Here are a few great resources for oboists to help you improve a variety of skills on your instrument!
Reedmaking
Jennet Ingle – 5 Minute Reedmaker
Jennet Ingle has many resources on her website including a podcast, a blog, reedmaking courses, a reed shop, and a book. I linked her Youtube playlist, “5 Minute Reedmaker,” above because that the free resource I have benefited from the most. This is a long playlist of short videos that cover making each part of the reed, tools, fixing common problems, and even some English Horn and Oboe D’amore reed advice. Having these short videos is great if you’re learning for the first time or struggling with a specific problem. She also has another playlist, “Reed Repair Shop,” in which she corrects other oboists’ reeds that are very helpful to see and much more on her channel. She has a no-fuss approach to reedmaking that I appreciate!
Although not a super active blog, it still has worthwhile reedmaking posts. This blog also includes a few non-reedmaking articles on topics such as breath support and dynamics that are extremely helpful! These posts are all worth returning to multiple times.
Performance Strategy
Bullet Proof Musician is a blog (as well as having courses and a newsletter) that focuses on scientific ways to improve your practice efficiency as well as overcome nerves and memory slips. He draws from a lot of sports science research because music is a physical activity too! Reading this blog makes you feel like you can conquer anything on your instrument because…well…science!
Oboe Art and Method, Martin Shuring
This book covers the fundamentals of oboe playing, reedmaking, instrument care, fingering and trill charts, and how to behave as a professional musician and advance a music career. Even as a beginner, this is a great book to add to your shelf for reference.
Oboe Secrets, Jacqueline Leclair
While the previous book has long form chapters, Oboe Secrets is a series of generally one or two page “secrets” within each chapter. This makes each topic very bite-sized. The tagline for this book is “75 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Oboist and English Horn Player.” Don’t let the word “advanced” put you off though. Even beginner to intermediate players can benefit from this book which covers practice strategies, reedmaking, health, extended techniques, tone and rhythm, how to simplify your oboe life, and more.
Music
This is one of THE main method books in the oboe world. This book is mostly an intermediate to advanced resource often started in high school or college, but I want to leave this here mainly to suggest that even beginners can go ahead and get this book. It is called “A Complete Method for the Oboe” on the cover page and “complete” is right. This method book starts all the way back at the beginning with a definition for music itself. It continues explaining ledger lines, scales, the oboe, posture, embouchure, breathing, etc. It has comprehensive fingering and trill charts and scales and scale exercises.
The progressive melodies start off leaning more intermediate already, which is why this book is generally started later. I would never use the Barret book as the only book I start and progress a new student on, but if you are really interested in learning oboe the first fifty-six pages are a great resource for even the most beginner oboist to use as a very practical progression toward more advanced technique.
If you are looking for more melodic beginner material, I have a list of beginner oboe solos.
That’s all for this short list. What are your favorite resources for oboists?