Greetings and salutations,

I absolutely love the sound of the oboe and have decided to try it. I am going to rent an oboe tommorow and will be unable to get a teacher. My question is: What are common bad habits that beginners develop on oboe? The only one I`ve heard of is the tendency to use the alternate F fingering when it isn`t nessecary. Thanks very much!

i think it`s not advisable to learn the oboe on your own!
try to get a teacher, i think there is no sense in doing it alone...

I learned by myself... Biting on your reed, elbows in your side, oboe sticking out too much... posture...

I`ve learned and played oboe for 3 years by myself. I developped during those 3 years many bads habits that are now very difficult get rid of.

I`m now taking lessons and have to work very hard to correct many fingerings errors (alternate F fingering included) , reed biting and bad staccato method.

Get well started with a good teacher will be better for you than get rid of all the bads habits you may develop.

Be aware, they will appears quickly and take a large amount of time to get rid of them...

i dont think there`s anything wrong with teaching yourself how to play an instrument. i tought myself how to play the oboe 2 weeks before i started 7th grade. A couple of months after school started i auditioned for the all district band. I made second chair in the symphonic band. And then in eighth grade i made 1st chair in the symphonic band. I auditioned for wind ensemble at my high school for my freshmen year and i made it. It`s the top band with the juniors and seniors... so that`s pretty good. practice alot and you`ll be fine....

well ive been playing oboe 4 2 years since 5th grade. What i found difficult to correct are corrct embachere position, tonging correct, my finger always on the index D key, and biting the reed.

What is the index D key?

The chances are practically zero that you`ll just stumble onto the correct hand position, embouchure, use of wind, tonguing, etc., etc. that you need to become a good oboist. So, if you expect to play oboe well, it`s worth getting a good teacher so that you don`t end up having to unlearn all of the things you taught yourself.
When I started oboe, most of what I was mostly self-taught and I was able to achieve a great deal but things would have been so much better for me had I received good instruction from the beginning.
I had all of the problems that good instruction could have fixed from the beginning:
1. bad technique in tonguing
2. inefficient breath control
3. inefficient vibrato
All of these things are much easier to learn correctly the first time rather than unlearn and relearn.

Ok listen, you deffinitly need a teacher, i didn`t and started lots of bad habbits and still am. Some BIG things to watch out are:
1) Play on the tip of your reed
2) brethe through your mouth, and release the bad air throught your nose
3) keep your left hand thumb below the octive key ( i think thats what its called)
4) DONT BITE ON YOUR REED TO GET THE HIGH NOTES!!! just use more pressure and air
5) Don`t slouche, lean over, or be lazy
6) Keep an "o" shape ombisure
Hope this helps!

Its hard to learn oboe on ur own, i had a teach for three months or so and then went solo. For me the little things teachers pick at are just annoying, i figure so long as i`m getting a good sound then i`m doing something right. For me the hardest thing to do once I had the basics down was tuning, i can never stay in tune!!

I learned the oboe on my own in high school. I curled my lower lip under my teeth and left my upper lip as is on top of the Oboe. lol. When I had my first lesson the intsructor was suprised at how well I could play with the loose upper lip, but she made me play correctly I found it impossible to play well at all. I had to relearn the Oboe with the proper embouchure.

Though that doesn`t compare to how I learned the Alto Sax on my own and when I played in a musical the director flipped my mouthpiece right side up in the middle of rehearsal. I played it well though. lol.

Well, as far as I know, the bad habits of teaching yourself oboe (as I`ve done) are the alternate F-fingerings (i.e. FORKED F), jaw vibrato (I only fixed that this year - use your air support!).

As for tuning, that just takes practice, and lots and lots of playing with other people...especially other oboists. Oboists are widely known for their great ears, and nearly all of `em (once they`re pros) have perfect pitch.

Developing a good tone? Loooooong notes. Keep a good embouchure and work your way up the scales.

And seriously, if you can, get a teacher - oboe is such a difficult instrument to master on one`s own.

~Chris