What Is the Most Important Technique for Playing the Oboe?

Air. It’s all about your air, and I feel like I took way to long to learn this.

This makes a lot of sense, because the reed is arguably the most important part of the instrument. It causes all the vibrations that make the oboe sound, and having a workable reed is a must for playing the oboe. But, of course, the reed can only make those vibrations if its two blades are set in motion by your air. How you manipulate the reed (which should be primarily by your air!) is how you change or affect your sound.

How you blow determines your tone color, your phrasing, the effectiveness of your dynamics, how comfortable you are playing, and your overall impact on someone listening.

I used to be far more shy about playing (and maybe, if this is possible, overly obsessed with how good or bad I sounded?) that I would play with my whole body tense, barely squeezing out my air in an effort to feel as though I had more control (which I didn’t!) and to make sure I wasn’t too loud, in case – you know – I messed up! This is a habit I still have to be very conscious of breaking and not falling back into.

So while there is a lot that goes into your embouchure and breathing and creating a good sound, there is definitely something to be said for *at least* sometimes just relaxing so much that you are not worrying about what you are going to sound like. You might be surprised at how much better you actually sound!

Because. Air. Don’t forget about it!

My oboe professor didn’t often take young, beginner students because he had a lot on his plate, but I do remember him talking about one young boy that he began teaching and loved teaching. Why? His comment to me was, “That kid really BLOWS!” And in this context, that’s a great thing.

Point I am trying to make: Make room for your air to come through your body unimpeded, i.e. keep your chest and throat very relaxed, or maybe stretched open, and keep your head and shoulders up. Aim for a freedom of movement through your whole body if thinking about all those details just make you tense.

Maybe you have heard before that air support and air volume are different. If you haven’t heard that before, air support and air volume are different. Now, they are closely linked, and maybe sometimes the lines between them are a little fuzzy, but separating them in your mind often really helps.

Volume = blowing a lot of air (not always a bad visual, but unwanted over-blowing is a possibility, and realistically, the reed is only going to allow so much air through and it is not very much)

Support= using your support muscles to control the speed of air you are pushing through your reed.

To find these “support muscles” (I may have just made up that term…but I am liking it), just think about your belt buckle. Or maybe your imaginary belt buckle. But on low-waisted pants – no high-rise. It’s these muscles right in that area that should move in and up in support of your air. To feel them, I like to pant like a dog with my students. Mostly because they think it’s quite silly and it sticks in their head. You can also cough, or gasp like a shocked and overly-dramatic Elizabethan. (Want other helpful oboe analogies?) Feel that tension in your lower abdomen. You should even feel/see movement there. Use those muscles to support your air, give it a soapbox to stand on. Your tone color will then encompass the rainbow and will have something to say.

Too dramatic?

Point number two I am trying to make: Your air should be held up from the lowest point in your body that you can like you are pushing up toothpaste from the bottom of the tube. Don’t worry if you don’t do that with actual tubes of toothpaste. I have proved that you can have that habit with your air and not with your toothpaste, and the hypocrisy is not overwhelming.

Oh, and while you are doing that, see point number one.

So, when you are playing softly, are you thinking about your air? Is it supported? Uninhibited? Playing softly should not change these things.

When you are playing staccato notes, are you thinking about your air? Is it supported? Uninhibited? Is it singing, even in the smallest of notes?

Are you phrasing with your air, or using some other false technique to phrase?

Are you thinking about your air when playing melodically, or punctuated? In the upper register and in the low? When you are soloing or accompanying? When you are in the middle of your frantic 16ths or holding a whole note?

I like to picture blowing a powerful air stream that is not just forging its way through the music, but it IS making the music. Then the fingerings and articulations are just extra little sprinkles on top that make the music sparkle.

Last point I am trying to make: ALWAYS be thinking about your air. Because it does everything. Well, everything that people will be writing home about. If some of those last questions especially were unclear to you, I plan to write several more times on this topic and get into even more of the nitty-gritty. But I hope this gave you something to think about, and I hope when you experiment you will open up great things in your playing!

Did I remember to mention that air is really important? Yes? Good. Start improving your air support now!

Have a good day!