 The Fingering Forum
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Author: sömeone
Date: 2003-08-14 12:20
Hi!
Torus, concerning the Ab-Bb trill, i've discovered that lifting of the left middle finger seems to do the job for me. Although it doesn't have precise intonation, it sounds ok, but is this a valid trill fingering for the oboe?
If i do not have the trill key (on the Yamaha 411) what are the other options(if there are any)for playing this sort of thing?
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Author: TorusTubarius
Date: 2003-08-15 23:36
Yes indeedy. Lifting the left middle finger while fingering an Ab is the standard trill fingering for the Ab-Bb trill. You just discovered it on your own without anyone having to show you! The main problems with this fingering are the intonation (as you have already discovered) and a sharp contrast in the timbre of the two notes (i.e. the Ab sounds fine while the Bb sounds weak). Both of these problems can be ameliorated to some degree with added air pressure. Really with any trill it's always a good idea to go ahead and increase the air pressure and play out; a lot of players tend to shy away from ornamentation when really it should be brought out, lest it sound like a mistake. However this is especially true when producing trills that utilize some sort of false fingering like the Bb in the Ab-Bb trill, the G in the F-G trill, the B in the Bb-B trill, etc.
The trill key I was refering to which your oboe lacks is actually the Ab-A (G#-A) trill key. An oboe which has this key will have an additional small key that sits on top of the right hand Ab key. The "standard" Ab-A trill fingering on an oboe without this key is to simply finger the Ab with the right hand Ab key and move the left hand ring finger (the G key). On this site they have you using the <i>left</i> hand G# key and moving the left hand G, but many people including myself find it difficult to try and move the ring finger separately from the pinky finger so quickly, so I recommend the other.
With the Ab-A trill key, you substitute the new key for the right hand Ab key in the trill fingering. The Ab-A trill key operates by lifting the G# key will simultaneously closing the metal plateau of the G key. Thus when you lift the G key with your left ring finger to trill, the metal key itself stays closed and you are essentially only trilling with the vent hole in the metallic key, not the entire tone hole in the wood. This serves to lower the pitch of the A back down to where it should be and greatly improves the intonation between the Ab and the A in the trill. In the standard fingering like what you'll have to use, you'll find that the A is incredibly sharp due to the additionally lifted G# key in the trill fingering, and this makes the trill sound false. And unfortunately, I don't think there's anything you can really do about it without the trill key, unless you want to try trill with both the G# key and the G key at the same time. It's possible I guess, but will be slow and difficult to execute precisely enough so as not to be noticable.
Anyway, good luck.
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Author: sömeone
Date: 2003-08-16 13:13
How about the middle c-d trill? From my current knowledge of playing i find it very out of tune.......it maybe the cost of my reeds i assume, as when i play on a less scraped reed it sounds quite in tune but with the reeds i usually play with (thinner in the heart) they some weak and out of tune (the d note of course). I didn't exactly intended to make it like that its just that the reeds with thicker hearts tend to play very very sharp and unacceptably sound bad.
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Author: TorusTubarius
Date: 2003-08-16 17:03
The same goes for that trill, as well as the C-C# and B-C# trills. Increased air pressure will help to match both the pitch and the timbre of the two notes of the trill. I think as you continue to develop as a player, refining your embouchure and your use of your air, you will find that these trills will begin to sound better and better on their own. So don't fret if they sound horrible now; it's probably not as noticable to your audience as it is to you anyway.
If your thicker reeds are playing really sharp, then chances are they have crossed the line and are <i>too</i> thick. A reed with a really thick heart will sound dry and harsh, and will have a very narrow dynamic range as well. This will especially effect the pitch and timbre of the trill key D and C#, two false-fingering notes that sound bad even with a good reed! On the other hand, a reed that has too much out of the heart will sound weak and will have all sorts of unstable pitch problems. This could very possibly make the trill key notes flat, but I would think with increased air pressure this wouldn't be all that noticable.
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Author: d-oboe
Date: 2003-08-17 15:44
concerning the center C-D trill for oboe, if it's a solo piece, and you have time to start off slowly and gradually accelerate the trill, what I like to do is actually start the trill off using the regular C and D fingerings, and then switch to the worser sounding trill keys. I find this helps mask the poor tone of the trill D. The other reason the trill D sounds bad is because that note occupies the shortest amount of bore on the oboe, giving it very little resonating space.
For the G# to A trill: before I upgraded my oboe, and got the additional key, I found that intonation was extremely poor; I just used the normal fingerings, and learned to move them both at the same time. (which in turn, is a nice skill to have!)
Happy trilling,
D-oboe
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