Author: oboist2
Date: 2018-03-10 02:19
For myself, I have only had to go to top G# in written music, but some contemporary music goes a bit higher. My first oboe teacher regularly went up to the C above that, and Marcel Tabuteau could play a top C up until the time he died. I too find the G# a bit of a struggle. I t was easy enough on my Fossati that I used to play on, but much more difficult now I am playing on older instruments so generally I only practice scales up to the top G. This may increase. If you play a lot of contemporary music ( from memory, the Sarabande movement of Gordon Jacobs Divertimento for Wind Octet in E flat, goes up to top A in the first oboe ( however it is a long time since I have played the work and I was playing second oboe at the time so I may be mistaken).
As far as the third octave key is concerned, it can, if adjusted correctly, facilitate the higher notes and it also offers a few easier fingering combinations, and I do miss it even though my instruments work fine without it. Basically it depends what you are playing and with whom. Certainly composers these days, especially with avant garde so if you are playing this music, it makes sense to extend the range- and it is certainly possible.
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