How to play high notes; 2nd/3rd octave with Fingerings!

Hello Obophiles! It's time for another Technique Tuesday! The series where we talk about technique on a Tuesday. Today we're talking about high note fingerings, how to play them, and how to practice them. So we're going to be going through all the fingerings from high D above the staff all the way up to I think high Ab or high A. We'll see how it goes. Alright let's get started. Hello again! Some quick tips before we get started. It's really tempting to want to squeeze out these high notes with the embouchure. Make sure that you're not squeezing with the mouth because it will go really sharp at this range. Instead, make sure you're supporting really well from down below with the abdominal muscles and the intercostal muscles, the rib muscles. And make sure you have the correct fingering first. Squeezing with your hands will not make the note come out easier. So if something's not working, don't try to squeeze it out. Just reassess what is not exactly in the right place and then try again. Relaxed playing is the best playing. Okay, without further ado, let's go over these fingerings first and then we'll talk about how to practice the notes. Okay, so make sure that you're supporting really well with the air. Make sure that you're using the right fingering and make sure that you've got an open embouchure and of course, make sure that you smash that like button if you haven't already. So the first fingering that we're going to start with is high D above the staff. Now all these notes have multiple fingerings that will work. The important thing is that it sounds right in the context of whatever music you're playing. So the high D fingering is half full, two, three on top, two on the bottom using your middle finger and the C key down here. Now the note will also work if you don't use the second finger on the bottom and just use the C key. The intonation is a little different but just voice it in the right place using your tongue and kind of the throat and you'll have success with it. Now if you need to slur to it, it can be helpful to add the ring of the D key and I use it by pressing with my ring finger just the outside ring and not covering the whole. And it's a little easier to slur. I like to practice slurring to these notes without the like helper fingerings just to kind of get used to it but if it comes to it, I will use it to help me out. For example, going from B flat. Comes out fine without the ring but with the ring, it's just a little bit more secure, a little bit lower as well if you need to lower it for like the third to that B flat. Okay, the next fingering is the half step above D and that is E flat. Now the main fingering for this note is going to be half full, two, three, two, three on the bottom and then add the B key with your left hand pinky. And I'll have these fingerings beside me here as well. So add the B key with your left hand pinky now. Now if it's ridiculously sharp on the reed that you're using or maybe your oboe is just really sharp, you can change out the B key for the B flat key and it comes out much easier when slurring. But it is quite a bit duller and lower so just be aware of that. The next note that we're going to go through is high E, a half step above that and this one has three fingerings that will work depending on the context that you need it in. So the fingering I'm going to start with is the principal fingering, half full, two, three and on the bottom, two, three and then we're going to add the octave key back here, the first octave key and then we're going to play the E flat and the A flat key with our left hand pinky. Now this works really easily as long as your fingers are curved on the oboe and not flattened out like this. If they're too far stretched, that's going to be quite a reach for your pinky so make sure you're curving the ring finger and playing just under the nail with the fingertip. Not really like right under the nail but a little bit further back but keep both knuckles curved on the ring finger is the point. Okay, let's try it out. Now alternatively, now this fingering looks great if you're using any pinky keys on the right hand. So if I'm going from high C sharp to high E, this is the fingering I want to use on the left side. But let's say I'm coming from an A flat to that high E and I've got my pinky on the left side already used. So I can use this alternate fingering which is the right side high E and that's just almost the same. So half full, two, three, two, three on the bottom, first octave key but now you're going to play the A flat over here on the right side and the E flat down here with your right hand pinky. So we'll go from A flat to E. Now high E has some short fingerings as well. There is the option to use in very technical passages half full, two, three, A flat key alone and then use your third octave key to help make up for the fingerings you're not using. Oh, I got a little bit of water. And then you can do the same thing on the right side with the right hand A flat key. So if I'm doing a fast C major scale to high F, like the beginning of Sibila Strini, that might be a good fingering to use. Keep in mind that it is quite a bit lower than the other E fingering. So if you need like a flat major third, that might work but use, but in practice try to use the full fingering whenever possible. It just sounds a little bit more robust and that's a pitch. Okay, now moving on to the high F fingering. It's almost exactly like the high E fingering, but we just lift up the ring finger. So if you're on the left side, lift up the ring finger, if you're on the right side, same thing, just lift up the ring finger. So trilling from E to F is no problem, you're just moving the ring finger up and down. And the same short fingerings apply. You can use one, two, three half full and just the A flat key and throw on the third octave key to help you out. Okay, moving on to the good stuff. These are the fingerings that are not usually in the repertoire, but they come up sometimes. And that is F sharp. So F sharp is going to be, well it kind of depends on your oboe. So we're going to do half full two, one, so kind of like B flat with a half full, the C key on the bottom, and the third octave key. Now on my oboe, it works better when I cover the half full, but you need to experiment on your own instrument and see which one works better. And when you find the right fingering for your instrument, it's like you can't miss it. Okay, one half step above that, we're going to go to G, and you can just lift up the C key and it will give you kind of a flat high G, but let's try it. And you might have to help it out with the voicing, and that's like a lower high G. The higher high G, which I like in pitch a little better, is going to be one, three, C, so four fingering, one on the bottom, A flat, and third octave key. Now, a lot of people think this fingering is really sharp if you're used to the other one, and it is higher, harmonically, but you just have to voice it into the right place. So you can do the first one. So that one, I might have to voice down a little bit, but just kind of be aware where these pitches are. And I think that one's a little bit more kind of juicy and robust. So use the fingering that is correct at the moment. I think that one works great at the end of the Goossens Concerto, or at the end of the Palladil Showpiece for piano and oboe. Okay, moving on to more good stuff, we've got high A flat, or high G sharp. Okay, and this fingering is one, three, third octave key, and that's it. Okay, and getting from high G using the finger that I like to this guy is easy, and the other one is a little bit more cumbersome with the flip, but it's also very approachable. Now, remember, this one, find the voicing, use your tuner, because it's a little bit sharp on my oboe, but we'll live with it for now. And then, finally, we have an alternate fingering for the high G sharp. We have just one and one, is that right? Yeah, okay, so one and one, like your fingering is C, but add the third octave key. And if you forget, you might have to try out these fingerings like I just did, they can get a little bit unused sometimes, so just make sure that you're giving them some love. And of course, context is everything, based on what you need pitch tendency-wise, and what you're able to do with the voicing in context. Okay, and finally, the high A. I only have ever used this a couple times, most recently I played the Piazzolla 3rd Tango Etude for flute, and there's no mercy as far as range goes, so you need to be able to pull out that high A. And this one, I think I remember, is half-full two, two on, sorry, half-full three, so fourth, on the top, and then on the bottom, two, with your ring finger, and then, I think that's it, and then third octave, oh, first octave key in the back. There we go, okay, so, a little confusing to remember, but once you have them down and once you've practiced them, the fingerings will come a little more naturally, and you'll be able to practice them in scales and things. So maybe, lately I've been practicing scales from whatever the lowest note of that scale is, up to high G or G sharp, so if I'm doing a B major scale, I'm gonna go all the way to G sharp. And there you go, those are the fingerings for the higher notes on the oboe. Now, let's talk about how to actually work on these. So, number one, I recommend working on these with a tuner. Use a tuner whenever possible, and you can do it a couple different ways. I'm gonna first do it with the drone, so I might set it on whatever key I'm gonna be thinking in, so let's think in C, just for simplicity, and I'm gonna play C major scale all the way up to high G, starting on the high C. So I'm thinking about where are my voicings. That's kind of annoying, sorry. I'm thinking about where are my voicings, so the high D wants to be high, so I'll voice it low. The E needs to be flat, because it's the major third, so I'll voice it low as well. The F, I had it kind of come in the middle, so I put that one right where it was, and the G was really flat, so I needed to voice it way up, or it wanted to be really flat, so I voiced it way up. So, that's using the drone, and you can practice all the high notes scale contextual on that way. The other way is to play them in octaves with the lower pitch, the lower octave pitch, and I'll use my tuner for this as well, but using the reader and the needle. So we'll try high F. Now, this is a better practice for nailing the note out of nowhere, but make sure you have the lower octave in your ear, and you're using your tuner to guide you. Now, practicing the high notes can get exhausting after a while, so make sure you're staying hydrated, and taking breaks. Again, if the fingering is not correct, it will not work at all. So make sure everything is really covered, you're really soft with your hands, and really relaxed, so that the note works right away. You can use these techniques to practice, as well as any repertoire, just make sure that you start by going slow. If you need help on how to work on technique in general, including the tip to go slow, you can click on one of the corners, or in the description below. That's it for today on the Technique Tuesday series, in which we talk about technique on Tuesdays. Keep practicing, make sure that you're using good practice techniques, don't forget to tune in next time for another Technique Tuesday, and don't forget to subscribe down below if you haven't already, and smash that like button, smash that notification bell, so that you don't miss another Oboe Files video. I hope you guys have a great week, and as always, when in doubt, play beautifully!