umm.. what`s the difference? i`m trying to buy an oboe for my kid brother but have no experience with woodwinds let alone double reeds.

The left hand F key provides another option for fingering F. It`s used by advanced players to execute some passages.

The forked F and Bb resonance keys improve the quality and pitch of their respective notes.

The F keys provide tone color options.

i wouldn`t say that left f is for advanced players. i think that oboes w/o left f keys aren`t really worth having. the sooner you learn to use left f, the better! it`s harder to use when you introduce it later. the f resonence is important to have. most oboes do. hope this helps too. Erin

Plus Left F sounds better. You can try it yourself just switching between the two and you will see.