Klarinet Archive - Posting 001103.txt from 1998/12

From: "Lecia A. Cecconi-Roberts" <lcecconi@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] To Oboe or Not to Oboe....
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 12:34:45 -0500

I completely agree with Dr. Lacy...get a good teacher. I have been
fortunate to have been able to take oboe lessons this past year and the
fingers are the easy part...it takes awhile to get the breathing and
embouchure under control...and it takes a longer while to get an ideal
oboe sound. Good luck.
Lecia

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Lecia Cecconi-Roberts
214 Townsend Hall
University of Missouri-Columbia
(573) 882-6674
lcecconi@-----.edu

"I'm my daughter's mommy..."
Arianna Grace Cecconi Roberts--born August 4, 1998 :)

On Tue, 29 Dec 1998, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> On Tue, 29 Dec 1998, Clark, Dorothy wrote:
>
> > Are there any clarinetists/oboe players out there? If so, how
> > challenging is it to grasp and efficiently play the two. [snip] I
> > guess my questions are: Is it an easy cross between the two? Is the
> > fingering much like the clarinet, etc.?
>
> The fingerings have some similarities, but there are also major
> differences. The clarinet overblows a perfect 12th in the upper register,
> while the oboe overblows an octave. The breathing process is quite
> different on the two instruments. The embouchure has relatively little
> similarity. But, the most difficult area is in the reeds. Most oboists
> eventually despair of trying to find satisfactory commercial reeds, and so
> they feel that they have to make their own reeds. This is a technique
> which can be learned only after years of experience, the investment of a
> great deal of money in tools, equipment and supplies, and much trial and
> error.
>
> My answer to the question, "Can I teach myself to play the oboe?" or the
> clarinet or any other instrument is, "Probably not very satisfactorily."
> In the final analysis, we all teach ourselves. The teacher can't move our
> fingers for us, can't breathe for us, and can't form the embouchure. As
> teachers, we can't even see what is going on inside the player's mouth
> while she/he is playing. But, we need guidance from an expert teacher to
> learn to accomplish those things.
>
> I think you can learn to play the oboe as a doubling instrument. If you
> want to be able to produce a satisfactory tone and develop a useful
> technique, you will need to spend quite a bit of money for an instrument,
> find commercial reeds which will work for you until you can learn to make
> your own (over-the-counter oboe reeds cost from $7 to $20 or more, and
> some of them won't work, and others, usually the better ones, will crack
> after you have played two or three notes on them), get a good teacher, and
> be prepared to practice regularly and extensively over a period of months
> or years.
>
> It is not my purpose to discourage you, although I may have done that, but
> to make you aware of the pitfalls before undertake this rather daunting
> task.
>
> Ed Lacy
> *****************************************************************
> Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
> Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
> Evansville, IN 47722
> el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
> *****************************************************************
>
>
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>
>

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