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Youth Orchestra Audition Tips
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...
Mar 73 min read
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Oboe Third Octave notes
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...
Jan 232 min read
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Oboe 101: Do you dust and polish your keys?
Most oboes have silver-plated keywork, which slowly oxidizes and gathers dust over time. Yes, even if you store your oboe in your case...
Jan 93 min read
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Oboe 101: How to clean your swab
Swabs come in all shapes and sizes: big enough for the English horn, small enough for just the top joint, double-ended, single-ended,...
Dec 27, 20242 min read
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Oboe 101: Help! My pad is sticking closed!
Have you ever experienced pads randomly sticking closed? It’s so annoying - I’ve recently had a handful of students with the same issue:...
Dec 19, 20243 min read
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English horn Quick Start
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...
Dec 12, 20243 min read
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How to keep your oboe/English horn pads drier
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...
Nov 28, 20242 min read
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Top 3 tips for doubling English horn
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...
Nov 14, 20243 min read
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English horn support options
There are so many different ways to support your instrument, some more ergonomic than others, and it’s important that you know what your...
Oct 24, 20244 min read
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When should you apply cork grease to your oboe?
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...
Aug 15, 20242 min read
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Tips for performing outside
I recently toured Spain and Portugal with the West Valley College Band. During the trip I performed 4 times, and 3 of those performances...
Jul 11, 20244 min read
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When should I toss my old reeds?
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...
Jun 13, 20243 min read
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What’s that plastic stuff around the base of my reed?
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...
May 31, 20242 min read
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Oboe 101: How to get your sticky keys un-stuck
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...
May 9, 20244 min read
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Air/embouchure balance
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...
Apr 25, 20242 min read
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What oboe reeds do I recommend?
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...
Mar 21, 20243 min read
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3 new ways to spice up your warm up
We know that our warm up time at the beginning of a practice session is super important because it reinforces fundamental skills of...
Feb 29, 20243 min read
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3 Quick ways to improve oboe tone
Oboists are always searching for that optimal tone with the least amount of effort, right?! Before I share the 3 quick ways to improve...
Feb 8, 20242 min read
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How to get rid of extra air
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...
Jan 26, 20243 min read
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Is there such a thing as too much air?
Today’s edition was inspired by a question I got from Newsletter subscriber Glen last week. Glen is a multi-woodwind musician, and says...
Jan 18, 20243 min read
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