Playing Oboe/Competition/Band

Yesterday I had a band competition (won silver:) so I thought I would blog about my experience playing oboe, (I love it,) and being part of a concert band, what competition is like, etc.

I'm in my last year of middle school, there are three grades in my middle school, no not telling what grade I'm in...just 'cause haha...but anyway, around December of this year I decided I wanted to join band, so I talked to my band director and he said that, they had just had the winter cncert, would just be starting on new songs, it would be a good time to join, especially because I want to be part of band in high school, and it would be beneficial to have a little prior experience. So, after much thought, I was between clarinet, and oboe. I listened to several videos of each on YouTube and finally realized oboe is the instrument I love, I've loved it since I first heard one in third grade. It took a few tries to rent the oboe, as there were a few payment issues, but eventually it was worked out and I first started on oboe in the middle of January. I love it. Oboe is something I can look forward t, I actually considered joning when I first started middle school, but for some stupid reason waited til now. It's so fun to know how to ply an instrument! The only downside is, the reeds. I use Jones Medium Oboe Reeds, they are what work best for me. As you may know, oboe reeds are expnsive, a good reed costs about $15 at least. And you go through them pretty quickly, they're very easy top break. I'm currently on my sixth reed since January, and yeah, I have a friend who plays clarinet who uses an average of twelve per month, but then again, you can get a box of twelve good clarinet reeds for about $10. If you're willing to spend the money, oboe is an amazing instrument to learn how to play. Also, it is one of the hardest. You need a good embouchure and when you first start need to be willing to work hard at it and practice often. Again, all worth it!

So, yesterday was competition, my band got a silver medal. It was fun, we were one of the first groups to perform, meaning after we performed, we basically had the whole day until awards to do whatever we wanted - talking, eating, just hanging out, whatever, so it was really fun:) The stage was pretty amazing and I loved playing, although my reed was brand new, and I probably should've broken it in a little bit first hahaha. Other than that everything went smoothly, and at the clinic afterward, turns out the only thing keeping us from gold was pretty much just being perfectly in tune. We were actually just one point away from gold which is really annoying, but whatever, we still did good and my band director seemed pretty happy with it:)