 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: OboeAtHeart
Date: 2006-10-18 23:39
Well, here's a funny question for you all. I've asked the clarinets, now I need the opinion from the oboes. I'll have some explaining to do, so bear with me here.
I'm a clarinet player. I've been playing clarinet since they handed me one in 6th grade and told me to learn how to play it. (I'm a senior now) I'm okay at it, I guess. Played 6s all the way from 8th grade to now... However, I've always, always had to fight with the clarinet, and it's always taken me almost twice as long to learn something on clarinet then the rest of my section. Basically, I did nothing but practiced and somehow, through a lot of hard work and down-right stubbornness, I've managed to keep up.
Our assistant band director handed me an oboe my freshman year, because he needed an oboe player for our concert (lower) band, and says, "here, go learn this." So I've been doubling oboe/clarinet for about three years.
I walked into my first oboe lesson ever today, and my new teacher was very enthusiastic and very encouraging (something I've not really had for a long while), and for the first time in about a year and a half, I enjoyed playing. In fact, I've found that the more I play oboe, the more I love it. Our head band director put me on oboe for our upper band this year - something he's refused to do for the last three years.
I was originally going to audition for Eastman, Peabody, Cincinatti, Oberlin, LSU, JSU and FSU on clarinet, but I've been having fits with the instrument and getting better on oboe (even though I don't practice nearly as much as I do on clarinet, average 5 for cl, 1 for oboe.)
...Is it time to switch instruments? I love playing the clarinet, but it seems like I'm more of a natural oboe player - I rarely have bad oboe days. The ones I do have are typically because I'm tired or sick.
Do I even stand a chance at 3 1/2 years of playing oboe, of even considering auditioning on oboe for these schools? I know all the audition requirements on clarinet, but I can barely play my 12 major scales on oboe. I've got two months before my auditions are due, more like one and a half now.
Should I audition on clarinet and include an oboe tape of what I can do and curiously inquire if they're willing to work with me as I am? I'm not sure, and I'm not getting answers from anyone. My head band director seems almost resentful that I'm not playing clarinet anymore, our assistant is kind of ambivalent, and I -just- got with my oboe teacher.
Sorry this is so long, and I hope it makes sense. Thanks in advance.
-Jenna
*~"The clarinet, though appropriate to the expression of the most poetic ideas and sentiments, is really an epic instrument- the voice of heroic love."~*
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2006-10-19 01:23
"Eastman, Peabody, Cincinatti, Oberlin..." probably won't let you continue doubling. However if you go to a larger school, such as LSU, JSU, and FSU, you might be able to talk to the oboe professor into allowing you to take lessons. Then, after a semester or two, you might be able to switch. Just an idea.
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Author: OboeAtHeart
Date: 2006-10-19 02:04
I'm considering switching to oboe entirely... the clarinet gives me a lot of issues, as much as I love it.
*~"The clarinet, though appropriate to the expression of the most poetic ideas and sentiments, is really an epic instrument- the voice of heroic love."~*
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2006-10-19 02:05
Dear Jen --
I have read your posts on the Clarinet Board, and I have a great deal of sympathy for your situation. I am a former clarinetist,and I experienced most the same feelings about that instrument that you do.
But at this point, you are at a critical juncture. I know you feel you are just falling apart on the clarinet these days. Pay attention to that -- it may be your "unconscious" way of coming to a decision that you don't want to make consciously. I think you really need to talk to someone you totally trust, and who knows your playing both as an oboist and as a clarinetist. And perhaps you need to talk directly to some of the schools you are considering.
Are you, in fact, playing clarinet at a level that would allow you to auditon competitively at the top-drawer schools you mention? Or are those more like your "reach" schools -- your "dream big" schools? Would you be content to go to a school that would take you as an oboist, even if it were one of your secondary choices, or somewhere that you have not yet considered?
I don't see how you can audition competitively on the oboe at any of the major schools you name. I would be surprised, however, if there weren't some smaller, less prominent, school that would be glad to have you as an oboist. If you found such a place, you could go there for a year, or two, and then transfer elsewhere if that seemed right.
Is there any reason why you could not sit out a year, take oboe lessons, work, look for a good (not necessarily famous) program, and audition as an oboist next year? One year out of academics at this point isn't going to make much difference in your ultimate career outcome, but it could make a huge difference to your mental health.
I sense that you really have yourself tied up in knots over this. I really want to stress again my advice that you get out there and TALK to college admissions folks, conservatory deans, program heads, and private teachers about your situation and see what they might tell you. Call them up. Write them letters. Email them. Visit them. They are the ones who have the answers.
Best of luck to you, Jen -- and you're sure welcome to hang out here, in the meantime.
Susan
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2006-10-19 02:25
Some oboe teachers are very helpful and kind. Susan suggests calling them up, and I'd strongly agree. One idea if you have the time and money might be to try to do a post-graduate year at INterlochen ARts Academy with Dan Stolper. He's a very good teacher, and my time at the Academy was some of the happiest moments of my life. (It's a boarding school.)
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Author: Dutchy
Date: 2006-10-19 14:47
Mother of 2 college students here, so I've been giving a fair amount of career advice lately. :D
I am frankly puzzled as to why you would even consider a career playing an instrument that it sounds like you're not in sympathy with anymore. Musicians are never highly paid, no matter what field of music they decide to go into, lacking a Deutschegrammophon contract or a recording deal with Columbia, so a large part of the reward for making music your career has to be the sheer artistic pleasure you get from playing your instrument. But if your instrument doesn't give you pleasure, and if you decide to become a professional clarinetist solely because it's something you know how to play and are reasonably certain of being able to find employment eventually with it (like, "Well, if nothing else, at least I can do this"), then I think you need to re-think your career choices.
I too don't think that after only 3 years of oboe--and especially since apparently all 3 of those years were simply "catch as catch can" seat-of-the-pants oboe-playing in Band class every day without any teacher or coach to tell you what you were doing wrong--that you don't have much of a chance of being accepted into a serious top-drawer oboe college program. You're up against oboists who, like you with your clarinet, have been playing since the 6th grade, and have probably been spending all 4 years of high school aiming towards an eventual audition with those top-flight schools.
Sorry to sound so negative. :( I'm assuming that you're a senior now? Someone who is a senior, but who can "barely play" the 12 major scales on oboe just realistically doesn't have a chance of coming up to college-audition speed in the few months between now and the time those schools you named will require you to have your application on file and your audition scheduled.
For example, Oberlin's latest closing date for admissions is February 1, and the regional auditions are in January and February. If you're going to go there, you'd need to apply now. Also, I notice that they say, " Our admissions committee considers enthusiasm for Oberlin a plus when reading applications." In other words, they don't wanna be just one of a list of potential schools that you've put in applications to; it doesn't work like that.
http://www.oberlin.edu/coladm/admit/deadlines.html
I also notice that it says, "The Conservatory of Music welcomes talented music students with demonstrated records of achievement. A clearly defined talent in a performing medium is essential, as is the potential for further growth and development and the dedication required to become a professional musician."
Someone who perforce must admit, "I just had my first oboe lesson the other day, although I have been playing casually for 3 years now", isn't what they're looking for. They're looking for all those kids who started oboe in the 6th grade.
http://www.oberlin.edu/con/admissions/
...unless you're some kind of instinctive oboe-playing genius, and you practice 8 hours a day for the next couple of months, and you display a truly astonishing oboe talent at your audition, and you exhibit a driving, urgent desire to make the oboe your career, your vocation, your holy calling. That's who they're looking for. Question: Is that you?
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Author: JudyP
Date: 2006-10-19 20:24
Jenna,
I don't know much about schools of music, but I know something about colleges. Can't you attend college for a year without being so serious about studying the oboe there? I mean, take the general requirement courses (English Comp., P.E., history, etc.) your freshman year while taking oboe lessons to prepare for the auditions in your sophomore year? Or don't they do it that way?
So many freshmen don't know what they want for a major until late in their sophomore year. Certainly there are talented musicians who do the same thing.
You have lots of time.
On the other hand, if you believe that you are very talented, go for it now. I suppose you can always try again next year if you aren't accepted, and people are usually impressed with determination. I like that old saying, "Your not a failure until you quit."
Judy
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Author: OboeAtHeart
Date: 2006-10-19 20:29
Hard words, but true ones, I suppose.
Let me clarify.
Music is my life. I really don't do anything else aside from some writing and casual scribbling on paper I like to call art. I have been playing a number of musical instruments since the age of about 3 or 4, and I knew when I was about 10 that music was something I was going to want to do for the rest of my life.
I started piano when I was 6 - I've taken AP music theory (and passed, yay!), and have been in every single musical opportunity the school has given me, I'm even in chorus. The drive for perfection is something that's instinctive for me when it comes to music. Anything less simply isn't acceptable, and my shortcomings on the clarinet are frustrating because my teacher is extremely discouraging and I can't seem to overcome them.
I'm not nessicarily very talented, but I do my best to work as hard as I can.
I'm applying to these schools is because I've researched them extensively (wanted to go to Peabody since 10th grade, Oberlin since 9th), I will go anywhere that takes me as long as I can get good training and keep playing - I can't imagine or even think of myself doing or being anything except a musician.
So there's no question in my mind that music is the focal point of my existence. I just don't know where to go with which instrument. I don't like the options I've got right now, and I do have a good track record on the clarinet, I just can't seem to get back into liking to play it anymore. Which is really kind of sad, because I love the instrument.
I'm submitting all of my applications on December the first - I can't do regional auditions, I have to do recorded. I don't have the money to fly places...
*~"The clarinet, though appropriate to the expression of the most poetic ideas and sentiments, is really an epic instrument- the voice of heroic love."~*
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Author: JudyP
Date: 2006-10-19 21:13
Hi Jenna,
I feel that I need to qualify my statements made in the previous entry by me.
The other people on this board are probably more qualified to give you advice about prestigious schools of music than I am. I don't consider myself an oboe player yet. I had my first lesson yesterday, but I've been participating on this board for about three weeks now.
I was giving you the advice I would give to my own daughter if she told me that she had a burning desire to seriously study the oboe at a prestigious school of music. My relationship with my own daughter is such that I would never want to deter her from doing something she thought she could do. This brings me to the question of what your parents think of this new move of yours.
I hope this helps you.
Judy
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Author: oboecat
Date: 2006-10-20 23:18
I don't want to sound negative, but let me offer you a reality check. I was graduated from Peabody on oboe, so I know what I'm talking about. It is very competitive to get in (in my day only two oboists were accepted per year, although that may have changed in the 20 odd years since I got out.) Each of the other big schools has similar numbers, and then there are literaly hoards of players at places like Bloomington. When they graduate with that degree in music performance, only a small percentage of them get jobs in orchestras. My husband plays in one of the 15 full time orchestras in this country (and still has to work two other jobs along with my teaching to support a family.) So, as Joseph Turner told me at my audition "If there is something else you can do, do it. Only go into this if it is the only thing you can do."
Secondly, if you decide to go ahead with this, DON"T do a recorded aution if there is ANY way to avoid it. At a live audition the teacher can ask you to do things differently, and can often tell from your response how "teachable" you are and whether you have a realistic chance of making it in this competitive field. They can't do that with a recorded audition. He or she can also see your reed and your instrument, so they really know what conditions you are working under. PLUS, you get a chance to see how well you would work with a particular teacher. I auditioned at Northwestern also, and could never have been comfortable working with Ray Still, so I chose Peabody.
Third, if your only concern about clarinet is that it no longer is fun, try a music camp, or some other new musical experience to see if you can recapture what it is that made you love it in the first place. But be aware that, if you get an orchestra job, it becomes very repetitive in time. Brahms 2 may be exciting now, but the 25th time you play it, when you don't even have to count the rests anymore, you may find yourself wondering why on earth you thought this was the way to make a living. There are other ways to keep music in your life (even to earn your living with it) than by playing professionally. Why not investigate some of these options?
Good luck, whatever your decision.
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2006-10-20 23:34
Although I'm not quite as pessimistic as Oboecat, I do add merit to his/her words. When I attended New England Conservatory, there were only four of us incoming freshman.
The schools you mentioned are pretty elite programs. The bigger schools, FSU amongst others, might let you play a bit. If you do decide to attend a big school, the person who mentioned "attending college as an undeclared major" had it right. The only two frosh classes you'd really be missing out AS a freshman would be freshman music history and freshman theory. You'd probably be able to even play in a lower band, which you'd be doing anyways if you entered as a music major since you've only been playing for some 2 years.
I think you really need to evaluate why you want to major in performance. If it's for a job, and to make your career out of music, then know that it will be a very long climb up a steep hill. For us oboists who have a good head start on you, there are still many hurdles we are trying to jump over in order to get that illusive position. This is not to say you are not God's gift to Oboe and that you will become the next Katherine Needleman (didn't she start oboe at like 15 or something?), but this is a rare exception, if not the only I've ever heard of.
If you simply want to major in performance for the fun of it, that's fine too. Just be prepared to go back for a second Bachelor's degree in something more practical at a later time. God knows how many flute players there are flipping burgers and trying to fit in two hours of practice a day. As my former oboe teacher at Interlochen once said, "You know how to prepare your students to win jobs in orchestras. How do you prepare them NOT to win a job?"
In summary, if you must, then do it. Just be prepared for the consequences later. Many have tried, and many have failed. But few have achieved their dreams.
Edit: Oboecat is right: 100% go to the audition. Try to take a lesson with the person beforehand. You might spend a good amount of money, but this is FOUR years of your life, and will save you a lot of time and heartbreak. You might not even LIKE how the professor sounds. If the professor gets to meet you and even work with you a bit, you'll have a much better chance at getting in.
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
Post Edited (2006-10-20 23:38)
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