Exploring the
ORCHESTRA
Oboe
Musical Section:
Woodwinds (Instruments that produce sound when air is blown across a reed or through a hole. Other instruments in this family: piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) . Other instruments in this family: Bassoon, Clarinet, Flute
About the Oboe
What it looks like
An oboe is a long, thin musical instrument that you play by blowing air through a special mouthpiece called a reed.
It’s thin and black with shiny metal keys and a rounded end that flares out. It has a reedy, dark sound that combines well with the bright, shiny flute.
Did you know? Most oboists soak their reed before they play. That’s because the oboe reed is made from cane and it works much better when it’s moist.
How to Play
Mini Maestro
You hold the oboe with both hands, and blow into the wooden reed to make sound. When you press the keys with your fingers, it changes the notes. The tone of the oboe can sound sad like how you feel when you miss your friends or it can sound funny and a bit squeaky like a duck!
Young Maestro
You hold the oboe with both hands, and blow into the wooden reed to make sound. When you press the keys with your fingers, it changes the notes.
The oboe is different from the clarinet because it doesn’t use one reed, it uses two pieces of cane tied together, so the oboe (like it’s bigger brother, the bassoon) is a double reed instrument.
Father Doesn’t Always Know Best
Composer Richard Strauss never thought much about writing a big piece for the oboe until one day, an American soldier asked Strauss if he’d write something for the instrument. Finally, at age 82, Strauss did! He wrote his Oboe Concerto in D major which would become one of the most famous pieces in the oboe repertoire:
The problem was Strauss didn’t realize how much breath is required to play the oboe. His concerto is full of long, nonstop phrases with hardly any places to breathe!
