Dear Prospective Student:

For anyone interested in studying music with me,  prepare yourself for the following questions.  :)  I feel that these give us BOTH some helpful starting points to bring about improvement on several different levels.


Dear Prospective Student:

Thank you for contacting me!  I VERY MUCH look forward to meeting you.

I'd be happy to give you a lesson,  but I need the following information to be the MOST help to you.  If you are an advanced student (having studied some at the college level already),  please answer all of the questions below.  If you are newer to the oboe,  you may not have answers to all of the questions,  but I ask that you answer as many as you can and be OPEN to seeking new answers for the questions you do not presently know.

1. What in your own oboe playing are you most proud of?
2. What aspects of your playing are you most looking to improve?

3. If these aspects of your playing that need improvement have previously been identified by other teachers,  how have you sought to improve upon them?  What has worked,  and what hasn't?

4. Why are you seeking oboe lessons?
5. Why are you seeking lessons from me,  in particular?


6. How much do you currently practice?
7. Does that seem to be enough time for you to make the improvement you seek?
8. If the above answer is no,  are you willing to make time sacrifices in other areas of your life to make time for more practice to attain your goals for improvement?
9. When you do practice,   how do you divide your time (scales?  long tones? solo pieces? etudes?)
10. Are there any practice methods in particular that you are most proud of/found the most improvement from?
11. How do you work through difficult passages?
12. What do you do on days when you feel like you aren't able to focus or aren't accomplishing much?

The internet (youtube, Spotify, Pandora, personal musician's and orchestra websites, etc) offer a WEALTH of opportunities to listen to,  study, and learn from professional oboists.

1.Which musicians do you particularly admire? (oboists in particular,  but other classical artists are certainly fair game here)
2. What pieces by your favorite artists have you listened to recently?
3. Do you listen to art music generally on a daily or weekly basis?
4. How frequently do you listen to your favorite artists--on a daily or weekly basis?
5. What have you learned from listening to them and how has it informed your own playing?

6. What questions do you have for me?  :)



Again,  I want to reiterate how much I look forward to meeting you and doing my best to help you develop as a musician.

See you soon!

Christa Garvey