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Woodwind Clinic

first OboeBy Grover Schiltz and Kimme Katz

V V*--

Any director who has taught beginningoboists knows that this is a difficult instru-ment to learn. Most youngsters do better if

they learn to read music and play another instru-ment before tackling oboe. Problems not dealt

with properly in the first oboe lessons usuallybecome enduring bad habits.

KqiiipuicntEven a professional oboe is tough for a

beginner to play; most student instrumentshave inherent and frustrating problems.Bent or bound keys or leaking pads inter-fere with a good tone, and the nearest

woodwind repairman may not be qualifiedto fix an oboe. Try to locate and use anoboe specialist for all repairs.

The quality of the reed determines whatcomes out the other end, but delicate caneposes problems for young students. Reedsare expensive at $10 or more each andcosts quickly mount if a child does notknow how to care for them. Althoughsome directors advocate Fibercane reedsbecause they don't break easily or have

to be soaked, in the long run it is a dis-service to start students on thesereeds. Fibercane does not produce adecent sound and responds different-ly; students using Fibercane reeds donot become accustomed to the resist-ance of real cane and do not devel-op a strong embouchure. With acane reed there is an ongoingprocess of alternately strengtheningthe reed and embouchure.

Cane reeds are available through-out the United States and arecommercially made by hand ingrades of soft, medium, or

hard, but it is unclearwhether these grades referto the amount of cane lefton the reed or the size ofthe tip opening. Both will

affect how the reed plays. A fairly closed reed that hasa lot of cane on it will have resistance but may not betough on the embouchure. On the other hand, a reedthat is too open will quickly tire the embouchure.Directors should question how a manufacturer gradesreeds before placing an order. A small opening is bestfor students because it doesn't tire the embouchure asquickly as a large opening. Commercial reeds with wireor a thin layer of plastic wrapped around them almostlike nail polish should be avoided. The ideal reed hasneither leaks nor any material covering up leaks.

Cane reeds will not produce a characteristic oboetone quality unless they are soaked before playing, butstudents often omit the soaking process when time islimited after running from class to a rehearsal. In addi-tion, it is not preferable to soak an oboe reed with sali-va as with saxophone or clarinet reeds. Although thisis better than playing on a dry reed, saliva does notsoak into the cane consistently or adequately. Warmwater is best for soaking oboe reeds, so directorsshould give oboists a minute to use a sink or provide ahot pot in the band room. It takes about three min-utes to properly soak a reed in hot water, and longer ifthe water is cool. Players should also dry their reedsthoroughly after playing. Some reeds come in screw-top containers that do not let air in to dry the reeds,which causes them to rot and mold. Students shouldalso understand that any type of Chapstick or lipstickwill clog and ruin a reed.

Grover Schiltz played oboe and English horn inthe Chicago Symphony Orchestra for over 40years. He has taught at Northwestern Universityand VanderCook College, coached the oboe sec-tion of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and is cur-rently on faculty at Roosevelt University.

Kimme Katz received a bachelor's degree in oboeperformance from St. Olaf College and went onto study with John Mack in Cleveland. She hasbeen a performer and teacher for 24 years andwas a member of the Northwest IndianaSymphony and Ars Viva.

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Directors should be able to makeminor reed adjustments because mostcommercial reeds improve with sometouch-ups. Students who start with adecent reed produce a fairly pleasantsound, but beginners have a difficulttime trying to make a sound on a poorreed and quickly become discouraged.The area from which the cane isscraped greatly affects the pitch andtone quality. If most of the cane comesfrom the center of a reed, the resultwill be a nasal sound. There are a fewhelpful books that provide details oncrafting and adjusting reeds. The ReedMaker's Manual by David Weber andFerald Capps and The Oboe Reed Bookby Jay Light are two good reed-makingbooks for oboists. Originally writtenfor oboe specialists, David Ledet'sbook, Oboe Reed Styles is an informa-tive source for non-oboists because itcovers various oboe reed styles fromaround the world.

IjiilMim linn-The oboe embouchure differs from

those used on other woodwinds in thatthe teeth do not touch or support thereed. For an oboe embouchure the lowerjaw drops and the mouth relaxes. Thelips are rolled over the top and bottomteeth with the mouth open. Studentsmight say the word paw or think of form-ing an O with an open mouth beforerolling the lips over the teeth. If studentsthink of smiling, they tend to close theirmouths, tighten the lips, and bring theirteeth together. A common mistake forbeginners is to form a flat, spreadembouchure similar to that of a clar-inetist, but the flatter and thinner the lipsare over the teeth, the brighter and hard-er the sound becomes. With too muchbiting pressure, reed vibrations will cease.The concept of an O shape equalizes thelip pressure around the reed.

Approximately '/4 inch of reed tipshould be inside the mouth, whichmuffles some of the nasal, reedy over-tones and emphasizes the fundamentaland first overtone, the heart of theoboe sound. Lip size dictates howmuch reed to place in the em-bouchure. Students with full lips putmore reed in the embouchure thanthose with thin lips. Unless the tip ofthe reed clears the inside of the lips, aplayer will produce a flat, unrespon-sive, unfocused tone if he producessound at all. With too much reed in-side the mouth, the tone sounds like abagpipe. If a student tongues below thetip, the articulation will be a thud. Theupper lip serves primarily to prevent

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air leakage. A play-er should grip thereed firmly with hislips but withoutusing the jaw to bitedown. A loose sealaround the reedreduces control andoften produces awild sound. A tightembouchure willclose off the soundor cause the pitchto go sharp.

When shiftingregisters, oboistsshould roll theembouchure in forhigh notes and outfor low notes ratherthan biting or mov-ing the reed. Youngplayers often try toproduce differentpitches by biting orpinching, but thishinders the dynam-ics. A good, solidforte comes fromopening up theembouchure andletting the reedvibrate freely.

Puffy cheeks andlips should beavoided. The embouchure muscleshave to be strong enough to resist theair pressure that builds up in themouth; otherwise the lips will blow outor air pockets will form between the lipsand teeth. Because air pockets distortthe pitch and sound quality, studentsshould work to keep the lips tight againstthe teeth, especially on the lower jaw.

With a good reed and properlyformed embouchure, an oboist shouldbe able to crow two or three octave Csand produce a straight, steady pitch.The reed should exit the mouth at a45° angle downward with the headheld straight and the chin parallel tothe floor. Some students make the mis-take of holding the reed and instru-ment at a 45° angle to the body butbend their neck so their head is downand the reed actually comes straightout of the mouth.

It takes a similar amount of air pres-sure to play an oboe as it does to over-come the initial resistance when in-flating a balloon. Because of the airresistance, young oboists often contortand raise their shoulders or dig theirelbows into the sides of the body.Breathing should be natural, as if

inhaling while running. Students oftenrespond well when asked to play loud-ly because they equate more air andbreath support with loudness. Fromthe time they make their first sounds,students should breathe with themouth and not through the nose,keeping the reed in place on the lowerlip but without pressure. Breathingthrough the comers of the mouth does-n't give the lips an opportunity to relaxand recover. The importance of open-ing and relaxing the embouchure witheach breath is that this allows blood toflow back into the lips.

lime Duality ami I'm liLike young string players, beginning

oboists produce poor sounds for a longtime unless teachers emphasize tonequality from the first lesson. Teachersshould play with oboe students fre-quently to illustrate a characteristicsound and to focus on typical ensem-ble problems of oboes. For instance, itis difficult to raise the pitch in the lowregister, so the first part player in aduet has to bring his pitch down tomatch the second part player. Direc-tors who cannot produce a good sound

42 THE INSTRUMENTALIST /JUNE 2008

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on the oboe should play recordings ofprofessional oboists, such as RichardWoodhams, Ray Still, Alfred Gen-ovese, and John Mack, to give studentsa concept of a good oboe sound.

Tuning cannot be glossed over withbeginning oboists. Unlike most instru-ments, oboes can be played almost ahalf-step too high or low even with agood reed. To avoid the possibility ofplaying out of tune,, all beginningoboists should purchase a tuner. Inmost ensembles the first oboist pro-vides the tuning pitch, so these playersshould also develop a good ear. Even inthe Chicago Symphony Orchestra atuner is used to verify that the tuningpitch is correct.

Holding (he liislriimi'iilBecause the keys on the oboe are

spread apart, students with small handsmay find it difficult to reach all thekeys. For proper left-hand position astudent should begin by placing theindex finger on the appropriate key andstretching the pinkie down to the E'key just below the A^ key. With thesefingers in place the other two fingerswill naturally fall into correct position.Too often, beginning students let theleft-hand pinkie hang in mid airbecause it is rarely needed in beginningoboe pieces. When the pinkie is finallyintroduced, there is no way it can reachthe appropriate keys without distortingthe established hand position, creatinga problem that is difficult to correct.

The thumb rest should con-tact the right thumb at thebase of the fingernail, whereit meets the skin. If thethumb rest is too far out onthe thumb, the balance of theinstrument is affected; if toofar in, the hand will cramp.Students will also make themistake of bending the wristand forcing the hand out-ward, but the hand shouldextend from the wrist andforearm without contorting.

Double jointedness is acommon ailment that causesstudents to use stiff, flat fingerpositions in which the tips ofthe fingers shoot out over thekeys. All fingers should becurved as if playing a chord onthe piano, with only the tipsof the fingers against the keys.

Although most directors ini-tially avoid teaching the half-hole technique, it is an integralpart of oboe playing thatshould be covered within the first threelessons. Because D5 is a good soundingnote that responds easily, use it to intro-duce the half-hole technique, whichinvolves a combination of sliding androlling. When using the half hole, it isfairly easy to slide the finger down, butdifficult to slide it back up, so a combi-nation slide-roll works best. Young stu-dents may also have difficulty clearingthe entire hole and moving the finger

all the way onto the pancake portion ofthe key without sliding and rolling thefinger at the same time.

Overall there will be fewer oboedropouts if directors are persistent ineliminating the most common mis-takes before they become bad habits.With a good reed, a well-maintainedinstrument, and correct guidance,beginning oboists will be more likelyto become advanced players. D

Martin, continued from page 30

I play a little bit of piano but I'm real-ly bad at it. Currently I'm taking guitarlessons, but I'm embarrassingly bad andit, too. After playing a melody instru-ment for so long I enjoy working on har-monics and the balance of chordchanges. I really love trumpet, yet some-times I wish that I had stuck with thehorn and its beautiful sound. I also envystring players, especially violinists andcellists, who have such incrediblerepertoire to choose from. Theycould spend a lifetime playing justClassical and Romantic music andnever cover it all. Trumpet playershave only a handful of great piecesfrom past eras, but many fine com-posers are now writing for brass. This isa good time to be a brass player.

Whenever I get nervous about anupcoming performance 1 remindmyself that all I can do is try to be thebest I can in that moment. I try to stay

44 THE INSTRUMENTALIST / JUNE 2008

focused and forget about tomorrow orwhatever may happen in the future.The same is true for an audition, whenyou have only five minutes, ten at themost, to play. If you don't get into thatschool or land that job, life will go on.Play your best and try to enjoy playingfor that moment. Strive to have funregardless of where you are and who islistening. It is easy to have fun playingin the Chicago Symphony Orchestrabecause it is like sitting in the middleof a finely-tuned machine. Anyonewho has ridden in a really fantasticsports car knows what an incredibleexperience that is, and I find beingpart of the Chicago Symphony is likethat. I am surrounded by incrediblyfocused and talented musicians, andwe play great music. I couldn't ask foranything more. D

Chris Martin was appointed principaltrumpet in the Chicago SymphonyOrchestra in 2005. He was previously

the principal trumpet in the AtlantaSymphony Orchestra since 2000. Heearned a degree in trumpet performancefrom the Eastman School of Music,where he studied with Charles Geyer andBarbara Butler.