What is an oboe?
Q: What is an oboe?
A: An oboe is a woodwind instrument with a double reed. It has a conical body and produces sound when air is blown through the double reed at the upper end of the instrument, causing the two reeds to vibrate together.
Q: Who plays an oboe?
A: A person who plays an oboe is called an oboist.
Q: How many oboes are typically in an orchestra?
A: Typically, there are two or three oboes in an orchestra. Occasionally, there may also be a cor anglais which sounds a fifth lower than the oboe and very rarely, there may be a bass oboe which sounds one octave below the regular oboe.
Q: What composers wrote music for solo performances on the Oboe?
A: Composers who wrote music for solo performances on the Oboe include Mozart, Weber, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams and Francis Poulenc.
Q: What does "hautbois" mean in French?
A: Hautbois translates to "high wood" in English and refers to its high-pitched sound as a woodwind instrument.
Q: Where did the Oboe come from originally?
A: The Oboe originated from shawm which was popular during medieval and Renaissance times. It became more popular during Baroque period when Bach and Handel used it frequently in their orchestral music as well as Antonio Vivaldi writing concertos for it.
Q: What is it normal for principal Oboists to do before playing in an orchestra?
A: It's normal for principal Oboists to play note A before playing so that other instruments can tune their instruments accordingly.
