Book Recommendations for Oboists


​Looking for some great books to learn about the oboe, how to play the oboe, how to practice, or to simply be inspired?
​
​Here's some to get you started!!
Technique & Pedagogy
Hey it's my book! This book, Relax and Take a Deep Breath: The Lucarelli Approach to Oboe Playing is a look at how Bert Lucarelli taught the oboe, covering a wide variety of fundamentals to playing the oboe, but also philosophies for every interested musician.

Jay Light's Essays for Oboists: More "Straight Talk" about achieving success as an oboist (or any other wind player) is a great book to hear Light's opinion on topics from oboe fundamentals, to phrasing, to being a musician. A must have on any oboist's bookshelf.
Jacqueline Leclair's Oboe Secrets provides quick tips and tricks for playing the oboe.  Sometimes were not looking for a long answer to a question we may have about playing oboe, and this book can help with that!
​
Martin Schuring's Oboe Art & Method goes into great detail about the fundamentals of oboe playing, giving tips and step-by-step instructions. It is a must have for every player or teacher of the oboe.

The Art of Oboe Playing, written by former Eastman professor Robert Sprenkle and his student David Ledet goes through the basics of oboe playing as well as talking about English horn and reed making.
​
Libby Van Cleve's Oboe Unbound: Contemporary Techniques offers a comprehensive guide to extended techniques on the oboe. Many students are unaware of the modern techniques we can create on the oboe, and this book clearly shows the player and composer what is possible.
David McGill's Sound in Motion: A Performer's guide to Greater Musical Expression is a must read for any wind musician. It goes beyond how to play your instrument and into the important topic of how to perform with the audience in mind.
Biographies & Autobiographies
Daniel Periera's We Can't Always Play Waltzes puts hours of conversations with oboist Bert Lucarelli on paper for everyone to read and learn about his life and thoughts on music.
Laila Storch's Marcel Tabuteau: How Do You Expect to Play the Oboe If You Can't Peel a Mushroom? is a lovely tribute to Tabuteau, who is frequently considered the father of American oboe playing, while also detailing her experiences studying with him during a time that it was unusual for a woman to do so.
Joseph Robinson's autobiography Long Winded: An Oboist's Incredible Journey to the New York Philharmonic is a fantastic read about how a North Carolina farm boy, who never attended a conservatory was able to make it to the New York Philharmonic as principal oboist.
Music and the body
Stephen Caplan's Oboemotions: What Every Oboe Player Needs to Know About the Body is the definitive book on Body Mapping for oboists. It is extremely helpful in understanding your body in context with your instrument to help prevent injury.
What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body by Barbara Conable teaches musicians how to use their body through techniques of Body Mapping and Alexander Technique. Both of these techniques greatly help all musicians be more aware of their bodies, and help themselves prevent injuries.
Stephen Caplan's The Breathing Book explores issues of breathing and physiology for the oboe player.
Practice & Anxiety
Madeline Bruser's The Art of Practicing is a guide that helps musicians find the joy in practicing, something that is frequently lost to many.
Stuart Dunkel's book The Audition Process: Anxiety Management and Coping Strategies is a great book to that explores techniques to help musicians be more in control of their stress and anxiety while performing.
Don Greene's book Performance Success: Performing Your Best Under Pressure gives musicians a set of skills to help them perform at their highest level possible.
​
Barry Green's book The Inner Game of Music is adapted from his book The Inner Game of Tennis to help musicians overcome obstacles that might be in their way during performances.
Jonathan Harnum's book The Practice of Practice explores what exactly does it mean to have good practice and how to put yourself in the best mindset while practicing.
Don Greene's book Audition Success: An Olympic Sports Psychologist Teaches Performing Artists How to Win presents musicians with ways to get control of their mind and anxiety when performing based on his work with olympic athletes.
Gerald Klickstein's book The Musician's Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness guides to excellence through three different parts: Artful Practice, Fearful Performance, and Lifelong Creativity.
Angela Myles Beeching's book Beyond Talent: Creating A Successful Career in Music is a guide for musicians who wish to create a fulfilling career in music that lasts.
Reed making
David Ledet's book Oboe Reed Styles: Theory and Practice displays reeds of oboists from all around the world with photographs showing them up close as well as back lit in order to compare them.​
Graham Salter's Understanding the Oboe Reed is the most comprehensive reed making book out there currently.  It goes through the entire process in extreme detail, which is extremely fascinating for those reed makers with many questions.
Jay Light's book The Oboe Reed Book: A Straight-talking Guide to Making and Understanding Oboe Reeds is a standard reed making text for many oboists.  It is an older text, but gives the beginner and advanced reed maker a lot of insight on the process as it has developed over the 20th century.
History of the oboe
Bruce Haynes The Eloquent Oboe provides a history of the hautboy through the Baroque Period as it began to develop from a primitive instrument towards the modern oboe we know today.
Bruce Haynes and Geoffrey Burgess The Oboe traces the history of the oboe from the shawm to the present day oboe.
Leon Goossens Oboe explores performance practice of eighteenth century to contemporary music.