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Re: Why oboe?

Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2011-03-22 08:44

I am amazed to hear so many stories of those who came to oboe later in life...quite often after another instrument.

I started life as a flautist. It was all I wanted to do at the age of 10. My want for a more specialised instrument that everyone could hear started fairly early on, as I discovered piccolo almost immediately, and have been a picc specialist ever since.

Fast forward through a performance degree, and I began an education diploma. I was advised that if I could teach flute and clarinet I would pick up a job much more easily. My partner being a clarinettist got me started. The clarinet just wasn't for me. I had developed a large performance ego by this time, and it seemed that even more people played clarinet than flute, and I certainly wasn't going anywhere too fast! I picked up the sax but found it not challenging. I figured the next logical step was oboe. Bassoons were too big and too expensive for me at the time. I picked up an old Cabart and got started. That was 6 years ago.

I spent several weeks behind closed doors before I let anyone hear me because I was a flute performance major and used to making a nice sound! It presented me with a new challenge that seemed attainable. I began playing in ensembles when I was needed. The better I got, the more I discovered I was needed. I progressed to the point where I could upgrade to a beautiful Marigaux and now play in three ensembles a week.

I feel grateful that I have come to an instrument that is filled with technical difficulties and nuances after having completed a flute degree. Flute of all instruments is expected to be expressive, musical and dextrous. I already had these things before I took on the challenge of oboe technique, rather than learning everything at once! I love oboe as I feel important (ego feeding!), I get great solos and I am generally not one of many. I still love flute as it comes so much more easily to me and I love the expression I am afforded on that instrument, but oboe has presented me with a new set of challenges, which I am thriving on.

Rachel

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Why oboe? new

Theyoungoboist

2011-03-21 19:01