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60th Anniversary Classic

Teaching OboeBy Bennett Reimer

Perhaps more than any otherinstrument, the oboe is shroudedwith an aura of mystery and trep-

idation. A good oboe player is usuallyregarded with some measure of awe, forit is widely known that the complexityof the instrument and the inconsistencyof its reed establish barriers which areovercome only by those who doggedlypursue the almost supernatural beauty oftone which the oboe possesses.

Now, being a professional oboistmyself, I am not in the least anxious tounderestimate the difficulties anduncertainties of the oboe and oboeplaying; but being a teacher too, I amanxious that these difficulties anduncertainties are not magnified anddistorted. Very frankly, it is the latterwhich is most often done.

It is not easy to trace to the sourcesthe confused and misguided ideaswhich the general public and the non-oboe playing musician maintaintoward this instrument. Choose at ran-dom a high school oboist who hasnever studied with a specialist (thismeans just about 90% of all highschool oboists). Examine hisinstrument. Look at his reed.Observe him playing a scale.Ask him a few questions con-cerning the most basic elementsof playing, such as embouchure,breath control, tonguing, vibra-to, control of intonation, etc. Ifyou happen to be an oboistyourself you will find a physicalsetup which would terrify aTabuteau and a confusion whichwould perplex a philosopher.

The first reaction to theabove is to place the blamesquarely on the music teacher,but this same teacher, if hehappens to be a trumpet player,will usually turn out a fairlyrespectable clarinetist or flutist

or saxophonist. Similarly, the musicteacher who is a performer on theclarinet usually manages to developbrass players who have at the veryleast, some valid notions about theirinstrument.

No, the instrumental music teacherwith the normal amount of training isnot really to blame for the plight ofhis oboist. He, as well as his student,needs to have a good many of the mis-conceptions about the oboe broughtto light. It is my contention that thehigh school instrumental teacher,while not capable of developing anoboist to an advanced level, can do agreat deal of good and undo a greatdeal of harm toward providing hismusic program with student oboistswho are assets rather than detriments.The following points are some clear,simple, and practical steps towardthat goal.

The InstrumentComplexities of bore and mecha-

nism make the need for a fine oboe

more vital to success in performancethan with most other instruments.Fine oboes are expensive. Money spenton a cheap instrument is thrown away.The most practical and money-savingoboe is an expensive one. Consult theoboist in the nearest professionalorchestra or the oboe specialist at thenearest music college for advice as towhich make to purchase. These are thepeople who are qualified to recom-mend an instrument. You will comeout ahead both financially and inresults if you take their advice.

The ReedIt is here that the gravest errors are

made, for without the proper reed agreat oboist sounds mediocre and thebeginning oboist sounds horrible. It iswise to avoid the short-scrape variety inthe commercially made reed. The ten-dency of this type reed is to sound like akazoo — the snake charmer tone! Getin touch with the nearest professionaloboist or oboe teacher and makearrangements for him to supply you

with reeds of the long-scrapetype (such as 99% of profes-sionals use themselves). This isno guarantee of perfect results,as a reed must be built for theindividual player and hisinstrument, but at least youwill be on the right track.

With a good instrument andthe proper type of reed, half thebattle has been won. The profes-sional oboist divides his practicetime about half making andworking on reeds and half inactual playing. Because hemakes his living as an oboist youcan be sure that he is not usinghis time wastefully. He knowshow important the reed is to hissuccess, and it is just as impor-tant to the beginner.

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EmbouchureIn oboe playing this is a relatively

unimportant phase. This statementmay sound like heresy to you, but ithappens to be a simple fact. With theproper reed, control of playing by thelips is brought to an absolute mini-mum. One has only to place the bot-tom blade of the reed in the middle ofthe red of the lower lip; tuck the entirelip in over the bottom teeth; curl thetop lip over the top teeth; bring itdown directly above the lower lip; sayoooo (not eeee); and blow.

Pressure on the reed comes from allsides. Because the long-scrape reed hasa very narrow opening, pressure up anddown will pinch it closed and eitherstopi the air or make a buzzy tone. If youstress the fact that the lips form the syl-lable oooo, that the reed must not besqueezed shut, and that the top and bot-tom lips are exactly opposed, you havecovered the essentials of embouchure.Any deviations from this are simply tomake up for defects in the reed and willbe dealt with later.

Air PressureIt is this phase that accounts for the

lack of emphasis on embouchure. Onan oboe the pressure of the column of

air controls most things that the lipscontrol on other instruments.Blowing comes from the contractionof abdominal muscles, and it takesconsiderable pressure to produce anoboe tone, enough to cause somebeginners to experience occasionaldizziness. This is nothing to worryabout as the dizziness doesn't ariseafter a month or two of playing.

It is only after the pressure has beenbuilt up that the tone is ready to beproduced. Insufficient pressure willnecessitate pinching the reed withthe lips to play in tune. Since this istaboo, it is obvious that the air col-umn, and not the lips, controls over-all pitch and tonal quality. A freelyvibrating reed supported by anintense column of air originating fromthe diaphragm will totally eliminatethe nasal buzz so erroneously associat-ed with oboe tone.

If your oboist scoops his notes frombelow pitch (a common occurrencewhen tonguing at medium speed) youcan be sure that it is not the tonguewhich is at fault but that the air pres-sure has been relaxed when the tonguemoves. The pressure must be main-tained while the tongue simply acts asa valve to release the already built-up

air column. High notes take more airpressure, low notes take less.

TonguingAside from the

between tongue andrelationshipair pressure

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already pointed out, one mustremember that the very tip of thereed is touched by the top surface ofthe tongue slightly beyond the tip.As in all other wind instruments,lightness of touch and delicacy ofrelease is the rule. No really uniqueproblems exists here.

FingeringAny standard fingering chart can

be relied upon for guidance. Asidefrom the use of the half-hole on D\>5,D5, and D#5, and the double octavefrom high A5 to C6, there is little tobe said about fingering. The usualprocedures for developing techniqueon the other woodwinds apply here.Do not make the mistake of assumingthat technical problems are moresevere on oboe than on any otherwoodwind. You can expect the sameoverall progress in technique fromyour oboist as you can from yourother students.

VibratoThere are three ways to produce

vibrato on woodwind instruments —jaw, throat, and diaphragm. For oboe,the correct way is the last.Diaphragm vibrato is the alternating

intensity of the air column originat-ing from the diaphragm and carryingthrough to the bell of the instrument.To produce it one must approximatea silent belly-laugh — as if sayinghoo-hoO'hoo without the use of thevocal cords.

Patience and understanding areneeded here. Only time and continu-ous practice will change the exaggerat-ed and nervous shake into a smooth,controlled, and natural-soundingvibrato. Work from slow, controlledpulsations to faster, less measured puls-es. The goal is an unobtrusive, free,and natural vibrato, such as any finesinger possesses.

Control of IntonationWith a perfect instrument and a per-

fect reed nothing at all would need tobe said about intonation. Normal play-ing would take care of it entirely. Sincethe perfect setup is nothing more thana blissful dream, however, compensa-tions must be made.

Three devices are employed on theoboe to temper pitch. First, theamount of reed protruding into themouth cavity. The more reed takeninto the mouth beyond the lips, thehigher will be the pitch. The less reed

in the mouth, the lower the pitch.Because the spot on the reed that thelips cover in normal playing variesfrom reed to reed (a good reed permit-ting only the tiniest sliver of cane toprotrude beyond the lips into themouth cavity), there are no hard andfast rules about the distance one canmove the reed in and out. This is fur-ther complicated by the fact that high-er notes require more reed in themouth. Low notes require less. Theimportant thing to remember is thatwhen playing correctly a slight shift ofthe reed in or out will cause a similarshift in pitch.

The second control of intonation isthe position of the back of the tongue.The higher the tongue is placed, thehigher will be the pitch — and viceversa. High notes demand a higherarch in the tongue; low notes require alower arch. Control of pitch must startfrom the normal position. Anychanges are made merely to favor acertain note, or in extreme cases anentire register.

The last and least satisfactory way tocontrol pitch is by pinching and relax-ing the lips themselves on the reed.Once the normal amount of pressurefor a given reed has been determined

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every effort should be made to keepfrom changing it. Most beginningoboists have the urge to pinch the reedfor high notes. It leads to extremesharpness of pitch.

A more intense air column, a slightbit more reed in the mouth, and ahigher tongue arch will be more thanample to support the pitch in the highregister. The only possible way tokeep a full tone on these notes is bythese principles last stated. Anypinching will immediately cause asharpness of pitch and a constrictionof tone quality.

The suggestions in this article arebut few, yet their judicious applica-tion should bring amazing results.They are basic to the instrument. Letme assure you that the above tech-niques represent no one school ofoboe playing. Rather, they embracethe finer points of many schools.With a little experimentation andsome courage you will find yourselfdeveloping oboe students capable ofmaking real contributions to yourmusic program.

When Bennett Reimer wrote this articlein December 1957, he was assistant pro-fessor of music at Madison College inHarrisonburg, Virginia, teaching wood-winds and wind ensembles, and in 1963he earned a doctorate from theUniversity of Illinois, Urbana. He wenton to become chairman of the music edu-cation department and director of thePh.D. program in music education atNorthwestern University and director ofthe Center for the Study of Educationand Musical Experience. He retiredfrom Northwestern in 1997 and becamethe John W. Beattie Professor of MusicEmeritus. He is author or editor of 14books and more than 110 articles, chap-ters , and reviews.

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