Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 15: Oboe - Oboe Quartet in F, K. 370

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Performer: Laila Storch

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Recite the composer and composition names.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the instrument or topic category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson continues the study of the oboe. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Oboe Quartet in F, K. 370,' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, features the oboe. As you enjoy the music, listen for the sounds of the oboe. The painting included in the lesson, 'The Oboe Player,' by painter Johann Zoffany, shows a white-wigged man posing with an oboe.

Vocabulary

Quartet: A group of four people playing music or singing together.

Category

1. Music lessons group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, woodwinds, and brass.
2. Woodwind instruments in an orchestra typically include flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.
3. Woodwind instruments produce sound when the musician blows across an opening or through a tube to vibrate air inside the instrument.
4. Most woodwind instruments incorporate a reed to produce their distinctive sounds. Examine the oboe reed. Note how it fans out at the end, similar to a bassoon reed.
5. Reeds are attached to the mouthpiece of instruments, where musicians blow to vibrate the reed and the air inside the instrument. For the oboe, the reed is attached to the staple.

6. Woodwind instruments also have keys or open holes that musicians press to alter the sound. See the keys on the oboe.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Review the Parts of an Oboe

Review the parts on the labeled picture of the oboe.

Activity 2: Review How to Hold and Play an Oboe

Review the picture of the oboist and answer the following questions:

• How does the oboist use her right hand?
• How does the oboist use her left hand?
• What do the oboist's fingers press down?
• How does the oboist use her mouth and lips?
• How does the oboist change which sounds the oboe plays?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Oboe Parts

Quiz yourself, and identify the following parts from memory on the oboe diagram:

• Bell
• Reed
• Keys
• Upper Joint
• Staple
• Lower Joint

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'The Oboe Player,' by painter Johann Zoffany, and find the following:

• Staple
• Reed
• Upper Joint
• Lower Joint
• Wig

Review

Question 1

What are the five major categories of instruments listed in the lesson?

1 / 5

Answer 1

The five major categories of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

1 / 5

Question 2

Which instrument category does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the woodwind category.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the oboe.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the oboe?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the oboe include the reed, the staple, the upper joint, the lower joint, the bell, and the keys.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians create different sounds with woodwinds?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians press woodwind keys or open holes to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow to manipulate the volume.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major categories of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major categories of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which instrument category does this lesson feature? This lesson features the woodwind category.
3. Which instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the oboe.
4. What are the major parts of the oboe? Major parts of the oboe include the reed, the staple, the upper joint, the lower joint, the bell, and the keys.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with woodwinds? Musicians press woodwind keys or open holes to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow to manipulate the volume.

References

'Woodwind instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Oboe.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Oboe-player photograph by Zach Hetrick (CC BY-SA 2.0).' Wikipedia. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oboe-player.jpg. n.p.