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 LH 3rd finger hole
Author: JulesP 
Date:   2015-01-25 23:41
Attachment:  Oboe 3rd hole.JPG (128k)


I have acquired an English thumb plate oboe (I'm in the UK) that is 30-35 years old and, as someone learning pretty much from scratch, have just had it serviced to replace worn out pads etc. to give me confidence in the instrument.

I was wondering why the 3rd hold on the top section is just a bare hole in the barrel instead of having a raised hole with a ring like the other two? Modern oboes rarely have just a bare hole it seems. Given that I feel I have to reach further with my ring finger to fully close the hole, and often don't close it fully, I wondered if it was either possible or desirable to modify this feature?

I attach a photo and look forward to your thoughts.

Thank you


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 Re: LH 3rd finger hole
Author: Caroline Smale 
Date:   2015-04-14 00:00

Julian, I would suggest that the primary reason is that it costs less - and on student quality instruments costs are important. Most clarinets (even expensive ones) also have a plain finger hole for RH 3.
Can it be modified - yes, but, - adding height would change the intonation (flatter) which can possible be corrected by making the tonehole bigger however there may be some unintended results as well.

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