Ok I play the oboe for concert band and when marching band comes I play the saxophone is that a good idea to go from the oboe to the saxophone?Just wondered. Thanks Amanda

I played a gig about a year ago where I had to double on oboe and saxophone, so I feel pretty confident in telling you... no that is probably not a good idea, especially if you are still a novice at the oboe. The saxophone is the antithesis of the oboe in many ways, not the least of which being how you should think about blowing through each instrument.

The saxophone sounds good when you push a large, boisterous volume of air through it. The oboe on the other hand sounds good when you push a very focused, high pressure column of air through it. Trying to force too much air through the oboe like you would on the saxophone while neglecting to build the intensity of the air before it even leaves your mouth will make your oboe playing sound wild and harsh. Your tone will spread and lose focus, your intonation will be off, and your dynamic range and variation in tone color will be severely limited.

Now I`m not saying it`s impossible to double on oboe and sax, but I just want to warn you that by playing the saxophone, you may be making your task of learning to play the oboe well all that much more difficult.