The month of March kicks off Youth Orchestra Audition season in my studio. I’d say about ¾  of my students who are eligible for a Youth...

Let’s start by defining the range of the third octave on the oboe. I consider C#6 to be the first third octave note, and the highest...

Most oboes have silver-plated keywork, which slowly oxidizes and gathers dust over time. Yes, even if you store your oboe in your case...

Swabs come in all shapes and sizes: big enough for the English horn, small enough for just the top joint, double-ended, single-ended,...

Have you ever experienced pads randomly sticking closed? It’s so annoying - I’ve recently had a handful of students with the same issue:...

If you don’t have a private lesson teacher or oboe coach, you might know nothing about English horn! This is a quick-start guide to...

As we come deeper into fall weather, my students and I are experiencing more water-in-the-keys issues than we did during the summer. I...

I have a lot of fun playing English horn because of the different role that it plays in the orchestra. Sometimes it’s part of the...

There are so many different ways to support your instrument, some more ergonomic than others, and it’s important that you know what your...

I’ve noticed all summer that my students often go too long between putting cork grease on their oboes, and so this first newsletter of...

I recently toured Spain and Portugal with the West Valley College Band. During the trip I performed 4 times, and 3 of those performances...

Since we just wrapped up the school year, you might have a bunch of old reeds in your reed case like I do! I kept a handful of old reeds...

Do your reeds come with a bit of plastic around the thread and base of the reed? If so, please leave that plastic on the reed, it’s...

Earlier this week at a lesson, one of my private students had a dramatically stuck Db key. Like stuck down so hard we had to press the...

One of my favorite topics to work on with student oboists is the concept of air/embouchure balance. We know that both the air we blow and...

It’s been a while since I last shared my list of reed recommendations with links, so I thought I would update you today. You’ll notice...

We know that our warm up time at the beginning of a practice session is super important because it reinforces fundamental skills of...

Oboists are always searching for that optimal tone with the least amount of effort, right?! Before I share the 3 quick ways to improve...

Last week I talked about the feeling of back pressure that comes with playing oboe. As we play, we can’t blow all our air through the...

Today’s edition was inspired by a question I got from Newsletter subscriber Glen last week. Glen is a multi-woodwind musician, and says...