 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: dat99
Date: 2006-09-03 04:12
I play the clarinet. I was just wondering, what is the difference between playing the oboe and clarinet. Is the embouchure that different on the oboe? Is it hard to play?
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2006-09-03 05:44
Since I was a clarinetist for many years before taking up the oboe, I think I have some insight into this question.
The oboe embouchure is VERY different from the clarinet embouchure. In fact, about the only thing the embouchures have in common is that there is a reed and you wet it and put it in your mouth. Other than that, it's different. An oboe doesn't have a mouthpiece, for one thing. So, that means nothing to lean against or rest your mouth on. The use of the air is quite different, as well.
The fingering of the oboe is a great deal like the fingering of the clarion (normal high register) of the clarinet. The oboe overblows at the octave (while clarinet overblows at the 12th). This means you don't have two different sets of fingerings to learn, which in my book makes the oboe somewhat easier in that regard.
Is it hard to play? No, not really.
Is it hard to play well? You bet. There are many more variables in producing the tone and staying in tune with the oboe than with the clarinet. I'd go so far as to say that, given instruments of equal quality, achievement on the oboe depends more on the player than on the instrument. With the clarinet, the instrument itself can set you up to play pretty well.
Would I switch back to clarinet? Never in a million years.
Are you contemplating a switch?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-09-03 07:37
"Would I switch back to clarinet? Never in a million years."
But there's no harm in studying both instruments or continuing your playing on one while concentrating more intensively on the other (take your pick), it's good to have versatility - and later on perhaps even take on sax and flute too - you'll get plenty of pit work if you double on all, and are competent on all of them.
I'm primarily a sax player, though I studied clarinet, dabbled with flute and have taken up oboe again in the last 10 years.
But do get a specialist teacher on any instrument you want to learn.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: d-oboe
Date: 2006-09-03 13:25
"But there's no harm in studying both instruments or continuing your playing on one while concentrating more intensively on the other"
This may work for single reed players, but as far as double reeds go, oboe has to be studied exclusively to get the full benefit. It is just too different from any other instrument (even the English Horn). It's possible to be proficient on oboe as well as many other instruments, of course, but to master the oboe it has to be studied alone. The reason is that the air/ reed/instrument "triangle" is so specific for oboe. The air has to be just a certain way, the reed has to be just so, all for the instrument to work properly.
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2006-09-04 03:06
I switched from clarinet to oboe and back again. The town orchestra I played in had a good clarinet player but no oboe, so I switched. Those 8 years were some of the richest musical years for me. Learning fingerings was not difficult, but as ohsuzan said, playing well is difficult. During that time I played clarinet only off and on, so I did concentrate on oboe.
The hardest part for me was getting a reed that would play beautifully as well as cut through a full orchestra when needed. I was never any good at making reeds. Now I adjust my clarinet reeds quite well, but they are very different from oboe reeds. When I moved to a large metro area, there were enough good oboe players, but I fit in well as a clarinetist. That's why I switched back.
If you are thinking of switching, give it a try! Get with a good teacher and learn all you can about a proper embouchure, air control, and making and/or adjusting reeds.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: sylvangale
Date: 2006-09-05 04:35
You have to give the oboe a try yourself. You'll know in a short while whether you like it or not. Some take to it immediately, some hate it immediately, and for some it takes a little growing into.
One thing to consider is that if you are in grade school, taking up the oboe where there are no oboists can put you in a rather bad situation if your band director wants you to play the oboe and you make up your mind that you don't like it.
I hardly remember learning the oboe, but I remember when I told my high school band director that I wanted to quit the oboe and the unexpected anger. It was really scary... I played oboe till the end. lol.
I was playing Wagnerian works with 3 months of oboe from flute... OI! I still have copies of the music where I crossed out sixteenth note passages I just couldn't play. lol... and it's all so easy when you look back.
Regards,
Stephen
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Author: vboboe
Date: 2006-09-06 01:33
<< was playing Wagnerian works with 3 months of oboe from flute... OI! I still have copies of the music where I crossed out sixteenth note passages I just couldn't play. lol >>
sylvangale or other flute-now oboes -- playing 16ths on flute is ?easier? than 16ths on covered key oboes?
If no, did you just mean that was only particularly hard during your oboe conversion period?
If yes (playing 16ths on flute is easier) please explain ... why?
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Author: sylvangale
Date: 2006-09-07 05:43
You can french tongue on the flute or double tongue easier on the flute to get lightening 16ths. Though normal hard tonguing flies much more quickly on the flute than oboe too, but even though I can tongue much much faster on oboe now versus then, it doesn't compare with flute tonguing.
Most advanced flute etudes would be absolutely nightmarish for an oboist tongueing wise, but a flutist is more worried about their fingers. Tonguing is a non-issue
Regards,
Stephen
♫ Stephen K.
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