Oboe facts for kids
An oboe
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| Woodwind instrument | |
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| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 422.112-71 (Double-reeded aerophone with keys) |
| Developed | Mid 17th century from the shawm |
| Playing range | |
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An oboe is a woodwind instrument with a double reed. It looks very similar to the clarinet, and may be confused with it. While the clarinet's shape remains cylindrical, the oboe's body is conical. The sounds produced by clarinets and oboes are very different. An oboe's sound is produced by blowing air through the double reed at the upper end of the instrument which forces the two reeds to vibrate together which produces the sound. The oboe has four parts: the bell, lower joint, upper joint, and the reed. A person that plays the oboe is called an oboist. A typical orchestra may have two oboes but sometimes three. Sometimes there is also a cor anglais which sounds a fifth lower than the oboe. Very occasionally there is also a bass oboe, which sounds an octave below the oboe. Gustav Holst used one in his Suite "The Planets".
The oboe came from the shawm which was a medieval and Renaissance instrument. It became popular in the Baroque period. Bach and Handel both used it in most of their orchestral music. Many Italian composers such as Antonio Vivaldi wrote concertos for the instrument, and it is used in a lot of chamber music. At this time it hardly had any keys, but gradually more keys were added which made it easier to play the sharps and flats.
Later composers to write for the oboe as a solo instrument include Mozart, Weber, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams and Francis Poulenc.
It is usual for the principal oboist in an orchestra to play the note A for the rest of the orchestra to tune their instruments to.
The name oboe comes from French language hautbois, meaning "high wood", a high-pitched woodwind instrument.
Images for kids
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Oboe reeds
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Oboist Albrecht Mayer preparing reeds for use. Most oboists scrape their own reeds to achieve the desired tone and response.
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Renaissance oboe (shawm), baroque oboe (Stanesby copy, maker Olivier Cottet), classical oboe early 19th century (Copy of Sand Dalton on the original by Johann Friedrich Floth), Viennese oboe early 20th century, Viennese oboe late 20th century and a modern oboe
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The members of the oboe family from top: heckelphone, bass oboe, cor anglais, oboe d'amore, oboe, and piccolo oboe
See also
In Spanish: Oboe para niños
