Author: Dutchy
Date: 2007-01-07 04:28
Ashley, you need to explain to your band director that oboes are just not marching instruments. I'm surprised he doesn't know this; even I, a lowly Band Mom (my daughter plays clarinet) know this. You can't march with an oboe for two huge reasons: you can stumble and gash the roof of your mouth, or even poke yourself in the eye, quite badly with the reed. (Not to mention the damage to a $15 reed that simply bashing the reed against your teeth during an awkward moment on the 50 yard line will do. )
And second, you can't breathe properly while you're just sitting down and playing;90% of successful oboe-playing involves figuring out how to breathe--how do you expect to be able to breathe while marching vigorously and playing, too? Your cardiovascular system just won't go there, and you'll end up simply not being able to play, because your body will decide for you that it needs to breathe and walk instead of breathe and walk and play, and you'll do nothing but walk around and play random toots every so often whenever you can get a breath.
Adding: And I simply cannot visualize how in the world you would ever have enough breath to play something HARD, with lots of complicated runs. My impression of marching band music is that it is purposely written so as to be not-that-difficult, because you can't focus on your pattern while you're also focusing on what you have to play.
I also don't see how learning a difficult piece--and then performing it while marching is supposed to prepare you for District. If he thinks you ought to learn this piece for District, then go ahead and learn it for District, but you don't need to march, too. That's not going to add anything to your performance, and as I said, it will definitely detract from it. It's a kind of parlor trick: play something hard while marching. Like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. The question is, why?
I think your band director is imposing some very unrealistic expectations on you, and if I were your mom, I'd be having a little talk with him.
So you need to tell your director that you're very sorry but you won't be able to participate.
In my daughter's high school band, it's just an automatic assumption that the oboists are all exempt from having to do marching band duty during football season, which merits them the envy of the rest of the kids every fall.
Adding: And as has been pointed out, there's no way to fit a marching lyre on an oboe. A lyre on a clarinet goes in the spot where there isn't any keywork on the barrel, but an oboe has keywork all up and down the whole thing. I can't even find that a major supplier like Woodwind & Brasswind sells them, and if WWBW doesn't have them, then there probably ain't no such thing.
An oboe just isn't a marching band instrument, is all there is to it.
Post Edited (2007-01-07 04:45)
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