=================================================================
*****The Reed Report: Issue 62*****
=================================================================

Congratulations! As a subscriber, you are one of the
first to see this important information.

In this issue:

-A Note from Maryn
-Highly Recommended
-The Reed Tip
-Oboe Reed Trivia

Please add “[email protected]” to your whitelist or address book
in your e-mail program, so that you have no trouble receiving
future issues!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Note from Maryn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday 2:05 p.m. EST
Batesville, IN

“Fear has a smell, as love does.”

-Margaret Atwood

I think the appropriate adaptation of this quote for oboists is
“fear has a sound.”

It does not matter how much you practice or how good or bad you
think your reed is. Fear is obvious, and it is a sound that has
no place in music.

My very wise teacher had a saying along the same lines that I
will never forget:

“Fear is not an appropriate color.”

It is a bizarre thing, because someone can play very well and
still play fearfully. And someone else can play less well,
missing notes here or there or whatever but be full of
confidence.

Strive to remove any fear from your playing. If you detect any,
ask yourself where it is coming from. Sometimes we just need to
acknowledge it and move on instead of acting like everything is
OK.

I remember my first solo recital after I had graduated and left
school. I was a “professional,” but I didn’t feel like it. I
had a really hard time being on my own at first because I
realized it was all up to me, and that was very scary.

Luckily, I recorded the recital and literally could hear my own
fear. It was then that I decided it was going to be confidence
or bust from now on, because it just wasn’t worth it any other
way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Highly Recommended
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We’re in the holiday spirit here at MKL Reeds…

To have just a little bit of fun, we’ve put on our rhyming caps
and created a holiday oboe poem that will make you laugh,
cry and marvel at why we all choose to play such a crazy
instrument!

It starts like this:

Twas the day of the concert when all through Sue’s house,
The sound of her reed making was waking her spouse.
And the noise from her scraping and clipping and crowing,
Was causing the pain in his head to keep growing.

He said, “Don’t you think you could stop for a minute?
I keep having this dream and your reed tools are in it.
The knife keeps on yelling it’s taken for granted,
The cane tells old stories ’bout the day it was planted…

You can get a F*R*E*E laminated copy (suitable for framing) when
you order our new sightreading guide, Play It Right The First
Time, before December 24.

You can get the details here:

http://www.mklreeds.com/sightreading.htm

(Don’t worry, if you’ve already ordered, you’ll get one
automatically 🙂

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Reed/Oboe Tip
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s a quick tip from our reed tip archive:

Great reeds don’t always look perfect.

In fact, some of them are downright ugly!

Judge your reed more on how it functions and use its looks as
clues to how you could improve things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oboe Reed Trivia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Each week we feature a bit of oboe trivia to help keep your oboe
brains sharp. Sometimes the questions are easy, sometimes they
are not so easy.

Each Friday night, all of the correct answers we receive from all
of you are put into a hat and one lucky winner is chosen to
receive a special prize.

Congratulations to last week’s trivia winner, Patrick Kane!

Patrick answered Beethoven, Gordon Jacob and Graham Powning;
three oboe trio composers from 3 different musical periods.

Although Gordon Jacob and Graham Powning are both technically
20th century composers, they were active during different parts
of the century, with different styles, so….

Patrick, just let us know via email where you would like your
prize sent.

Here’s this week’s question:

What is one of the more common problems for a brand new oboe?

A. increased risk of getting a feather stuck in it
B. cracked top joint
C. stuck low B-flat key
D. rusty keys

Submit your answers via email to [email protected] by Friday at
5:00PM CST to be included in the drawing.

Good luck!

Thanks for reading. Until next time…

Happy playing,

Maryn Leister
MKL Reeds
[email protected]
http://www.mklreeds.com