oboeinsight

Last month I spent three weeks with incredible young classical performers, conductors and composers who came to the National Arts Centre’s Summer Music Institute from across Canada and around the world to learn from me and a world-class, international faculty. And you know what? Before they even set foot in my office, these kids already knew every single thing I’ve ever done.

How, you might ask?

One word. YouTube.

“Why are you doing that on the downbow?” I said in a lesson with a young violinist.

“Because you did it on the downbow with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1982,” she replied.

-Pinchas Zukerman

RTWT

I find YouTube to be a treasure trove. It’s so full of amazing things! When a student is learning a work I often suggest he or she check out YouTube to see if there’s a few samples of the work there. (Checking out more than one is a good idea, so one doesn’t hear only one interpretation.) But of course it can also cause a few problems; if you see some oboe players there you can see some that play with their oboes held up like a trumpet. You see some swallow the reeds. It works for some. It doesn’t work for others. So I’m hopeful that students of mine understand that I’m teaching them what I believe to be the best way to play with our particular reeds, their particular embouchure (yes, I let some take in more reed than others) and the kind of sound we are attempting to produce.