Click here for warm-up exercises
Major and minor scales have such a strong relationship to tonal music that their value cannot be overlooked by the oboist. Both technique and musicality may be developed through their use.
Technically, I find that a chromatic approach to tonal (major and minor) scales is more useful than the cycle of fifths approach. There are several reasons:
1. When one is playing a tonal scale, it finally (or should finally) become a finger pattern. For example, one needn't concentrate on the fact that G-flat Major has six flats which are B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, G-flat and C-flat. One associates a certain set of fingerings with this scale, and it feels a certain way when mastered.
2. The theorizing that goes into playing tonal scales via the cycle of fifths is one step removed from the actual performance, i.e. the oboist must first know the key signature and then apply it to a particular scale. The chromatic approach helps eliminate this nonpragmatic step, for the oboist hears and feels the correct fingerings, and doesn't have time to think of what the key signature is, or what degrees are raised or lowered. Ray Still[1] urges oboists not to try to "think" as such, while playing, but to listen carefully and intensely to the sound they are producing.3. By playing C Major and following it with C-sharp Major, the oboist senses that one scale is not somehow more difficult than the other, simply a different set of fingerings.
The procedure I use and recommend is as follows: Each scale is played from memory. All octaves are played until the entire gamut of range is covered by the oboist, one octave at a time, beginning with b-flat and continuing through f3.[2] Quarter-note = 88 is a good tempo to achieve (see exercise 1).
Musically, slow sustained scales are invaluable to the performer. The two tetrachords contained within a major scale afford opportunities for attaining line, melodic direction, pitch response, and tone quality. All tonal scales may be used for this exercise, but major scales are particularly effective. The chromatic approach needn't be used here since the desired outcome is musicality, not technique. Any order of scales might be chosen. Harold Gomberg[3] stressed the tetrachord procedure with scales such as E-flat Major, two octaves (see exercise 4). In the lower ascending tetrachord, melodic direction is to scale degree 4; in the upper ascending tetrachord, melodic direction is to scale degree 8. In the upper descending tetrachord, melodic direction is to scale degree 5; in the lower descending tetrachord, melodic direction is to scale degree 1. One notices that dynamic control is also achieved in this exercise. Tendency tones[4] and tonal direction are of utmost importance. This scale should not be simply a scale, but an imposing musical statement played with every ounce of expression the oboist has to give.
Here are some other warm-up exercises I have found useful for the development of musicality. Remember the desired effect is beauty, not speed.
Exercise number two[5] should be played with all major scales. It should be done chromatically as shown in exercise one, and it should encompass the entire range of the instrument. It should be done from memory.
Exercise number three[6] should be played at 41 = 52 from memory and with a chordal piano accompaniment as indicated. All major scales should be used here as well.
Exercise number five[7] is for development of pitch control. The tendency for flatting the upper pitch when coming from a lower pitch is overcome with the help of this exercise. Note that the dynamics and articulation indicated make this exercise even more difficult.
Both technical and musical warm-up exercises are beneficial. The slow, musical exercises are better to start the warm-up exercises.
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ENDNOTES
1.
Ray Still is first oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This
information was given at an oboe master class in Toronto in the
summer of 1983.
2. See
Stephen Kostka and Dorothy Payne, Tonal Harmony (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1984), p3.
3. Harold Gomberg
is the former solo oboist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
4. See
Elie Siegmeister, Harmony and Melody Vol. I (Belmont: Wadsworth,
1965) pp 32-33.
5. Exercise
number two was gained from Ms. Sara Pierce, assistant professor
of voice at Frostburg State College, Frostburg, MD.
6. Exercise
number three is from Todd Duncan, a master voice teacher in Washington,
DC.
7. Exercise
number five is one used by Harold Gomberg.
