Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2012-10-15 03:31
A lot depends on the child and the experience they have already had.
In the department I taught for in Australia, we start our double reeds from scratch at age 12. When selecting students, preference tends to be given to those who have a piano or similar background. Because we have an overabundance of flute players starting young, I am actually (as mainly a flute teacher) prepping the kids by using flute as a means to start oboe. They tend to do quite well.
If your son has about a year on clarinet, he would probably do quite well switching to oboe. I would strongly recommend a dedicated oboe teacher for this process, one who does not use a band method book to start, rather a specific oboe tutor book. The embouchures are quite different, and someone who knows the oboe embouchure intimately is really needed.
In my experience, which is teaching small groups of students on like instruments together, the children who have previous experience on piano often progress faster and more consistently. I had a particular school (my elementary 'alma mater', actually) who taught serious recorder classes from kindergarten. By the time they got to me to start clarinet in Grade 6, their progression was the fastest I had seen, ever. They were gaining seats in the 9th and 10th grade bands whilst still in 7th!
If he is keen, I think it is worth considering.
Rachel
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