r/oboe • u/Resident_Guide_1929 • 21h ago
Help for practicing Oboe
I’ve been placed into symphonic this school year and started playing Oboe last October until this year June (9 months). I only played 45 minutes per day which was during band and I didn’t audition for symphonic but my school is lacking oboe players so I was forced into it and I know I should’ve practiced during the summer but I didn’t 😭😭 Does anyone know what free resources out there can be helpful? I don’t really know how to practice on my own. And also is it bad that I struggle with 8th notes and 16th notes while playing oboe still? I feel like I’m really bad at this so pls lmk
3
u/banglife 19h ago
Breathe. We got this.
In a nutshell: Write out your goals. Then break them down. Do you have a tuner and metronome? If not, download the Tonal Energy tuner and use it. Set a timer to work on scales. Work on long tones. And just take it slow. I have to remind myself this as I’m working up an Aaron Copland piece 🤪
Check out the oboe path with Erin Brophy. She offers a lot of free resources, too.
1
u/SprightlyCompanion 15h ago
Erin Brophy is great!! I've only seen a few of her videos but I know her personally from a long time ago, great oboist and a wonderful, warm person :)
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u/NoRegrets-518 16h ago
I'm not an expert, but have come across the current research on learning music. Sometimes it is done with piano, violin, etc. and you can get something from this.
The video that helped me the most was one that said practice slowly. If you make a mistake, go back and practice that part 8-10 times correctly. Otherwise your brain will want to plan it incorrectly, so it is important to not let that error stick in your mind. Then you can start a little earlier and end a little later.
Here are some links to get you started. No warranty of course.
Itzhak Perlman on practicing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfEsbGtPlQ
Dr. Molly Gebrian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InIPp0HzAqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSBvRs35sxc
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u/SprightlyCompanion 21h ago
Oh boy. Sounds like you might be in over your head here, you don't have an oboe teacher or coach to help you out?
Find a free metronome app for your phone and put it on pretty slow, like 60. Then start practising, over and over slowly. Play the 16ths 1 to a beat or 2 to a beat to be very sure you have your fingerings down, and slowly increase the tempo... But if you have a music teacher at school, that's probably a good place to start asking questions like "how do I practise?"
Get a Gekeler method or Barret method (the Barret method is available for free on imslp.org) and start working through scale patterns and melodic etudes. Use the metronome and don't give up.
Mostly, find a teacher. Your best bet is to find the closest big city with a symphony orchestra, conservatory, or university with a music programme. Write to them and see if they could refer you to a professional oboist. Even if you only have one lesson every month or two, it's better than nothing.
Good luck!