet recuperated from the 2 and half months off. Abdomen still gets a bit sore after a good, long puff.


Speaking of which, I only have one half-way decent reed at the moment and it's lost it's "ears". The other two are a bit old and horribly soft. My teacher thought I'd better stick to fairly soft reeds while re-training but they really do sound pretty 'orrible. I don't know about you folk but I find myself biting a bit more on a soft reed in an attempt to control the sound. On harder reeds the biting sets in, as Arundodonuts warns, when getting tired. Even after all this time, I don't seem to be able to dissociate abdominal pressure from lip pressure, especially when tired. (Or finger pressure, come to that.)

I've twice bought Winfield reeds. Once when I'd just started (quickly destroyed by my teacher) and last year. There was only one I really liked when I tried them and after a couple of days decided it wasn't for me. I like his staples, though. I've bought some of his all-metal ones (bronze/nickel/gold-plated) and we've been experimenting over here. I think consensus is that we like the bronze one best.

The best cane I've ever bought was from Jordanov (Le Roseau Chantant). I ordered a big batch about a year and a half ago and unfortunately it was really disappointing and my teacher declared it no good. But I used it for tying-on practice a while back, left the blanks a few months, and the reeds my teacher made in January with it were OK.

Lesson on Tuesday. Though I'm a bit nervous too. Not managing to cure my ills yet.

I have discovered that part of my hand problem is that the 3rd joint (i.e. knuckle) on my little fingers is double-jointed. When I first started, I had a similar problem with the second joint on my fourth fingers. I found an exercise to strengthen them on the internet and it worked a treat but it doesn't work for the knuckles. Anyone have any ideas?

The salsa rehearsal last Tuesday was a bit worrying. I thought it would be easier with singers but it was chaos. We didn't have the lead singer and the backing singers were a bit all over the place. We still haven't started on half the pieces on the programme and we've only got 3 weeks left!

I think abdominal surgery recovery is very long. I had keyhole surgery for peritonitis - it was not the result of appendicits so they didn't actually remove any part of me, they just "cleaned up". It took over a year for the incision points to become completely pain free. I remember going back to see the surgeon for a check up about five months afterwards and saying what a wimp I was because he hadn't even removed anything and it was still painful at times and he spent some time trying to convince me that still feeling pain at times was normal and that full healing takes time. This was before I took up the oboe so I can't comment on how it effects playing.


I wouldn't be able to get a sound out of them at all if I bit on them but I do find them very tiring and it's almost impossible for me to play more than a couple of notes on my daughter's reeds.


I hope the lesson goes well . I am convinced that I have a problem with the finger position of my right hand fourth finger, where the first joint seems unnaturally stiff when playing and results in irregularities in fast passages. I asked my teacher in my lesson on Thursday and while he could hear the same irregularities as me he said it was a lack of air and nothing to do with my finger. I am not entirely convinced, even though it was marginally better when he got me to play it as loudly as I possibly could


I'm sure it will come together in the end - presumably the singers will be going off to practise too

I had Nick Winfield's reeds when I started and real liked them but wasn't too impressed when I moved up a bit. I went to Fortay, starting on their Academy reeds then going to the blue thread. The nice thing about Fortay is you can talk to them about what you want - Steve made me some blues "at the soft end of medium" a while ago and I've just bought some of the long scrape reeds which I'm initially real impressed with. Very easy to blow but good tone and dynamics.

Like Roseau, I tried some KG reeds but found them too hard for me just now. My teacher was telling me recently that some more advanced students she was teaching were using Jordanovs and they seemed really good. From what AUK and Roseau say I think I would find those a bit tough too.

My own reed making goes in fits and starts and I'm not doing much right now. I have a case full of tied-on blanks and half a dozen ready for final scraping but I don't get on with finishing them.

Anyway, I took a bit of inspiration tonight by going to Manchester Camerata to see them play (amongst other things) Tombeau de Couperin. Lovely playing by Rachael Clegg. Ah well. Dream on.

Well I've had 3 sessions with my new reed and I feel like I'm going backwards with my playing. As I'm hurting my lip and sound awful am going back to my soft reed for a while before I lose the enjoyment of playing. Might have to buy a medium soft reed instead but it'll have to wait a little while as I've already spent quite a lot in the month I've been playing.

Put the new reed away MrsB until your teacher can have a fiddle with it..don't tire your mouth, at this stage in the game it's simply not worth it. Take your time, it's early days and build your technique and stamina on lighter reeds. The tone will come in time and it's far better to play beautifully on softer reeds than harder reeds which will tire you and blow your lungs out. There's no joy in the latter and you will find it an uphill struggle.

Hey Kate yes I'm back feeling good as well, a bit tired in the afternoons but I get my practice in first thing in the morning around 7-8 am and then again late afternoon so my muscles are kicking in and my fingers are inexplicably moving a lot faster than before. Not exactly whizzing around but getting faster.

Have done studies in Ab and E major, C# minor Bb Major. No real reason for choosing them other than Emaj and C# minor are related. The Ab one is nice and not my favourite key. The Bb one is a hoot, I love it, its so cadenza-ish and has some real drama if you phrase it right.

The Flower Clock, am working on the faster sections, movement two is tricky, (well the whole thing is) but the rhythm is fiendish to count but it's coming together. Might add Madeline Dring into the Mix when I see my teacher on Wednesday. Going to take my entire Oboe library with me and let her choose. I just dont want to play Baroque at the moment so maybe Dring, Hindemith, nothing too romantic..I want to wreak musical havoc.

Sorry to read about your surgery recently, I hope you soon feel better and back to your normal self. So get well soon hun.

Andrew's right, not worth doing your lip in. New reeds always feel a bit tough to start with, especially at the beginning. It may be worth - once your teacher has looked at it - just doing some short bouts of long notes on the reed, or even in the oboe, to get used to it. Use the softer ones for longer practices.


Sounds like you're having fun. Whose studies are they?

Thumbs up to Dring and Hindemith! I rather fancy getting hold of the Rubbra Sonata but I'm dead broke. And I need to acquire some decent vibrato first... and cure a lot of other technique problems too...

Thanks for sympathy re op. It was surgery that had to be done and I'd been getting more and more under the weather after my return from the UK in August (bronchitis was making other unrelated problems much worse).

Roseau, I have to say I've been much luckier with my scar than you were with yours. It looked and felt pretty good right from the sixth day when my stitches were removed. Internally is a whole different kettle of fish. They tell me that it takes a whole year to heal fully. I stop if it feels too painful when I'm doing pilates but mostly - on the oboe too - the soreness feels more like muscles getting back to fitness, so worth working through it a bit. Anacrusis did say she thought the oboe would be good for recuperation in the long run and it feels as though she's right. The diaphragm / upper abdomen area is in pretty good shape considering enforced rest. The lower abdomen is another thing. Now I really feel how much you use it too.

Lips are definitely a bit out of shape too. Just had to stop oboe practice because my embouchure blew out. Probably because I was practising lots of high Es and Fs.

A really silly question to finish up today. I was practising an F#maj scale and forgot how the fingering should go at the top end. E# to F# is very awkard. How do you folks manage it? (Especially those with conservatoire oboes - sometimes thumbplate fingering up there seems to be different.)

Oh I am just running through the Hinke studies, nothing fancy, nice and straightforward and not overly taxing, but they cover all keys and make the fingers move so it's all positive. Might dig out the Ferling next, I like them.

Flower clock inching ahead.. best taken slowly and in small bites, agonising over every detail. The Tango section is tricky, very tricky and as for the slow movement, well it's lovely but takes a lot of puff and control as it plays way down and PPP..(not my strong point) Had to take reed knives out and seriously soften off a reed, thankfully it gave it a new lease of life and makes the most gorgeous sound and it's as old as the hills.. and it's still in tune

Honestly I don't want to play Saint Saens or anything too regular. I have some Gliere pieces which are lovely and not overly simple or there is the Sarabande and Allegro which I really like..it maybe time to revisit that.

So tonight scales, arpeggios, scales in thirds and then some twiddling about..I do love a twiddle, you know the thing, party tricks, runs, triplet runs, cascading arpegios always sound lovely and can prove handy in cadenzas. No real technique required just slow practice until they fall from the fingers without thinking.

Happy Blowing people.

Glad you're feeling better A.U.K

Haven't managed any oboe playing (or any playing) tonight embouchure improving, usually start with five mins or so on the soft reed then am able to progress onto the harder reed for another fifteen mins notes are sounding much better, still a little on the sharp side at times but am working on it. Lesson on Friday, hope to be able to get some practice in before then....

Hello Loiuse yes I am feeling much better thank you. I had a nasty bout of glandular fever. I have had it before but get these secondary infections from time to time. I don't reccomend it.

How long have you been playing Louise ? If you are sounding sharp it sounds like tension in the embouchure and or the reed may need to be pulled out a little. Which reeds are you using and what Oboe are you playing. Each Oboe has it's on foibles and quirks but equally each make can be quite distinctive in how they play. Loree can be flat towards the lower end so you may have to try different reeds until you find what suits your Oboe.

Oh and I see you are going to Benslow in April, are you doing Andrew Knights weekend?

Am playing a borrowed oboe - Buisson open-holed, and started a couple of weeks ago. My teacher supplied the reeds, one soft and one medium, don't know the make, she may actually make her own looking at them.

I'm playing clari at Benslow, Intro to Wind Chamber music.

Ah ok so your teacher is making your reeds, thats very fortunate. I am sure that seeing as its just a couple of weeks that you will soon get to grips with it and find what suits your Buisson Oboe. Oh and playing opne hole will make your fingers much tidier than someone who plays a Gillet key system from the outset, thats a huge bonus for you, keep at it.

Have fun at Benslow.

You don't call that technique? Sounds impressive enough to me. What are your party tricks then?



On both counts.

Nothing like a custom-made reed by a teacher who knows what she's doing to work on your particular oboe.

And I almost wish I had been put through the same ordeal as my teacher's other students - starting on "El Abuelito" (Grandad - an ancient open-holed oboe of anonymous make). I started on an intermediate-student Patricola with completely closed holes - not even the little ones you get on Howarths. As a consequence I could get away with a very slightly off-position LH middle finger which is causing me no end of problems now.

Maybe I should buy your Buisson off you as a back-up when you graduate to bigger and better oboistic things, Louise.

Still trying to figure out how to play 3rd octave D#-E#-F# and back down quickly and easily.



PS. Caught a bit of ND playing Britten's Temporal Variations - here on radio in Costa Rica! On the University Radio station, which is the only one these days that plays any classical music. Quite decent too. More oboe than I usually hear in the UK. First time I've heard them play Nicholas Daniel, though.

Since going back to my soft reed I am having this problem too! i was flat before so it's a bit frustrating. Will have to see what my tutor says next lesson - am building up quite a list of things to discuss/ work on How are you working on it?

Thanks A.U.K, I've been told that playing an open-holed instrument from the start will benefit my fingers long term, try telling them that now though Will stick at it, I'm having so much fun with it





It's teacher's oboe, she's renting it to me for now.



Trying to relax my embouchure, not gripping the reed as though it's in a vice

Ahh, so it probably is because I was struggling with the harder reed. Will try to work on that this week. Thanks

@mrsB.

The issue that Louise is having is slightly different to yours and your firmer reed issue. Louise is experiencing pitch problems i.e being sharp. This may well be because she is gripping the reed too tightly. You on the other hand seem to have a reed that is Too Open and which is proving very hard, this reed needs to be tweaked by your teacher and closed down a bit. The thing you musn't do is bite down on your reed to close it, this will cause problems with your embouchure..equally relaxing the embouchure on a reed that is too open will have no effect as the reed may fail to speak at all..Hope that makes sense.

But it is only since I've gone back to my soft reed that I've found I'm playing sharp so I do think that playing on the harder reed may have caused me to tense and grip the reed too tightly (in an effort to control the sound). Hopefully I can unlearn that!

Thanks for the advice though; and I will definitely stay away from the harder reed until I've seen my tutor again.

Ah ok yes that make sense now, yes the softer reed has been playing sharp would suggest that you maybe gripping it a bit. The new reed hereonin known as (reed B) does need as you know a tweak to help you play it.

Talking of which I must go and so some tweaking myself..

I love a tweak ...

Happy playing.

What a great, friendly thread this is Thanks for all the advice everyone

Haven't managed any playing again today, clari had to come first, tomorrow though should be able to play both

You're very welcome, Louise!

You'll certainly want that lip to be a bit better before you plough on with the oboe...

got some practice done today, very happy with how it went notes sounding much better, embouchure held up well, can't wait for lesson on Friday

Well done Louise, glad it went well and that the reeds are behaving.

I too had a lesson today, first one in a long time and we revisited some interesting old friends such as Madeline Dring and Micheal Head. Nice to play through some old standard repetoire and have some fun..I was partly reading them whilst playing them as it's been so long since I played them but a lot of it fell under the fingers through force of habit and memory muscle.

Spent rather a lot of time working on scale runs in C#minor and B major neither ones particular favourite keys but good for the soul (I kept telling myself that)..Oh and joy of Joys my old reeds which I had reworked played like a dream from a decent forte down to a really soft PPP which was a great relief.

I am thinking of and sort of planning a small recital locally, a lunchtime program of English music I think, nothing terribly fancy or demanding but something that an audience can sit back and relax with rather than be educated by if that makes any sense. I always get slightly irritated with programs that force education down an audiences throat..Most people just want to hear lovely music beautifully played and aren't worried about the technical wizzardry that we can get tangled up in. The aim is by the summer so I had better get my Pianist shaking and busy and get my reed knives out. if it goes ahead and anyone wants to come I will be playing in Marlborough Wiltshire I think, subject to venue and availability..and Yes Kate I expect you to come in from Costa Rica..

So a good day, a long overdue good day, fingers went well, tongue behaved and Oboe and reeds sounded gorgeous so I am a happy bunny.

Happy Blowing.

Sounds as though you're doing really well... I'm very impressed (and envious!)!

I am happy to drop by especially for your concert.

(That is, if it's between Aug 5 and 17.)

Lesson tomorrow Not as much progress made as I would have liked but progress is def. being made Got some pieces from band tonight to look at, some do look rather playable actually, not Send in the Clowns though, oboe solo includes Eb, can't quite get that yet

Good luck tomorrow Louise, I hope your lesson goes well.

"Send in the clowns" sounds nice maybe take it with you to your lesson, Eb isn't that terrifying as a note I promise. What key is the arrangement in.?

Thanks the piece starts in Ab maj, changes to Bb maj (where the solo is) and finishes in C maj.

The Eb isn't scary, just my fingers can't quite stretch to cover the holes fully yet

Ah Ab major not the easiest key to start with, maybe best to leave it for a little while. I am guessing that its a band part that's been arranged, they usually come in hedious keys though usually with lots of sharps. There is a nice book, I think it's called my first concert or recital or something I will research it but there are some nice melodies in it and its not childish if that makes any sense. Leave it with me I'll have a dig around and see if I can find it.

Sharps! What are sharps in a windband setting? The clarinets and brass are all transposing instruments in flats and things with sharps frighten them, so the flutes and oboe have to play in lots of flats. (Perhaps we are just better players! )

Louise, if you are playing in a windband, get used to flat keys and practice scales in the flat keys until you can do it blindfold and without thinking. The director of my windband wants to perform the Vaughan Williams English Folk Song Suite the next time we perform indoors (next two gigs are open air). This has a couple of lovely oboe solos, but is mostly in four flats. Learn to love your left hand Eb key and make it second nature to use it. (I am still working on this, by the way, this is a doctine of perfection! ) The windband, though, is a fantastic environment in which to play, with a good variety of music available. The one I play with has 12 flutes (when they all turn up), 10 clarinets, around 10 saxophones of different sizes - and just one oboe. Makes me feel wanted and needed!

it is a band part yes, sorry, should have made that more clear I wouldn't normally start by looking at pieces/parts in so many flats to start with, I think the conductor is just very excited at the prospect of having an oboe in the training band



Left hand Eb, thanks Barry Toner Most of the band stuff I have is in either three or four flats, which, once I get the fingers stretched to cover the holes properly....... The band I'll be playing in is only small, 4 clarinets, 1 flute, 1 alto sax, 4 tenor saxes, a baritone sax, a bassoon, 2 trumpets and a tuba (when everyone is there) so the environment is a really friendly, supportive one

I guessed it was a band part as in Brass Band and not windband, in my limited experience of playing band parts I recall they usually come in some real charming keys.

I will only dare to suggest that you work your way up through the keys adding a flat each time, and learning it's relative minor, both the harmonic and melodic rather than work your way up chromatically. As Barry has mentioned the left hand Eb, I would have to agree that it takes a little getting used to. I use mine constantly, much prefering it over the right hand one, its actually a quicker fingering in my opinion.

I think you have a lesson today so I hope it goes well. Keep us posted.

Enjoying reading what everyone is up to. Sounds like good progress is being made by all!

Andrew, which Head and Dring pieces are you playing? I've played Elegaic Dance and Italian Dance, I also have 3 Piece Suite in the pile of things to look at in the future!

Things are going well here, though work has been rather busy so I've been cutting down internet time in order to fit everything else in. I had a enjoyable lesson this week - probably due to having a lovely new reed which has just blown in. Apparently my tone is improving but I need to not put a lid on my playing and go for it a bit more - it's too controlled. I'm still ploughing through the Luft studies, up to no 13 now. The last couple have been a bit slower and shorter - but in 6 flats! Back to easier keys but more notes now.

I love the Telemann Fantasias! I'm now working on number 2. I'm focussing on bringing the phrasing out more. I'm also working on the Mozart Quartet, movement 1. I need to work on my intonation I think, it seems to be going a bit wayward in that for some reason.

I'm looking forward to a full day of oboe tomorrow - afternoon rehearsal followed by orchestra concert. We are playing lots of Russian music so I'm hoping that I manage to make it to the end of Night on Bare Mountain with my lip intact. Certainly will be building up my stamina!

Hope everyone has a good weekend