'kay, first, my dad wants me to order some reeds (we can't find them here, currently he gets them whenever he has a flight to Australia... doesn't happen too often), and I was wondering what the better, more reliable brands are and the best places to order from are.

Also about plastic oboe reeds, cuz I had someone tell me that they're good for practicing with...

And two final questions, one, my right thumb sometimes really hurts when I play for a while, is that normal and is there a way to fix that, or is it just me and my super-short thumbs?

Finally... any advice on getting low notes? I know to "loosen up" more, but for C and B it doesn't seem to be helping much... also getting better tone on the high notes is tough for me, it comes out kind of quiet and muted usually.

Thanks... sorry I have so many questions, we're searching hard for a teacher!

Lady Ky.

Hi Ky,

Check out http://reedreviews.net/ and scroll down and you will see some European/Autralian reed makers listed. Some may ship out to your area.

Plastic reeds for oboe have not reached a point where they are usable. They would be a terrible waste of money. (Clarinet does have some good plastic reed options, but not oboe)

It is normal for your right thumb to hurt until you get used to the weight of the oboe. There are supports in the form of neck straps and FHREDs if you find that you just can't get used to the weight of the oboe (This is the FHRED - http://www.quodlibet.com/FhredGen.htm ).

Your low range problems could be the oboe, the reed, or you. My first blame would be the reed , but you really need to have another oboist around to help.

Hope you have luck finding a teacher. You can try other oboe boards at IDRS.org and woodwind.org to see if you can get better feedback.