Cooper

Warm up: put a metronome on 60 or use the second hand of an analogue clock (if you have one!) and play low D, middle D, High D and back down again with each note getting 4 beats. See if you can do it in one breath!

Barret Forty Progressive melodies No. 1: (pg 57)

Good sight reading!

  • Try to play through the whole exercise once at the beginning of your practice time just to figure out the notes
  • then practice each section tapping the quarter note beat on one leg and singing the oboe part. Make sure you subdivide the 16th notes
  • hold the quarter notes the full value, and try to decrescendo on the ends without dropping the pitch to make the ending more graceful

Barret articulation Exercise (pg 46)

Embouchure tips:

  • put as little reed in your mouth as possible; you will have to vary this to control pitch and tone somewhat, but always try to keep less reed in your mouth
  • with the reed on your bottom lip, roll your lip over your bottom and top teeth, then surround the reed so that it doesn’t leak air by bringing in the corners of your mouth like a reverse pout!
  • think “Ah” to drop your jaw on lower notes
  • when slurring to a lower note from a higher note think “Eeee Ahhh”
  • lower notes need the reed to be able to vibrate freely – this means less pressure on the reed

If the tuning is not steady on the repeated articulated notes, try them ‘on the air’ without touching your tongue to the reed. think ‘Haa Haa Haa Haa’ this should be done without taking in air in between if possible – as though you are laughing.

Scales!

New: C Major 2 octaves.

  • Don’t worry if the low C wont come out all the time
  • play it slowly and make sure you know where your fingers are going before switching notes.
  • Crescendo to the top, decrescendo on the way down

Bb Major

  • Try to practice with a metronome
  • Crescendo to the top!

G minor (harmonic and melodic)

  • Try starting at the top, going down and then back up (this will be tricky with the harmonic!)
  • set the metronome to a tempo you think is right for this scale, and if you make a mistake, take the tempo down 2 notches. Only increase after you play it once without fingering mistakes