Tips and Tricks for Beginning to Intermediate Oboe Students


OBOE - the other four letter word. One that sends dread and fear down the spine of many band directors! Many music educators might have had one or two semesters of woodwind or double reed method classes in college and that was it. For such a specialized group of instruments, the double reeds need more time and attention than what most of us receive in our education training. Many times when I meet other music educators and they find out I’m an oboe player, the majority of teachers say a lot of the same thing - that they can’t teach the oboe, or don’t know how to teach it. As an oboe teacher for over twenty years, I see a lot of the same playing issues and bad habits that students pick up when they don’t have an oboe teacher to help them get started. In this article, I would like to address some of those common issues and give some tips and tricks that have helped my students and other directors’ stu- dents.


Te first hurdle to becoming a successful oboe player is using the correct embouchure. Having a good embouchure can cover up a lot of other instrument or reed weaknesses, and will set the student up to be able to have a dark, charac- teristic sound from the beginning. I always describe the oboe embouchure as an “inverted pucker”. Te visual that I like to give students is a drawstring bag - something that many of them use daily and can easily visualize. I first tell students to make an “oooooh” shape with their mouth so that their lips are puckered out, with the corners coming in tightly. I then place the tip of the reed on their bottom lip, and have them roll their lips over their teeth, bringing the reed into their mouth. It is very important to keep their teeth far apart with the lips sealing around the reed, not biting down and closing off the reed. Students should also keep their chin and mouth flat and equal where one lip is not sticking out farther than the other, with the jaw “dropped” and open as much as possible.


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Heather Winters


Te reed should be placed so that only the tip is in the mouth with the lips on the heart, never down near the back or the threads. Another thing to note is that the reed should always be pushed in as far as it will go into the instru- ment, no matter what intonation issues exist. If the reed isn’t pushed in all the way, the cork and metal staple of the reed will not connect to the body of the instrument and the air will not be as focused, causing intonation and sound issues. If a student is playing sharp, they can adjust their embouchure, reed, or try a different reed strength or brand. If a player loosens their embouchure, opens their jaw, and pulls the reed out of their mouth more that should bring the pitch down significantly.


Finding good quality reeds that don’t break the bank is always a struggle for all double reed players. Handmade reeds are going to be significantly better in quality, sound, intonation and will last longer. Machine made reeds are inconsistent, can be unbalanced or the scrap- ing not centered. Also the tips are usually not thin enough because they will break easier, but that will negatively affect the sound produc- tion. Good quality reeds will have three clearly defined sections: the tip, heart, and back. Te heart is going to be the thickest section and where the lips should be placed. Te heart is the most important section because it is going to be what determines the sound - too thin of a heart and the reed will be nasal, and can be sharp in pitch. Too thick and it will be too hard to blow and the pitch can be flat. Te tip is the thinnest section, (which is why it breaks so easily) and is going to vibrate the most. Te back contains two sides called windows. To help keep the tip open and to give it a darker sound, reeds should have some bark of the cane leſt on the sides and a slightly thicker section in the middle called a spine.


Instrumental


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