well....ellie....i think that you should just make sure you practice....considering its only you 2nd (?) day...it sounds like you are doing pretty well....keep your patience and practice and you should be fine....i hope you do like playing the oboe....it is a lot of fun...good luck!

corinne

Hey Ellie!! Just keep doing what you are doing and never give up! I know how it feels to be in that position. It will all pay off some day trust me! And does your thumb get sore too after holding up the oboe with it? lol! Mine does!

Thanks for the advice ppl. yeah, Amanda, my thumb gets like super sore after playing the oboe for three hours!!!My next class is in about 2 hours and a half!!! *yikes* I`ll tell you guys what happens Last night I practiced like crazy so now my cheeks are sore as well, and I know that as soon as I start playing again I`m gonna feel dizzy, but I`m SOOOOO not giving up. Okay, where did THAT surge of positive energy come from? Anyways. Oh yeah...one thing I didn`t mention to you guyz in my last post is that I actually sorta missed 2 classes because my first class my reed was wrong or something and the sides of it were smashed too close to eachother, so it seemed like I was playing wrong notes, when I wasn`t. But, I got a new reed. My oboe is from 1942!!!! And there`s some guy`s name engraved on the back of it!!! My music history is that I played violin for like 2 years and drums for a year. Then I started oboe. Well, I`ll check back in this forum later, and see if anyone replied, by the way, if u find it easier to use e-mail, my e-mail address is life_is_very_boring@hotmail.com And no, my life is not actually THAT boring, but I was just bored when I thought up that e-mail.Ttyl people.

The oboe is said to be the hardest of all of the woodwind instruments to play well. And don`t worry about the homework and two instruments. I play clarinet, piano, saxophone, flute and guitar and I still manage! However it is hard work - be prepared!

I don`t think the oboe is hard to play i`ve played for quite a while now and to me it seems easy. u should try renting one first or trying a friends (with ur own reed) to see how it sounds when u urself play it.

in agreement with most others who have replyed the oboe is hard to play. at frist when u start to play it feels like ur using s lot of air for 1 short note. but ull get used to it as im sure others have told u also.

I have no idea about taking up the oboe as a side instrument. But I do know that it takes a lot of practice, time, and effort. I started out playing the oboe in 5th grade and I`m going on my 4th year now. I`ve gotten much better. I also play the tenor sax, and the bassoon on the side of that because I wanted to take up a new instrument. But I will tell you that the oboe was definitly the hardest out of all of those. It`s not something your going to just pick up right away. Well, anyways good luck with the oboe.

Hey! I`ve been playing oboe just over a year and a half. I switched from sax b/c of some great sax competetion at my school. I absolutely LOVE it. It came pretty naturally to me and I didn`t find it hard to learn how to play... HOWEVER... it is difficult to get to the point where you sound good in ensemble settings. Intonation and blend is very difficult to master. It is soooo easy to stick out! It is a beautiful instrument and well worth the effort that you put into it. ~*~Heather~*~

I started playing the oboe in Febuary and since than have continued.I haven`t played an instrument before so this was my first instrument.Like other people said i did have difficulties playing.For i have long fingers.So it was hard for me to curve them.At my school when i used to play with my class(like a solo or so)my classmates used to laugh at the sound that used to come.I worked harder at it.Therefore, now i am good at it.It`s just that it takes a lot of time and patience.Just like Adam said.Sometimes i do get frustrated after playing for a quite long time.My lips get tired.It is hard work byt at the end you do get it.I say Oboists ar proud of themselves. I haven`t said this before but now i feel like saying.I love the oboe.......

Hi guys, I came across this message board when searching for information on oboes, and now mine has finally arrived I think I should put in my 2 cents. I took my oboe to my teacher and talked with him about caring for it, how to `crow` the reed etc.
It took about 2 mins of practise at home before anything apart from air came out of the reed, and now I can get a few notes in a row without trouble. Here are the two main things I noticed last night (my background mainly involves the violin, with a few goes at various other instruments)

1) Its amazing how much you can bend the pitch by just changing how tight your lips are.
2) Your cheeks and right thumb do get sore.

My question is, how much of the sound quality is due to the person (and what should I be thinking/doing to get good sound quality), and how much of the sound quality is dependant on the instrument?

I am a new oboe player and actually have wanted to play it since I heard it in band. Like most of you, I am involved with band, doing South Valley Youth Orchestra, school band, Solo and Small Ensmble program, marching band, Winter Percussion, jazz band, county honor band, etc. The sound was so interiguingly beautiful it surrounded me ( and messed me up listening it to it in sight reading). However, now there is an oboe opening and I want to play.
I was told it was a lot like the alto saxophone and flute, both which I play. I don`t have problems blowing into the oboe and lung capacity but I am not sure about the fingering strategy schemes that go on. So far, I only know F ( 3 versions) and F #. Help!!

i like oboe. ive played it before and it has a beautiful sound. the only problem with it is that it gives me a headache and makes me dizzy even though i`ve heard that it goes away after time. I play flute an play bassoon on the side. I have timme for hw, flute and bassoon. eh... and whoever said bassoon was easier than oboe is nuts. bassoon has 9 thumb keys. lol teehee buhbyezers

yeaa Lolz oboe is not really easy im a alto sax in marching season and oboe is a pain sometimes when i switch to concert i think its challenging ;D

okay, so if i implied that bassoon was easy. i was just stating that it was easy for me cuz i played oboe for so long. so hope i didnt confuse anyone cuz that wasnt what i meant. sorry!

Well...... I don`t have incredible experience with music (I`ve been playing piano since kindergarden and love it, and I started oboe in 6th grade band, and I`m in 7th grade now, sooo....), but I absolutely love the oboe. I can`t compare it to any other instruments since it`s the only woodwind I`ve ever played, but just realize that it`ll take a while to figure out how to get a decent sound out of it (the whole "squeeze your lips around the reed" thing takes a LOT of building up lip strength). However, after a while (took me about a month, but I never took private lessons.... just a band teacher`s instructions during rehearsals), you`ll be able to play stuff, and I just find I keep getting better and better at it - it`s incredible the difference a year makes.

Flute`s cool too, though. If you want to keep playing and don`t have much time on your hands, you may want to start oboe later when you have more time. However, if you think you can handle to instruments, go ahead and rent an oboe.