 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Barboboe
Date: 2024-07-22 05:55
Good oboe day to everyone, especially fellow oboe teachers!
I have a high school aged beginner student with an issue I’ve never seen before! Under her upper lip, she has a small mass of soft lip tissue that protrudes from under the upper lip and slides over the upper blade of the reed when she blows on the reed. She has no control over this happening. This appears to prevent her from forming that air-tight cushioned seal around the reed. Can anyone out there give me some insight as to what might be going on and how to fix it?
Thank you!
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Author: Hotboy
Date: 2024-07-22 23:29
I've never seen that before. The student might have to get some medical/surgical intervention to play a wind instrument.
Dane
Bay Area, California
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Author: oboist2
Date: 2024-07-23 01:23
I had a student with this issue, or something similar. Eventually it resolved itself due to her determination and hard work, but it did take several months before she was able to play more than one note on the oboe. How we "fixed" this issue was to get her to play notes of different duration just using the reed and no oboe, and watching herself and her embouchure in a mirror, and stopping and correcting it when it occurred. In her case she also had prominent top incisors and a short upper lip. Working with just the reed and no oboe for a while might help your student, depending on what is the underlying reason for what you describe happening. If it is a matter of her just not being able to control her upper lip, what I have suggested may help, and hopefully, in time and with perseverance, she will learn the control. However if she does no know or feel this protrudence happening, there may be a problem with certain nerves in her lip and advice from a suitably qualified medical person should be sought, or another type of instrument chosen. Best wishes to you and your student.
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Author: EaubeauHorn
Date: 2024-07-23 03:41
Honestly, and this comment might not be received well, why try to teach someone an instrument that they are basically never going to be any good at? Music is so rewarding that she should be encouraged to play an instrument on which she is not handicapped from the very beginning. Even a single reed instrument would work better, I'd think.
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Author: oboist2
Date: 2024-07-23 23:56
Mike, it can wield good results,l depending what degree of initial difficulty there is. In my student's case, she was an adult and wanted to learn the oboe. In time her sound became quite good, she played musically, and her staqmina improved out of all sight. Over 6 years, I taught her some major sonatas and concertos and she took part in a small ensemble at her church. I nearly did give up teaching her in the first 3-4 months, but she and I are both glad we persevered. She studied with me for 6 years.
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