Posted by Double Reed Debacle on 2/2/2024, 10:24 pm
My beginner oboe players are struggling with correct octave response, particularly in their upper range. I've had them play their Bb scale up and down, but getting up to the proper F and G (top of the staff) and then A and Bb is a struggle. Sometimes they nail it, but other times they really struggle to get the right pitch and I even hear unsteady, wobbly sound or squawks.
I've checked their positions, and their fingers are all pushing the correct keys and I could not find any accidental extra keys pressed down.
Any advice on what might be the problem or how to address it? My hunch so far is that it's an embouchure strength issue, but I'm not positive.
If it's happening in both the first and second octave keys, it's probably not the instrument.
Most likely their air is too slow - have them raise the back of the tongue (think ooo with the lips, eee with the tongue), aim the air high, and push it hard and fast. Sometimes it can help to get to visualize aiming the air at the top of the wall in front of them to knock it down onto (whoever they want to visualize behind it).
Make sure they aren't taking in too much reed. Their bottom lips shouldn't be any further down the reed than where the heart meets the windows.
They can push the reed into the lower lip muscle a fair bit to help (NOT lip-covered teeth! the corners must be active so that it's muscle they're pushing into, or you risk both the tone and the reed).
Do check that the reed is giving them a fighting chance, though. When they crow it with their lips at the thread, it should crow between a B and a C, with a good balance of low and high notes in the crow. If they're playing some store-bought reed that crows like a G with no high overtones in it, there's no real way for them to manage the high notes without doing things with their embouchures that they shouldn't do.
Try blowing into the open first octave hole. Sometimes some liquid will seal it so that the air doesn't escape through when played.
Re: Oboe Octave Response
Posted by Not an oboe pro on 2/5/2024, 1:40 pm, in reply to "Oboe Octave Response"
Probably need to scrape on the windows a bit to make the response easier for them to get up there. Make sure if you do scrape to do a little at a time and equally on all four sections.