Oboe!
Well, after almost a four (or five?) year haitus, I've gone back to the oboe. I'm in the process of breaking in my oboe again--as well as trying to retrain my diaphram, my lips, my mouth, and my ear (it is amazing how much Ive lost of my ability to "hear"). I sound like crap right now, but I hope that in a few months I'll maybe sound slightly less frightening.
Oh, and the dude in the painting? That is Marcel Tabuteau, the father of the United States oboe sound.
posted by Ovonia Red @ 8:11 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
On a scale of riding a bicycle, ballet and/or belly-dancing, NASA-level math skills, and remembering a cookie recipe, where's "re-training myself to play the oboe" land? :)
Good luck with it.
Ya know, in hindsight, I should've known I didn't have a ear (and/or brain) for anything because it took me a very, VERY long time (more than a day) to determine that saying "peepeepeepee..." while sitting on the toilet did not produce the same sound as urinating. In my defense, I was very very young at the time...but still.
*shakes head*
Well, I've never done ballet, belly-dancing, or NASA math, and I've never tried to remember a cookie recipe (I write them all down), so I can't really make a comparison to any of those. It is definately more involved than riding a bike though.
Elements:
Physical:
Embechure-maybe like starting weight training after a long break. I have to re-train my lips and build endurance to hold a very tight embachure for a very long time while remaining relaxed enough that I don't squeeze the reed and cause the pitch to go sharp.
Diaphram-maybe like doing sit-ups after a long break. I have to hold my stomach muscles tight and support the air so my pitch does not go flat.
Endurance- I need to rebuild my (and my oboe's) ability to play continously (or near continusly) for gradually longer periods of time.
Fingering- this is like riding a bike. My fingers remember most everything, but still need to get them up to speed.
Mental:
Tuning- because I haven't played in so long, I have to re-tune my ear. It tends to be tuned about 10 cents to 15 cents sharp anyway, but by not playing oboe in so long, I've lost my ability to fine-tune (no pun intended) notes.
Air- I have to re-train my mind to control my breathing and the way I think about my breathing (fast air, not a lot of air, inhaling, exhaling, control of air). It is also physical, but I consider it mostly mental.
Focus- slow eight-count cres. decres. excercises over a two octave chromatic scale requires SERIOUS focus (and endurance). And that's not including scales, triads, etc., etc., etc.
Reading music- again, like riding a bike, but parts of it need to be fine-tuned. I need to re-train my brain to hear intervals. I also need to re-train my brain to remember to actually look at the key signature BEFORE I start to play a piece of music (my musician friends are now completely disgusted with me. But I almost always forget/forgot).
There's more--it is a lot of little pieces (and bigger pieces) that need to be remembered or developed or re-developed or re-trained. I'm sure there are many things I've forgotten to include in this list--as well as aspects I've consciously left out (for example, I didn't even touch on reed-making!). But so far it is good to be back on the OBOE. I really missed it.
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