Author: Oboelips
Date: 2014-01-18 01:06
Greetings!
I didn't start oboe until I was 30. I had wanted to play oboe since the 3rd grade (1963) but when the time came for instrument selection, I was given a flute. I happily played flute for decades, but when I turned 30, I said to myself, "if you ever mean to play oboe, you'd better start soon". I bought a secondhand oboe, and within 2 weeks of starting lessons, I had auditioned for and won the 2nd Oboe chair in the local Community Orchestra.
The advantages of being an older student are:
1. You are more mature and have better self-discipline
2. You are more confident that if it doesn't sound good to you, it probably doesn't to others, either, and vice-versa.
3. You are usually more financially stable than you were as a teen. Oboes, and their appurtenances, are expensive. Using the correct tools and materials DOES make a difference, and they don't come cheap.
4. As an adult, you are doing this because YOU want to--NOT because a parent or someone else expects it of you. You have more skin in the game, and will likely work and practice more.
Many years have passed since then (right around 28-29). I'm now Oboe Principal, and the Orchestra has grown and improved. I have too many concerts and gigs to count behind me now. Concert Orchestras, Church Orchestras, Ballet Orchestras, Pit Orchestras....I now have over a decade of Wind Quintet experience and have played gigs for all sorts of events--weddings, garden parties, Christmas gigs, benefits. 4-5 years ago, I started a Doublereed Ensemble. We are now playing gigs. Learning the oboe gave me the confidence to learn other instruments too..many summers I've been a woodwind doubler for musicals (although marrying a music educator surely helped there--clarinet is HARD!). BTW, my husband improved my counting/sight reading immensely, too.
I had the good luck to have a professional oboist (a Gomberg student himself) as a teacher when I'd played for only a few years. He helped me break some bad habits and got me away from the light, "mosquito in a jar" sound that I was in danger of developing. I learned the benefit of his concept of Reedology.
So...a lifetime of opportunity awaits you if you opt to try it. If nothing else, find a friend with an extra oboe who will let you try it, or rent an oboe for a month, and find a teacher to help you get started--that will let you know if it is really for you or not, with a smaller cost.
Oh..and one other thing. When you play oboe, you also get the opportunity to play English Horn--and that's a lovely thing in and of itself.
I'm currently playing English Horn for Ballet Orchestra due to a cyst in my palm. It's not oboe, but it's certainly fun. The cyst is getting smaller, and after the Ballet, I'll return to my Oboe position.  Ahhh...back home.
So..how good can you get? Your work will yield results. If you want, you can get very decently good. Age doesn't have a whole lot to do with it--don't let a little number like an age slow you down!
Oboefully,
Deb
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