Oboe and Flute Instruction ~ Audition Preparation
Historical Oboe and Performance Practice ~ "Teach the Teacher"
"We first met Joyce when my son was starting fifth grade. He had started the oboe the previous year, but he was frustrated by the difficulty of the instrument and his lack of progress. Within weeks of working with Joyce, the difference was remarkable. Not only did he start to sound like he was playing the oboe, but he was motivated and enthusiastic about practicing. During the four years that he has studied with Joyce, he has shown enormous growth as a musician. Most importantly, he remains enthusiastic and is entirely self-motivated, practicing on his own each night. He has developed an understanding and a love of music that I know will be with him for life." — Joan B.
This 90-minute tutorial is for band directors who are teaching young oboists in their bands or starting oboe players in beginning wind classes.
How do you explain oboe embouchure? What about reeds? How can you get a young oboist to play softly? (Yes, it's possible!) During the last 30 minutes I’ll be happy to work with one of your oboe students.
Oboe reeds – sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t!
This workshop teaches oboe students and band directors how to adjust reeds they have bought with a minimum of equipment and little or no reed-making experience.
I provide coaching — preparing scales, sight-reading, and the required audition pieces or etudes — for students who are auditioning for regional, district, and all-state festivals.
The process includes multiple practice auditions, as well as learning techniques for dealing with those pesky nerves.
This six-lesson "quick start" course is designed to guide flute, clarinet, or saxophone students who would like to try the oboe. The oboe isn't necessarily more difficult - just different!
Understanding those differences makes the process so much easier. I also provide students with two GOOD hand-made reeds.
As of this writing (Fall of 2023), we are making progress in the battle against COVID-19. I'm delighted to resume in-person lessons at my studio with one condition: I ask students to take a home COVID test before the lesson and I do the same. I keep a supply of home tests ready. When weather permits, we do lessons on the deck in back of my home. No, the neighbors don't mind!
There's a silver lining to online lessons begun during the pandemic. Online instruction has proven to be very popular with both students and parents. When teaching online, I can offer far more flexibility in scheduling. As a result, there are fewer skipped lessons. Yes, there are challenges, but we've developed alternate methods for learning online. For example, since I can't count rhythm when students are playing, ALL students learn to play with a metronome. Even the beginners start playing with the metronome from the very first lesson. The result is better rhythm for all.
