I was just wondering if a child/teenager is doing well on a Bassoon how quickly would it generally take them to progress on an oboe. I want my son to learn a smaller reed instrument but the school is against this. However most bassoonists I know play the clarinet,oboe and some even play the flute. If it only takes a couple of years to gain a high level of musicianship on other reed instruments then I will be patient otherwise I would like him to start asap as he seems to have an aptitude for reed instruments.

Why is the school having any say in it? Are you proposing that both lessons would be taken at school, in which case they are probably concerned about the number of lessons he will miss. My daughter's school said they thought doing piano and flute was too much in year 4, because they didn't want her to miss lessons. She was already working on grade3 piano, so we didn't want her to give it up, and the school were suggesting she just did flute, which was a new instrument. She carried on with piano outside school and it has worked well.

It might also be that the bassoon/ oboe teacher has a limited number of slots available and cannot offer another to your son. You know your child best, just make sure you aren't putting too much pressure on, because homework will start to take more time as he approaches year 6 and he may want to do other activities after school. Practising more than one instrument at that age (and later) takes a fair amount of juggling.

The school are not keen because it is seen as pointless especially when it comes to the orchestra and ensemble groups. He would have to choose one instrument over the other in these circumstances. He really enjoys reed instruments and picks them up quickly so I am not too worried about practice but I will keep an eye on it. The problem I have is that in order for me to hire an affordable instrument from the County Services they require information and contact the school so I don't want to annoy them by getting private lessons as we need to keep them on side. He will probably board next year as well so he won't have the opportunity to get private lessons.

What is your son's opinion? Does he want to try oboe? How long has he been playing bassoon?

He wants to play anything with a reed! In particular he is keen to learn the oboe or clarinet.

Well I would say let him have a go then. I'm sure he would decide fairly quickly which he wanted to spend more time on. It's bound to be the oboe

I agree with Pushpull, I suspect he will prefer the Oboe for various reasons, the first being that it is something of a rarity these days would you believe it..Clarinets, Flutes etc are very popular, they are infinitely easier from the outset but the level with them steps up a huge notch at grade 6-7..The Oboe however seems to have all its teething problems from the very begininng so the student gets used to contending with them from the very start..I know that sounds like a negative point but Once the initial hurdles have been overcome the transistion through the grades seems much more straightforward..This is the considered opinion of a very fine Oboist and teacher and I have to say I agree with her..

The other reasons are of course highly subjective which only an Oboist would truely understand my drift here, but its that sound..that unique sound that hooks most Oboists, the "Vox Humane", there is nothing quite like it in the world..Oboists spend half their lives battling with bits of cane and can become very precious about it (myself included) but if you stick at it the rewards are huge..Below is a snippet of an Interview with some very prominent Oboists inc Albrecht Mayer..sums it up really..

"Oboists are a peculiar lot: they give the tuning A before performances and often have the most prominent solos in a piece. Their instrument can sound like a singing human voice or squawk like a duck. Half their lives are spent hewing bits of cane to make the double reeds that can produce those gorgeous sounds but also prove cruelly disloyal.

The precarious nature of the double-reed existence creates a bond, several of the oboists said.

“We all know how difficult it is to play the instrument,” said Livio Caroli, who plays the English horn and is second oboist at New York City Opera. “We are dealing with nature, a tree. The tree changes in terms of the weather.” You may be the greatest oboist in the world, he said, but if you can’t express yourself, “you are dead.


Its not that bad..Honestly its not..


All the best

Andrew




I would talk to Howarths about Hiring an Oboe, they will be very much more suited to helping you an getting your son fixed up with a decent student model..

http://www.howarth.uk.com/rental.aspx

Talk with them, they also do an assisted purchase which means you can avoid the dreaded VAT..all legal and above board Guv..honest..

Best regards

Andrew

Thanks AUK for the info. I probably will go down the Howarths route but the thought of having to pay £40 per month when I could get it for £30 per term from the council is hard to stomach.

Back to the question - if DS started at 13/14 ow quickly would he pick up the oboe if he was G6+ on the Bassoon?

I imagine he would pick it up fairly quickly. I took up the oboe as an adult, having previously learned flute to around grade 6/7 , and got up to grade 5 standard on the oboe within a year. He will have the advantage of having played a double reed before which could make it easier. The biggest problem would probably be that the bassoon usually plays from the bass clef and the oboe uses the treble clef. Unlikely to be a huge problem to overcome though. I wouldn't worry about leaving it a bit later, there is no rush if he is happy playing the bassoon.

My own experience of trying to manage lessons on 2 instruments at once is that I didn't have to time to practise either of them enough to make progress that quickly, it became very frustrating. Other people seem to manage it OK but I've decided that, personally, I am better off focussing on just one at a time.

PS I would also refer you to Alex on different thread who plays multitude of woodwind instruments and has just passed grade 8 oboe with distinction after taking it up 6 months ago.

The fact that your son plays a double reed already will help. The Oboe of course will require slightly increased air support and more spinning the wind...an Amercan phrase. It is of course slightly different but the principal remains the same..Seeing as your son reads music albeit the bass clef he will soon adapt to the treble clef, it just takes a little time..Practice is the answer..but you know that already..

Best of luck , keep us posted..

Andrew