oboeinsight

Required Materials

Oboe in good working condition
Oboe reeds (minimum of three working reeds)
Oboe reed case
Music (originals please!)
Metronome
Swab
Tuner

Recommended Materials

Miniature screwdriver. Music stand. Reed making equipment, including a good knife, cane, plaque, staples, thread, ruler, cutting block and sharpening stone.

(It is assumed that all students seriously pursuing oboe will be making their own reeds, but on the off chance that a student has yet to learn, reed making will be considered after four playing lessons have been completed.)

Recommended Reading:

Daryl Caswell: Reed Knife Sharpening
David Ledet: Oboe Reed Styles: Theory & Practice
Jay Light: The Oboe Reed Book
Sprenkle/Ledet: The Art of Oboe Playing
Patrick McFarland: Oboe Adjustment Guide
Carl Sawicki: The Oboe Revealed

THE TYPICAL LESSON ROUTINE

1. Warm up

Scales: Working on intonation, consistent timbre, note accuracy, smooth transition from note to note. Chromatic, major, minor and whole tone scales.

Long tones: A-440. Working on intonation, support, embouchure, consistent timbre, note attack and release. 16 seconds each: mf, ff, pp, crescendo, decrescendo, crescendo-decrescendo and decrescendo-crescendo.

After the first few lessons, students are expected to warm up prior to the lesson, and any request for long tones and scales is up to the discretion of the teacher or request of the student (I’ll never refuse to hear them if requested!)

2. Etude

Sample books:
Andraud: Vade Mecum of the Oboist
Barrett: Complete Oboe Method
Ferling: 48 Famous Studies and 3 Duos Concertantes
Luft: 24 Etudes;

3. Solo

Sample repertoire:
Cimarosa: Concerto for Oboe
Britten: Six Metamorphoses for Oboe
Handel: Oboe Sonatas
Hindemith: Sonate for Oboe and Piano
Marcello: Concerto for Oboe
Mozart: Oboe Quartet
Mozart: Concerto for Oboe
Poulenc: Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Saint-Saëns: Sonate for Oboe and Piano
Schumann: Three Romances

4. Orchestral Studies

Sample books:
Andraud: Vade Mecum of the Oboist
deLancie: 20th Century Orchestral Studies
Rothwell: Difficult Passages for Oboe and Cor Anglais (four volumes)

…and when time allows:

5. Duets and Chamber Music

Sample repertoire:
Barrett: Four Sonatas with Accompaniment of Second Oboe
Beethoven: Trio for Two Oboes and English Horn
Dring: Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano
Ferling: 48 Famous Studies and 3 Duos Concertante
Luft: Twenty-Four Etudes in Duet Form
Poulenc: Sextet
Poulenc: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano

6. Sight Reading

On occasion orchestral excerpts will be pulled out. Orchestra auditions often include sight reading!

7. Reed making

I must be notified in advance if the student would prefer a
reed making lesson. For every four well prepared oboe lessons, a reed making lesson may be scheduled.

Repairs needed? Try these:
Rufus Acosta: (408) 287-6779 (located in San Jose, comes highly recommended).
Bob Hubbard: (408) 578-6263 (located in San Jose, he can often do quick emergency repairs).
Forrest’s is highly recommended, but appointments are necessary and you must schedule these months in advance.
In addition, you can try Chudnow’s in Napa … especially if you want a lovely place to visit after you drop your oboe off there!

Students may always contact me via email at any time. I’m happy to receive questions, comments and requests. I usually respond in less than 24 hours.