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So, is oboe really difficult?

Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-07-22 19:46

discuss?
... have been cleaning out a lot of old stuff recently, and found a paper clipping tidbit from the 80's (decades before i became a renewbie) which listed the easiest and most difficult instruments to learn how to play

sitting in the middle as 'average' are: piano, organ, saxophone, trumpet or cornet, trombone and tuba
easiest of all instruments listed were ukulele and portable organ
easy list included accordion, drum kit, recorder, xylophone or marimba
fairly difficult: bassoon, clarinet, string bass, flute, piccolo and harp
difficult: the other strings - cello, violin and viola
very difficult: French horn and -- yeah -- oboe

... assuming this list is fairly representative of degrees of difficulty ...

my thoughts are -- now i've been at this awhile, i'd certainly agree that oboe is difficult financially, as it's an expensive instrument to *maintain* -- the reed budget alone is an annual overhead expense in 3 figures -- and twice yearly checkup fee for essential maintenance tweaks (it seems to be winter-spring and summer when my oboe goes wonky the most) or shelling out that extra expense for dreaded repairs have to be budgeted too

is bassoon or E-horn more or less the same?

let's not forget the investment of reed-making tools

of course the first year or so is very difficult on the ears, but then, so's a novice violin ... or trumpet

... but as the years are moving along, it's the ongoing issue of attaining 'good intonation' and 'even tone' ... this is so elusive! After the first year or two yours truly knew it's no use just depending on the basic sound coming out when fingering the right notes (assuming the instrument's well adjusted), have to somehow tweak each note so it's properly centred, plus some notes need covering while others need zinging, plus the oboe has sharper notes that need flattening and vice versa, and each and every reed has to be lip tweaked differently even with those other things still the same, and most reeds aren't better than average, well ... it's quite an acquired skill, and so far it still eludes me ... ah well, it's the journey not the arriving, eh?

I talked to a French horn player and asked, your instrument is said to be very hard to play, is that true? and the answer was yes, every note has to be pitched by the shape of the lips and amount of air pressure, first -- well, that sounds a lot like tweaking the reed or adjusting the air on oboe to me, but more air mass is needed to sound the horn than oboe, so in that way I think oboe's easier ...

Discuss? What do you folks think adds up to making oboe so difficult?

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So, is oboe really difficult? new

vboboe

2008-07-22 19:46