Can anyone tell me the range of an oboe (lowest note to highest note)?
Thanks.
Collin
Oboe!
I loathe oboe.
You haven’t heard the good stuff then.
I don’t loathe the way it sounds. I loathe how hard it is to play!
I believe the Guinness Book rated it the hardest instrument to play.
Also oboe players are subject to quite an interesting medical problem. As you probably know, overuse or strain can damage any part of your body, so violinists (and flautists) get carpal tunnel, etc. Oboe players get paralysis of the soft palate (the soft part of the roof of your mouth, in the back) which makes it more difficult to swallow, say letters like “k” or soft “g” or create suction, like for drinking out of a straw. It is very uncommon, but it can happen especially in professionals. Fortunately, it is treatable.
And to what malady (besides WhOA) are whistle players subject? I have been playing only for a year and a half and desire to know all of the facts before continuing.
Spontaneous combustion, and CPD (Crystal People Disease).
Oboe is one of my favorite instruments. Use to play one years ago. It was wonderful.
So that’s why you talk funny! 
I love oboe too. The soundtrack to The Mission has a lot of oboe, and is quite possibly the most beautiful soundtrack ever written.
I love it too, when I’m not loathing it, that is.
Do you know of where the information about the oboe being the hardest instrument to play might be? I’m having trouble finding it…
Could be 
It was in a paper copy of the Guinness Book of World Records that I read. The 1990 edition, so that would be 15 years ago. I don’t know if it would be on the internet.
I found a few pages on google which said the oboe and the French horn were tied as being the most difficult instruments to play. I was just wondering what kind of criteria they used. It seems like it would be a little bit subjective to me.
Screw them Pipes are way harder. Who needs Oboes when you have Bassoons? (yes I do play Bassoon).
I was going to ask if bassoon was actually more difficult. It seems to me that all the pressure needed to play oboe or bassoon would cause brain anurysms.
Why couldn’t they make an oboe or bassoon that didn’t require so much pressure?
I have played the French Horn for 3 years, and I don’t think that it is hard to play.
Cranberry said:
I found a few pages on google which said the oboe and the French horn were tied as being the most difficult instruments to play. I was just wondering what kind of criteria they used. It seems like it would be a little bit subjective to me.[/quote]
My wife actually had to give up oboe playing due to severe headaches brought on by the high breath pressure required. Talk about backpressure, and oboe makes even the tightest voiced whistle seem as pressure-free as the Lincoln Tunnel…