Oboe For Everyone : Developing a Virtual Course of Study for Beginning Oboists with Inclusive Repertoire

Abstract

Learning an instrument is a luxury. In a scholastic setting, only some students are fortunate enough to have an instrumental music program. If a student wants to pursue further instruction, such as with a private instructor, factors such as commute time, lesson cost, and availability of instructors can all provide a hinderance to a student’s progress. All of this is even more difficult for students who wish to play the oboe. Like all instruments, the oboe has a unique set of skills that must be learned correctly; what makes learning the oboe so difficult is a general lack of resources. There is typically a lack of oboe instructors in a given area, and most scholastic music teachers do not have enough information to confidently teach their students. This cycle creates a scenario in which there are young oboists, hungry to learn the instrument, who do not know where to go for accurate and accessible information. Our project aims to provide an online, accessible, graduated system of study for the beginning oboist. Various analyses and discussions led to the development of several lessons on fundamental oboe skills, delivered in multiple different mediums. These lessons then informed the organization of the website to provide a natural progression between topics and a clear guide to finding other resources. This resource is not exhaustive, but it provides amble instruction and will continue to be updated with continuing developments in oboe pedagogy.