Hi there! I play the oboe.It`s a wonderful instrument.Yes oboe and clarinet fingerings are different but to me oboe is much easier to play.Except the oboe reed is sensitive and it costs about $15.It would be good if you takeup the oboe.

I am a clarinet and oboe player at New Bern High School. I took up the oboe a year ago. I am still having difficulties with it. I am current 2nd chair clarinet in the symponic band and will be clarinet captain in the marcing band next year. I am a sophmore and a future music major. If you want to take up the oboe do it. It will take lots of work. Join as many musical groups in your community as possible and find a oboist to help you. I urge that you learn to make reed as soon as possible. Oboe is much more difficult than clarinet, believe me. It is crucial to have a tuner or a very good ear because tuning on oboe is different for each note. Another aspect you need to consider is the oboe you will be playing. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER play on an oboe with a basic conservatory system. The set bad habits that take months if not years to fix. For example, the forked f, the correct fingering is using the left-hand f. One of the biggest resons is because without the resonance key the note is really out of tune. It also adds difficulty in repitoires using trills. With a full or even modified concervatory system it make learning the oboe so much easier, I wish I had started off with one. Another thing to worry about is if the oboe is properly adjusted. The oboe has many, many, many tuning screws. It is very difficult to adjust it. DO NOT EVER ADJUST AN OBOE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. It is dangerous and probably will put you oboe in the shop. The most IMPORTANT thing is the reed. If you can get a hand-made reed. They and much, much, MUCH better than any store bought reed, even Vendorens costing $32 a peice. Never buy any reeds marked student, unless they are hadmade. It you have a reed nife never take it to a reed without experience, especially a dull nife, CRACK!!!!! Wood is nice but if you are in an unstable enviorment, high or low humidity, it is best to have resin, not plastic, a resin upper joint, where most cracks occure, or a hibrid oboe like a buffet greenline oboe, cost about $4,000.00 Stay away from selmer and any all around company, meaning they make all insturments. Stick with a oboe specialist like loree, rigoutaut, maugrix, and laubin, these are just a few of the many brands. Never buy an oboe that has been crack, okay some that have been repaired are okay. Check the history of a company and their reputation before you buy any oboe. Companies glorify their product to make them sell in the competitive market. Never buy oboes that are student level. Notice I didn`t say named student. There are some exeptions, like the Patricola student oboe, costing $1,695.00, this is what I play on. It is very good for my needs.

So again with this oboe... that is if anyone still cares. Oboe is the coolest funnest bestest instrument- I have tried so many things but I am basically an oboist, so i guess that`s where i get it. But, i used to be a clarinet, and it wasn`t too hard to start- it`s jsut that when you switch you are REALLY bad, which is something you dont realize until you look back on it. One thing is that if you switch and are getting a school instrument, i can guarentee that it will be crap- it won`t have all the keys and will be plastic, and yoyu will be buying your reeds. If you can get get pretty good with that stuff- play it for at least a year or so and then make your reeds and get a really good oboe (my Loree rocks- there is so much difference) then it will be a breeze. But, it is not something that you can just switch back and forth on just because you think it would be cool. You really do need to have the dedication because it gets really hard, and it is such a waste of time if you aren`t serious.

hey I know what you are going through my band director really wants me to play oboe but I can not decide. So I am renting an oboe and seeing how weLL I play on it before I take it into class. What I am afraid of is falling way behind on flute. Just try it and see what you think.

I managed to catch up to my grade 10 class in the oboe over a single weekend, i worked really hard, for about 10 hours in all, and on monday, i was as good as most of the rest of the class, if u are willing to put in lots of time and effort, go for it, but u gotta b serious and not give up or put off practice, becuase the starting learning is the hardest, since u cant play fun stuff, but once u got the basics (ie embouchure, fingerings, pitches etc.) ull have great fun with it

I definately wouldn`t recommend taking the oboe up as your very first instrument. I played the violin first and consequently all the musicianship part to playing the oboe is easy to understand (but quite hard to do). I was wondering if a clarinetist would have a harder time since they play a Bb instrument and hence associate a different pitch (Eb) to a certain not (F)?

Ive been playing the clarinet since its been available to me in elementary and my high school band director offered and a tenor sax player an oboe and let me tell you, I had a much easier time playing the oboe than a tenor so you advanced clarinets out there I recommend to you " THE OBOE."

I have just started oboe and have been plying clarinet for three years. I plan to continue on clarinet and also play oboe. Will that be very difficult because the embochures are very different? Please reply ASAP!!

you might have a bit of difficulty at the start, but it whoud be fine after you get the hang of it.
i know people who play the flute and oboe and those embouchures are different but they do fine.
just do what you think you are capable of.

The fingerings are VERY DIFFERENT but you should still take it on I switched personally I dont think that the mouth position isnt that different you just have 2 get used 2 not bumping it on anything. I like it becuase its uncommon.

I play clarinet and there are many sizes of reed such as2,21/2,3etc.But I wanted to know is that how oboe reeds are?and what should beginers start out with?

i play the flute, and about 3 months ago i saw a oboe player on tv. yes, of corce silly me just HAD to want to play it . (im obsessed with music) And so , i soon found out that one of my friend`s mom had an oboe. so , i borrowed it and all. (in fact its right beside me now ) . i tried it a few days ago and found that the fingerings were quite easy to figure out, but the way you blow it? im not to swell `bout that. .. and another thing , why is it thata oboe is so much more exspencive then a claranet? i mean, it seems like their equily complacated...

i just started oboe i also play the flute and the fingerings r almost the same but i think that u should play but if ur like r band teacher she wont let us start a new instrument untill she thinks were ready.

i`m actually an oboe player, and clarinet is TOTALLY different. Oboe is a Concert C instrument unlike the clarinet which is a Bb instrument. The embochures are quite different also. I`ve heard you play with a flat chin when you play clarinet and which oboe flat chin=death so i think you would have so trouble. And yes, the fingering are SIMILAR but still a bit different. I think you would be better off playing the sax, where as and oboist can also play flute(with some embochure work).

i took clarinet in 4th and 5th grade as well. i liked it, but decided to try the oboe because no one really plays it and i like to be different. I have been playing for 3 years now and love it so much more than the clarinet! it was easier for me to play (although it is the hardest instrument. ironic, huh?) the only simalarities between the 2 instruments are the way that you hold the instrument. but i love the sound, i love the parts, and i love the music that i can create. the reeds and the instrument (if you are planning to buy or rent) are expensive as well, but don`t let that scare you off.i think you should go for it! I`m glad that there might be another oboist in the world.