Author: Tim
Date: 2007-07-18 06:05
Dutchy wrote:
>Every September, a few (a very few) fifth graders take up the oboe, and
>by the following May, they are still trying to get something besides a
>miserable squawk out of it. And their oboe part for the Star Wars Theme
>sounds like nothing on this earth. Sometimes the band director puts them
>in the back row with the tubas, they sound so bad.
>
>So every May, the clarinets have a good time at the end-of-the-year >concert, and every May the oboes sit there in humiliation and silently >promise themselves that next year, it'll be better.
...
>Yeah, that's kind of what I was talking about, with band directors. A kid
>who has had only 3 weeks of clarinet will be up to speed to play seven
>little band pieces, but band directors don't always "get" that a kid who
>has had only 3 weeks of oboe won't.
You have quite an opinion of clarinet players. Once upon a time, I was one of those (very few) fifth graders who took up the oboe. Along the way, I've also proficiently played baritone and saxophone, but man I could never figure out the clarinet. Something about the open tone holes and the easy reed squeek just perplexed me. Maybe I'm just a freak of nature, but I actually think the oboe is easier than the clarinet. (Now if you had said saxophone, that'd be a different story...)
>ETA: The oboe part in those little band pieces is rarely of any i
>importance--the composers of those are well aware that they're writing for
>children, so there's lots of doubling of parts. So your son shouldn't worry
>that if he refrains from playing, he'll ruin the artistic performance by not
>coming in when he's supposed to. He won't. Actually, he can just sit there
>and not play, period, without affecting the performance. Find a tactful way
>to tell him he's not necessary, won't you? ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
I would argue that at that level, the parts are essentially the same for oboe, flute, and clarinet. But telling a 8/9 year old "Don't worry, you're not necessary" is pretty harsh...
>And if this particular band director has chosen a piece that includes an
>oboe solo, your son needs you to go to bat for him and tell the director, in
>words of one syllable, that he just cannot physically play that solo yet; he
>shouldn't have to experience the humiliation of providing either "dead air"
>or, worse, an assortment of unmusical squawks, during the few bars of his
>solo. The director can perfectly well assign the solo to someone else, like a
>saxophone.
On the contrary, I found the "humiliation" of playing the solo one of the greatest motivators for practicing more. At this level of playing, sure what's the point of playing all the 16'th notes with the 40 flutes and 27 clarinets; but that little hot-cross-buns solo is a very measureable accomplishment.
Tim
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The Oboe BBoard
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