In search of Barbara’s voice… (or my voice sung by Barbara)
Saturday January 26 2008
So in my lesson my instructor told me this.
“Cooper you play very well. You play technically perfect and have a great sound. You play in tune, and have everything there, but I feel like you haven’t found your oboe voice yet.”
She followed the statement up by—
“When I hear my teacher play, I know every time that that’s Stephen Taylor. Sometimes his tone changes, or his vibrato, but he always plays like Stephen Taylor. When I hear you play, sometimes you play amazing, and sometimes you’re just playing.”
So I’ve been thinking about how to find my oboe voice. She said I just need to listen to myself, but this doesn’t exactly give me a whole lot of direction. I called Mr. Weber and had a good conversation, and he encouraged me to be patient, and that my oboe voice would come with time and maturity.
I also spoke with the topic with my stand partner Kitty and my friend Liz, who both stated that they feel like they play with their voice on very special pieces, which I would tend to agree. Strauss would be one for me, as is the Bach A minor partita. But how to find your oboe voice so that every time you pick up that instrument remains elusive to me. I wonder how many musicians out there can say they have found and truly feel comfortable with their “instrument voice”.
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