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The Confident Musicianing Podcast
I was told to not play oboe for a week -- here's what I learned
Just the idea of this was shocking to me. But I did it, and learned some really valuable things from it. Thinking about resting? Let's chat.
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This episode is available as a blog post. Click here to read!
I stopped and I remember thinking, okay, that's it for a week, whoa, let's go. And it was so good. I mean, the week off was so extremely good. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. My name is Eleanor and I am a British American oboist studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Literally my dream school and it took me a long way to get there. I applied and auditioned for 12 schools in three different countries. It was a lot of hard work but, oh my gosh, so worth it. I want you to have the confidence to work hard in achieving your goals. So come with me as we go on this journey together. So sit down, pull up a chair, take seat or, if you're on the go, welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode.
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh. If you're listening to this, let me just tell, tell you I am in a nice warm jumper. I have my tea with me. It is a lovely, lovely, lovely sunny day, which does not happen a lot in Scotland, but it's happening today and I'm so grateful for it. And you know what it's crazy because? Know what it's crazy? Because when the sun is up this time of year, it is usually um, yellow and golden. The sunlight is golden and I think it's because the sun doesn't really rise that much in the sky, so it's good. It's kind of like a sunset at all times, almost in terms of the light, and it's just always so golden. And then the buildings are like a lot of them are shades of brown, but like really nice reddish browns, and it just it makes everything look so amazing. So that is how I am coming into this episode today with coziness, with gratitude for beauty around me and also with a cup of tea. So let's dive into this episode. This is quite an interesting episode to do and a thing to talk about, because I didn't realize I would be doing this, but at about I don't know.
Speaker 1:In early December, my teacher and I were talking about Christmas break, about winter break, and he said you should take the whole week of Christmas off of the OVO. And I almost just stopped like what? Like I was so shocked. I was so shocked and surprised. I was like how, what? Like that's crazy. I've never done that. Um, and he was like, yeah, no, totally go for it. He was like if you took the whole break off, you know school cause the break, um, for me was about three weeks. He was like that would be too long, but just take the week off. And he was like you know, it would be good for you to do that, I think. I think it'll help you. And so I was like you know what that sounds so crazy to me, but maybe I do need this break. And I did it.
Speaker 1:I did it and I was super nervous beforehand, literally like I okay, so the week that I took was from Monday to Sunday, and so the Sunday before that Monday that I was practicing, I was practicing so much, like I had this week off that was ahead of me, and I was like, oh my gosh, I felt like I needed to make up for that practice. So I was just, I really practiced a lot. And I remember being in my flat and it was like 8pm and I realized it was 8pm and I thought I should stop practicing because my neighbors will like that, like it's getting late. Um then, I don't think my neighbors will like this very much, so I stopped and I remember thinking, okay, that's it for a week, whoa, let's go. And it was so good I mean, the week off was so extremely good. And it was interesting because when my teacher said this, I immediately in my mind was like this is a podcast episode Like this. I want to talk about this on the podcast. I want to share this with you because I think it's going to be a really interesting and valuable, hopefully experience, and I had planned to record this episode about a week ago and when I sat down to record this episode last week, I thought you know what? I don't think that I'm ready to record this episode.
Speaker 1:It has been about a week since I had started playing oboe again and I was like I feel like I need a little bit more time to reflect and think about the things that I want to talk about, because I don't think I've finished learning from this situation and this experience. So we are here now and we're going to chat about it. So I have three things that I realized about this experience and that I want to share with you, especially if you are considering taking a break from your instrument for maybe a week or however long, or maybe you did, maybe you did take a break during the winter break, but for whatever reason, let's dive into these three points. So the first thing is I realized how much I needed it, I really needed it, I needed it, I really needed it, I really needed it.
Speaker 1:I remember the first Monday of break and at this point I was still practicing, right, because I had three weeks off and the middle week was the week of Christmas. So this was the first week and I was still practicing, but this was the first Monday that I didn't have some like class or something in the morning, and usually on Mondays I wake up at like half seven, maybe quarter to eight, maybe eight sometimes, and that's when I woke up. And this Monday, this was the first Monday that I didn't have anything booked and I woke up. It was like something like 11, like I slept in and I felt so tired and so drained and the idea of literally doing anything at all just made me really tired. Just like the thought of it and that was interesting for me, I thought, huh, this is, this is interesting. I think I'm burnt out. I think I'm burnt out because the immediate like chance that I had to be able to rest and and do something and I had planned things before I was like you know, I want to do this fun thing and I've always wanted to try this and blah, blah, blah and I just had no energy. So I thought you know what? I think this week off of oboe is going to be really helpful, and it was.
Speaker 1:I felt so tired when thinking about my oboe and I think, as musicians, a lot of us tend to. If we feel that way about our instruments, we might not talk about it, but in this space, this Confident Musician podcast space, we can talk about these things. I felt so, so tired and I just I did not want to touch my elbow. I was so tired and that shocked me. That shocked me. But there was also a part of me that was like I kind of knew that that would happen. I kind of knew that that would happen. So that's something that's interesting that has come about of all of this. Yeah, it was. It was crazy. I really needed it. So if you are taking a break, or maybe you're thinking about it, maybe bear that in mind, especially if you're like, oh, I want a break but I can't, or maybe I don't actually need it. Maybe you do need it and you don't realize, because I needed it and I didn't realize. All right, the next thing and I think this is probably one of my favorite things that happened was I became more musical. I became more musical Like when I was practicing, I became more experimental in my head, melodies started coming appearing in my mind and just all of these things started to happen.
Speaker 1:And I started to think about melodies and harmonies and and ideas for things. And all of a sudden I had so many ideas and I literally have kind of like a list of things that I was like, okay, when I play my elbow again next week, we're gonna try this and this and this and this. And that's kind of what happened that Monday. I was slowly getting into things and I had decided not not to, you know, fully go right back in, because you can. I wanted to kind of lean into it a bit and slowly get back, you know, to where I was, and so basically that Monday that's what I did. I just kind of did the experiment stuff that I was thinking about a week. But I became so much more musical, though that was the week of Christmas. But I became so much more musical, though that was the week of Christmas, I was listening to a lot of Christmas songs. I also was listening to John Batiste's Beethoven Blues. If that's something that you have not heard of look it up. It's like the best, it's the best.
Speaker 1:But it was very interesting in the idea that I was listening to this album, um, and I also wasn't practicing my oboe, like I was intentionally taking this week off of my oboe. So I was listening to this album and I was getting ideas from it and I was like, oh my gosh, you know, it's so interesting. Like the basic idea of this album is it's Beethoven, but with blues in it. So it's so interesting. So I was listening to that and I was thinking, oh my gosh, I was coming up with ideas from it and being inspired by it and I was like I want to try this with different things, maybe not just Beethoven, but also like oboe pieces as well. And I couldn't, I couldn't practice, like I had intentionally set this time aside to be rest from the oboe, and so it just percolated in my brain.
Speaker 1:And it was so helpful because then, when I got back to the oboe, I had these ideas, I had a feeling of freshness and also a feeling of excitement and kind of genuine curiosity, almost like a kid that doesn't know what things are. You know what I mean. Like kids are curious, kids are not nervous. Kids are not like. Kids tend to be really excited about things and ready to mess up, and that's kind of how I was with the ogre when I came back, so that's something that was interesting I also I mean, it was Christmas.
Speaker 1:I was listening to a lot of Christmas songs. Christmas songs tend to have kind of like a general the same melodies and rhythms and things. You know you have basic Christmas songs and then everyone put their own spin on it. I love jazz, so I listened to a lot of Christmas jazz and that was really interesting. And then that kind of created more ideas in my mind, musically wise, and when I got back to the oboe I was able to do that, even though it was after Christmas. I was like I want to play all the Christmas songs that have been stuck in my head for a week and I want to try on the oboe. So that was really interesting.
Speaker 1:I became much more musical. I was so inspired and so kind of not stressed about that, which is really interesting, especially, you know, right now I have exams coming up, I am practicing scales, I am memorizing things. I am, you know, practicing. I have so many etudes and extracts and all of these things that I have to do for the exam, and I am quite stressed about that, to be honest. But this week I was able to kind of take a step back and be curious and almost childlike with music, which I think was so, so, so good.
Speaker 1:All right, the last thing is when I came back, I thought I had gotten worse, but what actually happened was my ear had gotten better. Whoa, let's just take a step back from that. And this is part of the reason why I didn't record this episode last week, because last week I had thought that I had gotten worse and I was really sad and I was really struggling and I was like, oh my gosh, I shouldn't have taken that break. I feel like I'm worse. I feel blah, blah, blah. And then, after a few days, I started to realize, hold on, I don't think I'm getting worse. Because I was listening to myself and I was, you know all these things. I was like I don't think I've gotten worse. I think my ear has gotten better, because I started to hear things that I hadn't heard before and that was interesting, and I actually I brought this to my teacher and I you know the teacher who told me to do this, to do the break, and I told him I was like I thought I had gotten worse, but actually I think what happened was my ear had gotten better and he was like but actually I think what happened was my ear had gotten better and he was like this is great. This is great because now you can move on to the next stages of your musical journey.
Speaker 1:No-transcript, there's a lot of stuff involved with that, including stuff like intonation, stuff like where you center the note, how you attack the note with your air um, airstream, air direction are all different, all different, and having a better ear is really helpful to kind of figuring out what I need to work on and how I can work on it. So since then, my teacher has given me work on and how I can work on it. So since then, my teacher has given me oh, we got an email, sorry. Since then, my teacher has given me so many good strategies and ideas for continuing this now that my ear has gotten better. But that was something that was really scary, like this time last week. I was really scared. I thought I had gotten worse and, especially because I have exams coming up in the next month, I was like, oh my gosh, I shouldn't have done this. But actually my ear has gotten better and I think that that is a great step, especially for the exams to be able to be like okay, now I know what I need to work on, because I can hear it, and that was really helpful. So I think for you, if you are thinking about taking a break, resting is productive. You know, I had gotten.
Speaker 1:I have gotten more musical, my ear has gotten better, I feel more rested, I feel more ready to dive into things, and I'm so grateful that I took that break because, as well, I am now really busy, really, really, really busy. I am currently in an ensemble that has a concert, today actually, but this week has been full of rehearsals. After that, next week I have so many rehearsals for I'm in an opera, which is so exciting, but that's crazy and there's so many rehearsals for that, even more than this ensemble that I'm in now, and so my oboe playing. I just I have played so much oboe, um, in the past week or so. I feel like whoa and I feel like if I hadn't taken that break, I would be so burnt out that that would really just not help anyone. So I think the break was so good. So thank you for to my teacher. I know my teacher listens to this podcast. My teacher listens to this podcast, so if you're listening, thank you so much for um for recommending um the break and it was so, so, so helpful. So if you, as a listener, are thinking about taking a break, I highly recommend it, especially if you need it. You know it's. It's a good, it's a good thing.
Speaker 1:Now let's take a bit of a detour into the idea of practicing, because after your break, you're gonna have to practice. Right, you're gonna have to practice. Now. The thing about practicing is you don't like sometimes when you're practicing, it can be extremely. You can feel so tired about it. You can feel so drained, so unmotivated, and one of the things that I thought how can I, how can I help you be motivated to practice?
Speaker 1:And one of those things that I've come up with to help you be motivated to practice and feel like you are empowered and ready to go is the Confident Musicianing Membership Community community. This is a membership community where we have so much support and so much encouragement for you as a musician. You get access to so many amazing things, including practice with me videos where we practice together so we can keep each other accountable, and you also get insights into how I practice for specific things. You also get access to behind the scenes videos of my journey as a musician, as well as a weekly chatty video video. Wow, a weekly chatty video where, um, where I just tell you some things that I really want to share with you about my musical journey. Also how-to videos for oboe playing, for music making, all of these things. There are live streams, q&as, so many things, including an amazing community of like-minded musicians where we lift each other up. So if that sounds like something that you are interested in, please do click the link below and you can sign up and I'll put the link in the description in the show notes and you can join the Confident Musicianing membership community now, in 2025.
Speaker 1:All right, that is about it for this episode. Let's do a quick recap. First thing is I realized how much I needed a break. When I did it, I was so burnt out. It was so helpful. The second thing is I became way more musical. I had melodies and rhythms in my head. I had things I wanted to try. I also had a new founded excitement for oboe. And the last thing is, when I came back, I thought I had gotten worse, but actually actually I had gotten better, like my ear had gotten better. So, and that was was the next step in me being able to get better at my Omo, because now I can hear things that I might not have been able to hear before. What a valuable thing. So, yeah, that is about it for this episode.
Speaker 1:Um, thank you so much for being here. If you are thinking about taking a break, I wish you the best rest. I wish you all the best with your resting. Um, and, yeah, I hope that. I hope that is good. Um, as always, all of the all of the links will be um down below in the show notes, in the description. Um, including the the um blog post that goes with this episode, as well as the link to the Confident Musicianing membership community. There we go, the Confident Musicianing membership community. That's it, yeah, and, as always, I will see you in the next episode. All right, take care.
