The Oboe BBoard

The Oboe BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Re: So, is oboe really difficult?

Author: mschmidt
Date: 2008-07-27 17:41

vboboe wrote:

> another question might be, are we getting too civilised to find
> playing the oboe so difficult ... ?

It's a good question, although I might have phrased it differently. "Pampered" instead of "civilised" would be how I would put it. As I work in education, I see so many examples of bars being lowered so that more folks can make it over. Every once in a while I ask students to do a little more than my colleagues typically would, and many of them can. But the general tendency is to avoid having to listen to complaints of "its too hard!"

I think back in amazement to how, 1 year after starting oboe, at the age of 13, my oboe teacher taught me how to make reeds and more or less left me to "sink or swim." My oboe-playing progress may have been better had I continued to get reeds from my teacher, but I think the lessons I learned so early on about doing difficult things made a huge difference in the rest of my life, both professionally (I am a chemistry professor) and personally (I've built my own telescope, my own sailboat, a bit of furniture, and take on fairly elaborate remodeling projects in my home). All my friends and relatives joke about me always doing things the hard way, but I'm sort of proud of the idea.

Mike

Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics

Author

Date

So, is oboe really difficult? new

vboboe

2008-07-22 19:46