If you just got your first oboe student or you are looking to teach oboe lessons, how to teach a successful first oboe lesson may be a daunting question. There is so much that goes into just one note that it can be tricky knowing where to start. I like to start with what I consider the fundamentals of oboe playing, the type of things that are going to be crucial even if they reach an advanced level. Having a solid introduction to the oboe can help the student to avoid many of the typical frustrations of playing the oboe.
Basic Facts and Care
First, I do a quick overview of some basics that they should know. Some they may know already, but I don’t want to assume anything and let them go a long time without knowing a fact just because it seems like everyone knows it. So, we go over the simple things like the oboe is a woodwind instrument and a double reed instrument and what those terms mean. Then we go into some basic care such as avoiding extreme temperatures for the instrument, which is less necessary for the grenadilla oboe that students are likely to have than a rosewood one for instance, but I would rather be safe than sorry. Then I cover reed care such as how to soak it (I say at least five minutes) and make sure they have a case that allows for the reed to dry out completely and, of course, explain why. Often while the reed is soaking, we put the oboe together.
For younger students especially, I like to touch on oboe care such as not leaving the instrument standing on its bell and not even leaving the instrument lying on its side in a chair. This happens in middle school bands often and often does not end well, even if it’s not the oboist’s fault (but if you leave your oboe unattended, I do kinda blame you for what happens to it…). Also, holding the oboe upright and close to your body when not playing or walking around is another good tip. Do my students still end up swinging the oboe around parallel to the floor and smashing their reeds on things? Yes, they do. But after buying new reeds every week for a few weeks in a row, they (or maybe their parents) start to figure out that they need better habits and they will already know some practical steps to take.
Posture
Posture is important later for air support. There doesn’t need to be anything fancy here. Often I find that the head and neck are where posture is the worst. They know how to sit up but when they bring the oboe to their mouth their head also tilts forward. I emphasize stretching the spine up all the way to the top of the head. All my students sit at the very beginning. Blowing that much is tiring and dizzying enough. They don’t need to be worried about falling over because of this!
Embouchure
This is obviously a big one and a large portion of the first lesson. I like to demonstrate each of the steps between explaining them and before I have the students try to do any of it. That way, they have seen and heard the steps once and know what the end goal is before ever picking up the reed themselves. Starting with crowing the reed by itself, I place the reed on my relaxed lower lip with the tip just barely over my lip into my mouth. Then I roll the reed and my lips in simultaneously so that the color of the lips disappears with an emphasis on bringing the corners of the mouth closer together. The goal is a rounded and cushioned place for the reed to sit about halfway into the embouchure. I will walk the student through this a few times in a row having them crow the reed after the embouchure is formed each time. I try to be very particular in this and have them start over anytime something is a little off. Doing this in a mirror where the student can see both you and themselves and for comparison is very helpful.
Breathing
Once the embouchure has been practiced multiple times, we will take a break from that to talk about breathing. You might need to check the posture of the student again because this is where it becomes important. Proper embouchure and breathing are the most important skills in oboe playing. Breathing might even trump embouchure. Good air covers a multitude of sins and cannot be emphasized enough. I have my students take a deep breath and try to imagine that they are filling up a column of air inside their torso that spans from their belt buckle to the lips. This column must be full and unimpeded by slouching, breathing in the chest only, or a tense neck. I have them take large exaggerated breaths (which end up being good, normal breaths rather than exaggerated ones because breathing loudly tends to make them feel embarrassed) and focus on this column of air. Doing this breathing while their hand is on their stomach can also be helpful to get them to breathe all the way down and make their stomach extend out some. Next, we carefully form the embouchure again, repeating as necessary until it is perfect, and crow the reed again with our new full breath. Instruct them to do this while aiming the air just above their top teeth instead of straight into the reed.
Articulation
At the very beginning, I have my students play legato or slurred articulations for everything. Since I am really not worried about more than one note at a time in the first lesson, starting a note is what I focus on. I explain that the reed cannot vibrate when the tongue is touching it and how that stops the sound. Then I point to where the tongue should touch the reed, just under the tip on the lower blade of the reed, and emphasize how very lightly it needs to touch. Then I explain and demonstrate taking in a large breath and blowing it out between rounded, tense lips (no reed) at the same time that I make a “duh” sound on the roof of my mouth. The tongue “release” is like the poke that lets the air in a balloon leak out. Then, the same thing again, except crowing a reed starting it with tongue. Have them try this after diligently forming the embouchure just as instructed earlier.
Holding the Oboe and First Notes
Now, we can put it all together and play the first notes! With the reed in the oboe now, have the student again carefully form the embouchure (do not be slack on attention to detail EVERY time the student does this in the first lessons – avoiding bad habits now saves everyone later!) and then adjust them so that their elbows are not squeezed to their sides but comfortably extended out and the bell of the oboe is a good six to eight inches above their knees. Also, have them relax any obvious tension in their hands. I have my students start with a note in the middle range. I like to use A. You could start with C because it does respond easily, but I find that sometimes it is harder to control at first and produce a good first sound. B is too resistant of a note for my taste and A is my happy middle. Have them play this note starting with a good breath and a gentle “duh” tongue release. Let them try to hold it steady with their solid air column while you check posture, embouchure, breathing, and their overall body position and tension. Most likely you can show them one or two more notes to try and that will be all for their first lesson!
Final Thoughts
It is challenging for a beginner to play for very long with an undeveloped embouchure, so only thirty-minute lessons at the start are advisable. Also, since oboe students start out older than students of some other instruments, it is very common for them to already be able to read music, so I did not cover any of that here. If you only had thirty minutes and they cannot read music, I would not change the lesson. They would just practice holding the notes they have learned and forming their embouchure in a mirror at home the first week and we would cover reading music the next lesson. This would also be a good scenario to do hour lessons with a beginner and use the last half as the introduction to reading music while their face muscles rest from the first half. Normally though, I can assign a few simple exercises that involve only a few notes and very simple rhythms because they can read the music quite well. This gives them something a little more specific to do that still allows them to focus primarily on forming a proper note.
Hopefully, this helps give a good picture of how to guide a new oboist. Slow progress at first is fine as long the fundamentals are being emphasized and established before moving on. And have fun! Be excited about the first steps and their progress! It makes for a better time for all. Some of these analogies for teaching oboe can also help to make the lesson fun!