i tend to hold my oboe slightly to the right. does this hurt my playing?

Do you mean a tilt, or does the reed enter your mouth from an angle that does not make it perpendicular to your lips? If it's a tilt, then there's nothing wrong at all. I have a bit of a right tilt. My private teacher and my former private teacher both tilt to the left. In any case, when one tilts the oboe, (s)he must stick his/her elbows out a little, in order to prevent wrist cocking and in orderto keep his/her fingers straight. I am still getting used to keeping my elbows out a little. The only problems about a right tilt are not being able to fully cover the ring finger hole and have easy mobility with the pinky over the pinky keys--but they can be fixed by adjusting the arms.

However, if you are actually pointing the oboe's bore in a direction that is not anywhere straight in front of you, then you may have a problem. I am honestly not sure how much it affects playing.

James Dowdy Moose

P.S. What kind of oboe do you play? Is it good? I am still struggling to find a good oboe that my father will willingly buy.