Intermediate Etudes for Oboe

Young oboe players are faced with many challenges at the intermediate level. Besides securing the early fundamentals, they will be introduced to an expanding range (high notes in particular) and all the major and minor keys. They will continue to develop a beautiful sound with good intonation, secure a clean technique and finally they will begin to conceive of music as a language of expression. No matter the hurdles, musical expression should become an inherent part of a musician’s performance. It has to be more than fingering the right note!

There are 55 etudes in Robert Stephenson's "Intermediate Etudes for Oboe", each designed as an introduction to musical expression. It is a collection both varied and challenging, and an “opportunity” to communicate, to begin speaking the universal language that is music. Every major and minor key signature through six sharps and five flats is utilized as well as etudes based on pentatonic, octatonic, phrygian, "blues" and the "Spanish/Jewish" scales. Each etude is approximately 1/2 to 1 page in length.