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Introduction

For modern oboists, beginning to play the baroque oboe or hautboy present s a

confusing mixture of familiar and new elements. The basic diatonic fingerings and

the feeling of blowing a double reed are similar to past experience, but the crossedand double-holed fingerings, uneven resonances, and the realization that there are no

octave vents and that the same fingering can produce more than one note can seem

alien and frustrating. In addit ion, baroque style calls for subtleties of articulation that

are often not familiar to modern symphonic oboists.

T he following exercises are intended to help a beginner address these issues. # 1 and

# 7 jump between octaves, and give t he player practice in producing the int ended

note in tune; they should be played slowly and carefully at first. # 2 and # 5 present

some simple scales and intervals, and should also be played slowly to coordinate air

stream modification for better resonance and tuning.

Exercises # 3, # 4, and # 6 are for finger dexterity. T hey should be played slurred as

well as tongued, and in all key signatures up to four sharps and flats, with attention to

smooth t ransitions between notes. Exercise # 10, based on the famous Moyse flute

exercise, addresses all the tonalities and should also be played slurred.

# 8 and # 9 are intended as an introduction to baroque articulation, with the idea of

learning to speak through the instrument . T hey should be practiced with low

breath pressure in # 8 an effort should be made to keep the reed vibrating all the

time, touching it lightly between notes to delineate them as subtly as possible.

Exercise # 9 offers an approach to notes ingales, mimicking the hard and softpalate tongue-strokes used by baroque flute and recorder players the ri syllable is

the light art iculation practiced in # 8 while the ti syllable is the conventional oboe

articulation where the tongue blocks the air stream.

T he accompanying chart shows the fingerings that I use for the Saxon model hautboy

made by Joel Robinson that is used by many American players; with slight

modification they will also work with many other copies of late 17 th and early 18th

century instruments. It should be noted that many other fingerings exist along with

schools of thought advocating one or another approach as more authent ic or more

practical, in the end each player must make his or her own decisions as to what choice

is most satisfying.

Stephen Hammer

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& c

w w w

& w # # w# # # w# w

& bb wb n n w

w # #

&w#

w b

b wb

& w b

b wb b b

& nn w . b

#

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

Exercise 1 -- Le Tombeau d'Agneau

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& # c ##1

w

& # # n n b6

w

& b bb11

w

&bb bb b

16

w

& bbb n n n21

w

& nn n26

&31

w

Exercise 2 -- Some scales

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& C1

&5

&9

&13

&17

&21

&25

w

&30

&34

&38

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

Exercise 3 -- Five-note scale patterns

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&42

&46

&50

w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

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& C1

&5

&9

&13

&17

&21

&25

&29

&33

&38

w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

Exercise 4 - Thirds, play in all key signatures

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&42

simile

&46

&50

&54

&58

&61

w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

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& c1

# b # n # n b w

&8

b # b n b n # w

&15

# # b n # b w

&22 # #

b

b

#

n

w&29

# n b b # b n w

&36

b # n b # # w

&43

b n b n # b n # w

&50

# n b # n b b w

&57 b n b b b b b n b

#

b

#

b

wb

&64

b b b b b n b b b # b n b wb

Exercise 5 - slowly, with even sound

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& bbb c1

& bbb5

& bbb9

& bbb13

& bbb17

w

& bbb21

& bbb25

& bbb29

& bbb33

& bbb37

w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

Exercise 6 -- play in different keys

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& bbb41

& bbb44

& bbb47

& bbb50

& bbb53

& bbb56

&bbb59

w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

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& c bb n n

& # #

& bb n n b

b

&n n

# #

& w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

Exercise 7 -- Syncop octaves

Courtesy Adam Shapiro

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& c #

tititi

tiriti

titiri

tiriti

titiri

tiriti

titiri

tiriti

# titiri

tiriti

titiri

tiriti

titiri

tiriti

titiri

tiriti

wtitiri

& b titititi ti

titi ririti

titiri

ririti

titiri

ririti

titiri

tititi

tiriti

tiri

riti

tiri

riti

tiri

titi

riti

etc.ri etc

& b

& b w

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe

Play equal, trochaic, iambic

Experiment with the pulse

Exercise 9 -- articulation and inequality

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& # # c n n b b b

& bbb

& bbb n n n # # # #

& # ### n n n n b

& b n ## # # ##

& # ### # #

& # ### # # n n n n n #

& # and so on

Exercise 10 - with apologies to Moyse

Stephen Hammer -- Studies for Baroque Oboe