Practicing: the oboe doctor's prescription for optimal improvement

Practice.  It's what gets us to Carnegie Hall,  makes permanent (not perfect), and how we oboists spend many hours of our lives.

But what are you actually doing during that practice time? Sitting in a practice room with your instrument at your face making sounds for hours at a time each day doesn't magically get you to your dreams.   (Believe me,  I tried that for quite some time when I was younger!)

A bassoonist in undergrad used to proclaim as he headed to the practice rooms, "I'm going in there to get AWESOME!!" For this "awesomeness" to be achieved though,  it helps to have a plan. Below are six ideas to incorporate to help you progress and a practice "prescription" to provide structure to your practice sessions.

1. Identify your goals: both short and long term
2. Identify how you are going to reach your goals
3. Practice with your goals in mind
4. Observe and assess your progress
5. Reflect on your practice session
6. Plan your next practice session: give yourself a practice "prescription"


1. Identify your goals: both short and long term
Maybe it's a question of fate or free will,  but I believe that you have some control over how you design your life. I'm always reminded of John Updike's novel, Rabbit, Run.  The protagonist in the novel is on the run and stops at a gas station. When the station attendant asks him,  "where do you want to go?"and Rabbit responds with something like,  "I don't know." At that the attendant quips, "The only was to get somewhere, you know, is to figure out where you're going before you get there." I read this over 2 decades ago,  but the idea really stuck!

Identify your long-term goals first,  then develop a plan of attack for reaching them. Think about what you want to be doing over the years. Maybe you want to enjoy the oboe, perform in your community/church and have a career outside of music. Maybe you want to be a school music teacher. Maybe you want to perform in a world-class symphony orchestra or chamber ensemble. I clearly remember writing in a high school sophomore English class that I wanted to perform, teach oboe at a college,  and I wanted to make a difference in the lives of musicians. At the time I had no idea how to get there, but over time (a decade!) I made choices that prepared me for all of these things.

Whatever you decide you want to do, be realistic about your goals. If you set your goal to play Principal Oboe in the New York Philharmonic by the time you are 22,  you'll have to realize that Liang Wang expertly fills the principal role in the orchestra and will likely stay there for his career. Your chances of winning a position in a major symphony are almost as good as winning the lottery,  so cultivate your playing to the highest level but keep an open mind as to how you might contribute your talents to the world. 

Be flexible too,  as your goals may change over time as opportunities arise. Life presents us with many doors, and when we are presented with new opportunities we sometimes can't see how all of the passageways will connect to our goals.  There so many ways to create a meaningful life with music,  but you have to be open to creating them.

Next,  identify your short term goals. These are the small steps that build and lead you to your bigger goals. Some short term goals may be to increase your practice effectiveness, develop better technique, fix embouchure problems,  learn a specific piece/set of etudes, seek out and get into a summer festival, prepare for a successful college audition, etc., etc. Come up with goals that are attainable over a few weeks or months. These short term goals will give your practice sessions a daily purpose and (hopefully) motivate you to practice.

2. Identify how you are going to reach your goals.
If you are a student,  a teacher can help you with this part, but draft a plan for yourself first to present to your teacher. This shows initiative and will be a very useful skill to develop when you don'd have a teacher.  If you are on your own and don't know how to reach your goals,  talk to other musician colleagues to help you with some ideas. Or,  write me with your your proposed plan of attack and I'll happily give you feedback.

3. Practice with your goals in mind
This part is up to you.   Constantly be mindful of the big ideas you want to concentrate on.  If your teacher is working with you on air use or embouchure formation, etc,  bring your attention to these ideas as you practice through your technical exercises, etudes and solos.  Have you heard the saying,   "you can bring a horse to water,  but you can't make them drink"? If you have goals and know what you have to do to achieve them,  it's up to you to get practicing to go get them!

Keep your practice prescription handout (below) on your stand to keep you on track. Jot down questions and observations that arise during your sessions. This will help with #5,  as you reflect on your session and also be something to share when your teacher asks in your next lesson, "how did your practice sessions go? Do you have any questions for me?"

4. Observe and assess your progress during your practice session. 
Far too many students leave the assessment part to their teachers.  How many times have I heard a student stink it up playing wrong notes or rhythms and then look helplessly at me for help when they already know the problems?   The purpose of a lesson is to bring problems to your teacher that you haven't yet found ways of conquering for their suggestions,  and to also receive feedback/ideas that you haven't yet considered.  I can't underscore the importance of the last sentence!! That way lessons are a time for learning NEW IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS,  not a rehashing of something you've already heard (this is a waste of your time for both you and your teacher if you want to make optimal improvement!)

 The sooner that you take responsibility for your own improvement, the faster you'll find yourself making REALLY MEANINGFUL progress.

One way to assess yourself is to record yourself and listen to it.  Really listen. Then assess what you heard. Are the notes in tune and is the rhythm absolutely accurate? Is there clarity in your attacks, and all articulations in general?  Are your musical/expressive intentions as obvious in your recording as you thought they were while you were performing it? (This last one is often eye-opening!!)

It's best to record only a few minutes of music in each practice session. First,  if you record your entire practice session,  then you'll have a few hours of listening to do,  and who really has time for that?  Second,  by recording only a few minutes,  you'll be able to really critically identify a few key areas to immediately improve upon during the same practice session.

Take a few minutes to practice through the section again. Use a metronome, use a tuner, bring your full awareness to what you are doing physically and creatively.  Then re-record yourself.  Did you fix the issues? If not,  practice some more, re-record, and repeat the assessment. If your practice methods don't seem to be creating improvement,  discuss this with your teacher/mentor/fellow musicians for suggestions. Using a recording device for just a few minutes each day can bring huge improvements to your ability to listen to yourself and take responsibility for your progress.

Another way is to develop in yourself the ability to critically listen to yourself while playing. Almost as if you are listening from outside of your own body.  If you hear things that need improvement,  do your best to make those changes as you play.  This brings an immediacy to your awareness on what to improve. Then go back to the problem areas and re-work as needed.

A third way to assess how your practice is going is to play for another friend/colleague. You may *think* you have totally mastery of a difficult passage,  but can you play it in front of someone else?  If you are a college student have a few practice buddies, friends with whom you play a little of  your lesson material for each week. We sometimes did this at Indiana University during my undergraduate years on the day before our lessons and it really paid off! An oboe buddy would listen to me and try to think about what Marc Lifschey, our oboe professor, would say.  It helped us listen more critically, anticipate what our teacher would say (and fix the problems so he *hopefully* wouldn't have to say them! ), and taught us how to give constructive criticism to one another. Win, win, win!

5. Reflect on your practice session and use this to inform how you will structure your next practice session. Spend a few moments to think about what went well,  what went better than expected, and what went worse than expected. 

 6. Plan your next practice session: give yourself a practice "prescription"
This is a fluid process, one that might change day-to-day to meet your specific needs.  If your technical studies didn't go so well,  maybe they need to be practiced a little slower/differently next time. Or, if something went better than expected,  try to figure out WHY,  then incorporate  this technique for future sessions. Most importantly,  write your next prescription down at the end of your practice session so that you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish before your next session even begins. 

I've drafted a Practice Prescription below for a week of learning. This is organized for someone taking weekly lessons with a teacher, but feel free to modify it to best suit your needs.  For instance,  if you are not taking lessons,  you obviously won't need that part. Or,  if you are focusing on solo repertoire or orchestral pieces instead of etudes,  your prescription will look slightly different than this one.

**************************************************************

Practice Prescription

Date:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

Day 1:

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

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Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

Day 2:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

***************************

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

***************************
Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

Day 3:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

***************************

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

***************************

Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

Day 4:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

***************************

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

***************************

Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

Day 5:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

***************************

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

***************************

Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

Day 6:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

***************************

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

***************************

Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

Day 7:

New ideas from last lesson:

Short Term Goals— for the next few weeks and what you are doing to achieve them:

Long Term Goals—over the semester and years and what you are doing to achieve them

***************************

Practice Prescription for today: list the time you anticipate to spend on each of these segments, specific pages or sections to learn, main ideas to concentrate on, metronome speeds, etc.

Warm Up:

Technical Studies:

Etudes:

Solo Repertoire:

Ensemble music (chamber and large ensemble):

Other:

***************************

Assessment: record a short portion of your practice session (1-5 minutes). What did you learn from listening to this? What are you most proud of? What needs the most work? Practice the segment then record again.  Have you noticed any improvements?  How will this inform your next practice session?

***************************

Reflection: take a few minutes to think about how your practice session went.  Assess what went well, better or worse than expected? How will this inform your next practice session?

Before you end your practice session, use what you’ve learned from the reflection to fill out your practice prescription for tomorrow.

What questions/comments/observations do you have for your next lesson based on your week of work?

Keep your practice prescriptions in a binder and place the daily prescription on your stand next to your music. That way your goals will always be right in front of you and you'll have a place to write down ideas and questions as they arise. Over time the prescriptions will become like a sort of diary that traces your learning and improvement.

I hope you find this helpful for your progress. Now go get awesome!


Oboe and out,

The Oboist

Dynamics don't mean a thing

While working with a student chamber music ensemble recently, one student commented that as a group they could have done more with the dynamics.  This student is a fine musician and a bright person, but he/she (like tooooo many musicians) missed the point.

The newly formed trio had just played a piece and it was indeed lacking something, but dynamics wasn't it.  To me, the generic word "dynamics" is misused ALL the time to actually represent the idea of musical understanding or expressive playing.  Think of the last time that you heard a GREAT performance.  Were you ever thinking,  "wow, those DYNAMICS were AWESOME"?  Doubt it.  More likely, the performer's clarity of interpretation, the way he/she conveyed the emotion, structure and meaning of the piece with finely crafted phrases, attention to utilizing great technique, intonation, timbral choices and conviction of playing were what you found meaningful.

I explained to the group that if they KNOW what they WANT to express in a given piece of music and play it with conviction, then "dynamics" as a stand-alone idea don’t really exist.  More often, dynamic indications, along with tempo and articulation markings, are used to enliven the composer’s expressive ideas and help define the overall character of a piece, not solely a change in volume. A dynamic marking at the beginning of a piece, along with the tempo indication or other descriptive words helps to reveal the mood and character of the work.  When used at the beginning, middle and ends of phrases, the composer is indicating the scope of a gesture. For instance, a phrase that builds from pianissimo to fortissimo at the highpoint will carry much more emotive/expressive power than one that only moves from pianissimo to piano. Sudden changes in dynamic markings help to indicate a change of mood, character, etc. (These are often accompanied by different articulation marks, so notice those too!)

Dynamics are a natural part of expressive playing, but without understanding the phrase/piece, you might as well be turning a volume knob on a stereo. It can get louder or softer, but you have to think about WHY you want to make those choices.

So, instead of saying,  “we should play with more dynamics,” replace that with either,  “we’re not playing this with the expression that this piece needs” or “we don’t yet entirely know what we’re trying to express.” Then get back to work studying the piece and make some MUSIC.

Oboe and out,

The Oboist

Circular Breathing: A necessary skill for comfort and peace of mind

We're lucky that circular breathing is relatively easy to do on the oboe, especially compared to the flute or tuba! In fact, I believe that circular breathing, while not often used or taught by teachers of the last generation, is a skill that is absolutely necessary for all advanced oboists in our time (along with double tonguing).

So what is circular breathing?  Circular breathing is a means of breathing in and out of your nose while STILL maintaining sound on the instrument.  To circular breathe it is useful to understand that we have two types of "bellows" to hold and push air out and into our reeds. This first is of course your lungs,  which you usually use to play oboe. The second bellow is your cheeks, which will fill with air and quickly push air into your reed as you rapidly inhale through your nose during circular breathing.

Why/when should one use circular breathing? You should use circular breathing to not interrupt a long musical line and when you feel winded/tired but otherwise don't have time or a musically proper place to break the line.  I avoided learning how to circular breathe for a LONG time, thinking it was merely a "circus" trick and would practice a few exercises then put it away. It wasn't until I programmed a recital piece (the Silvestrini Etudes) that absolutely required circular breathing so that I was forced to really learn it. I'm so very glad that I acquired this new skill and I can't imagine playing without it now. Gone are the days of feeling absolutely out of breath after long passages. Circular breathing gives me a real sense of comfort,  knowing that no phrase is impossibly long since I can breathe at will with very little effort and feel fine.

If you don't already circular breathe, the following exercises will have you up and at 'em in no time. Of course,  like almost everything pertaining to the oboe, you'll first need to first arm yourself with a good dose of patience and persistence. (I know, I know, I've said that a lot before,  but it's so TRUE!) I've created a series of exercises to teach this skill and hope you find this helpful.

Exercises without the oboe

First isolate the use of your cheek bellows

1. Fill cheeks with air and hold it there.
2. With cheeks filled with air,  breathe in and out from your lungs through your nose.

Now use your cheeks as a bellows.
1. Fill cheeks with air and push the air out through your lips.
2. Try this again, pushing air out of your cheeks while you inhale through your nose.
    For some of you this is the most difficult step. You can try putting your hands on your cheeks to        
    actually "squeeze" or manually remove the air out of your cheeks as you inhale air through your  
    nose.
3. When your air is all out of your cheeks,  begin blowing air out from your lungs. This is step of   expelling air from cheek bellows and changing to expelling air from your lung is often a very tricky step for some. Again, try to make this transition as quick as possible. When first learning, you may notice a difference in air support. The air from your lungs will likely have more air support than your cheek bellows. Try to really pressurize the air from your cheeks so that the support is similar to your lung/abdominal air support.  This will make the transition of expelling air from  your cheeks to your lungs smoother and when playing the oboe the pitch and sound will be more similar.


Once you've mastered the above techniques,  you'll need two tools to practice: 
 A cup half-filled with water
 A straw


1. Place the straw in the water and begin blowing through it to make bubbles.
2.  As you continue to blow through the straw with air from your lungs, VERY quickly fill your cheeks with air.
3. Engage your cheek bellows to push air out of the straw while you rapidly breath in through your lungs.
4. Finally, transition from expelling air from your cheek bellows to your lungs again.
If you are circular breathing correctly,  there should be constant air bubbles moving into the water. If the bubbles stop,  you're likely not making a transition from one bellows to another quickly enough. Go back to the first exercises above to refine your skills. (This exercise can be a really amusing bar trick to amaze your non-musician friends!) :)

Once you've mastered this step,  try circular breathing on a reed only.

1. Place the reed in your mouth  and begin blowing through it to make sound.
2. As you continue to blow through the reed with air from your lungs, VERY quickly fill your cheeks with air. The sound should never stop.
3. Engage your cheek bellows to push air out of the reed while you rapidly breath in through your lungs.
4. Finally, transition from expelling air from your cheek bellows to your lungs again.

There should be constant sound through this exercise. You may notice a change in pitch as you change from cheek to lung bellows,  but try to minimize any differences.

Finally, we get to the oboe!

Place the reed in your mouth and try the last exercise again. There will be more air support needed now, so really try to push air out of your cheek bellows quickly with a lot of support from your cheek muscles.

In music, first try circular breathing through long trills where no one will notice any potential changes in  pitch very well. Then,  add circular breathing in to places where you have long notes in loud passages where you might not be heard by others. Next try adding in your new skill while playing scales, etc. I only circular breathe during slurred passages,  but these are often not hard to find.

If you find yourself out of breath after practicing circular breathing,  you likely aren't taking in enough air in your quick inhalation. Practice taking in more air into your lungs or circular breath more frequently.

Another use for circular breathing: EXHALATION
One of the difficult parts of playing oboe is getting out unused air. At breath marks,  the first thing we do is to exhale old air and then inhale new air. But if you feel like you have too much used/old air in your lungs,  you can use circular breathing to EXHALE through your nose as well.  I often use this trick when circular breathing for long periods of time or anytime I start to feel winded and too full of "old" air.  That way on your next inhalation you can take in much more fresh air. This feels GOOD.

That's it. Hope this helps!

Oboe and out,

The Oboist