1. Rachel Whitted
AP Lit Comp
Ms. Tillery
April 18th 2012
Senior Project Speech
Hello, my name is Rachel Whitted and this instrument is called an “oboe.” My senior project
goal was to teach this young musician, Sydney Holden, how to play the oboe.
Today we are face hard economic times and often education gets cut across the board, but one
of the first things to get cut in schools more often than not is music programs. Music is so important to
people's education and that is why in my research paper I addressed how important music education is,
but how little attention our society regards it's importance. I think the importance is really demonstrated
in this quote from a former governor. He really understands the effects of music education in a student's
life. Even if a student doesn't make it a career it still holds lasting effects that can affect them in their
life and in the job force. This has particularly held true in my life. In middle school before I became
serious and involved in band I was lazy and pessimistic, but once I began to take music seriously I
became a hard worker and became a team player. I've grown and matured a lot thanks to music
education and educators. This is why I chose to teach music to a student to help inspire, guide, and
show how great music is to young students and help them grow to love music and grow as young
adults. Which leads me to my process I underwent.
This project has allowed me to learn a lot of other skills pertaining to oboe other than just
teaching Sydney how to play oboe. There are three main components to my project; reed making, oboe
adjusting, and teaching.
The most important, difficult, and tedious part of my project was learning how to make and
adjust reeds. Reeds are by far the most unique and important thing to have a successful oboist. Every
oboist needs reeds made to fit their unique needs. For example, a reed for myself would be much harder

2. than a reed for Sydney because our different stages in embouchure development. I have a much
stronger and better understanding of how to create my embouchure and Sydney needs much easier
reeds to play on because her breath support and embouchure is not as strong as mine. Here, I have
collected various tools and examples of the reed making process I undergo. Cane goes through a long
and complicated process beginning from the Cane Fields in Southern France. First it is cut then dried in
the sun to produce this golden yellow color. Then tubes of cane are created and they are sent to oboists
and various other processing places across the world. They arrive in tubes such as this one I have here .
The cane is then pre-gouged, gouged, folded, shaped, and tied on. All this equipment adds up, a
gouging machine starts at at least $1,500. This year while learning I have only bought shaped and
folded cane to get a handle on making reeds before I learn how to process the cane, a skill I will learn
in college. There are three main parts to a reed, the tip, the heart, and the windows. After I have the
cane which is shaped and folded which looks like this I soak the cane in warm water while preparing
my thread with beeswax. I then place a staple on a mandrel and tie the cane onto a staple and the result
is this. I then begin to scrap off the bark, and then clip the reed open with a razor blade. At this point
there is no definition in the heart or windows the tip is visibly thinner, but other than that nothing
spectacular has been done to the reed yet and it may or may not make a slight sound at this step. The
next step is finishing effects. I begin by thinning the tip and beginning to put in some definition into the
reed until it is able to make a sound. Once it is able to make a sound I determine what else needs to be
done to the reed by the sound that is made and proceed accordingly.
The next component of my product was learning how to adjust oboes through the help of my
teacher and through trial and error. All oboes are very different and oboes tend to be very expensive so
Sydney has to use the middle school oboe which is less than spectacular. Here I'll demonstrate different
types of oboes and you can clearly hear the difference in quality of sound. First is the profession model
oboe. Now an Intermediate oboe. Finally, Sydney's beginner oboe. This oboe is constantly getting out
of adjustment and becomes unable for her to play. I've had to learn how to adjust oboes which has been

3. very beneficial to me in the long run. I'm really glad that I've been able to learn how to adjust them
because it helps me when things go wrong with my oboe or the other oboist at the high school need
their oboes to be fix. It is very uncommon to find someone who can adjust or repair oboes. Often
typical instrument repair men or women shudder at the thought of trying to fix oboes.
The final piece of my project is how I have guided this student to successfully play the oboe.
Sydney just played for us the F Major Scale on her oboe which is a key fundamental to performing
music. I practice and use my scales daily in everything I do and this is the very cornerstone of learning
music.
My Project Facilitator is Lisa Sayre who has been my oboe teacher since I began playing oboe
in 10th grade. She earned her Master's degree at Louisiana State University in 1987 and has been
teaching and performing oboe ever since. I was very surprised at her assisting me in this project. She
did very little assisting me in the actual teaching process. However, she helped me all the time while I
learned how to adjust oboes, and how to make reeds. She has been a huge help in my journey where I
learn to make reeds and how to adjust oboes properly. Lisa has also been a influential figure in my life
and has convinced me that what I want out of life is to play and teach oboe.
The biggest challenges I faced began from the beginning: finding a student to teach. I had to try
to find a student that had time outside of school to learn oboe, had the will and enthusiasm to learn and
who would have parents that would approve and agree for their child to participate in this project. I
found a couple prospective students, but various things kept coming up preventing me from teaching
them. Then I found Sydney at a 6th grade instrument night thanks to Mr. Carter who introduced us. Her
mom then agreed and signed this form to allow me to take photos and videos of Sydney and said that
she would agreed to pay me a small fee for lessons and reeds so I could afford various costs I came in
contact with like cane, staples, thread, other reed making supplies, and gas money. Here I have the
book I used to keep track of the money I earned and I also have the contract Sydney's mother signed
agreeing to let Sydney participate in my project.

4. I learned a lot about how to teach students and how to think of ways to make concepts
understandable and how to make music interesting and exciting. I learned how to make reeds and
adjust oboes which will help me greatly when I pursue music in college and will give me an advantage
over other students.
I loved this project and enjoyed it so much. I could not have picked a better project and I will
continue to teach music lessons in my future as a means to make money and as an enjoyable way to get
children enthusiastic about music. I have enjoyed this project so much it did not even feel like a project
or stressful. I cherished every moment teaching Sydney and making reeds despite how frustrating it can
become at times and I am really glad I got to learn all the skills that I learned. Teaching has really
helped me even in my own playing because it makes me be more alert to things I do when I play and
how to fix them.
Hopefully everyone here will realize from my enthusiasm about this project, how important
music is and will try to make music education important in their lives too whether it be helping
someone else realize how great it is, going to the latest symphony concert, picking up an instrument
yourself, or even just trying to discourage budget cuts in the arts department.
Thank your time and consideration.