On October 26, 2011 Sammi Notgoingtosay wrote:

Hello! I realize my name on here looks funny, but that's because I'm only 17 and I'm not comfortable putting my full name online.

That being said, I'd like to ask you for tips on playing this lovely instrument. I'm a senior in high school, but I'm just starting on oboe. I play bassoon, so I'm used to a double reed, but the embouchure is so much different on oboe. In all honesty, I haven't practiced for so long that after a very short period of time, my cheeks get tired. I realize this is my first day of actually playing, but it's still quite obnoxious.

To sum up my prattling, do you have any tips for a beginner? Thanks so much!

well first congrats on starting to play the oboe a lot of people don't want to play it because they say its to hard. But with practice you will get better. about your question, I'm just starting as well (little over a year) and i found the biggest hurdle was oboe reeds. My teacher told me to not focus on reeds and buy them online. This helped me SO much! I could practice and not have to worry about if i have a good reed for the concert or for rehearsal. I highly recommend getting your oboe reeds from www.oboeexcel.com/oboe-reeds
They have worked so well for me I think you should give them a try. I would go with Intermediate-soft they worked REALLY well when I was first starting. I never had a problem ordering or anything . You should try it out.
www.oboeexcel.com/oboe-reeds