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For many years, oboist and Michigan State University College of Music Professor Jan Eberle witnessed angst that overcomes most oboe players when making reeds. Personally, she had the process down due to knowledge shared with her over many years, but her students struggled. Now, she has released a reed-making instructional book that will level the playing field for all oboe players. 

“The inspiration for this concept of reed-making instruction came to me from my high school tennis teacher whose method of teaching involved starting with the basics and moving on only when the previous skill was mastered,” Eberle said. “This style came clearly into focus much later when I began teaching oboe reed making to private students and in classroom settings.” 

She found that over a span of 15 years, her instructional method proved more effective than the traditional reed-making teaching concept, which in all other reed-making manuals, is presented in “construction order” rather than “skill-based order.” 

Eberle recently published an instruction manual with her methods. From Stages to the Stage: An Oboist's Guide to Reed Making Success! is destined to make a huge difference in the lives of oboe players.

“With this method, reed-making skills are mastered in less time with a higher success rate that provides students with increased confidence and self-sufficiency,” Eberle explained. “More particularly, this text presents reed-making in ‘skill-based order,’ which means starting with the easiest techniques and progressing to more difficult ones. This change in learning order enables successful final reed products because all skills are mastered individually prior to beginning construction of an actual reed.”

Eberle, a long-time teacher and performer, has been teaching her methods to her MSU oboe studio students for many years. With this new book, she presents a detailed description of her thoughts and process involved in oboe reed-making. Full color images show a step-by-step approach, guiding the oboist through the reed making process.

“In the long term, I hope that this book helps eliminate the fear of reed making that is currently so universal among oboe players,” Eberle said. “I see this text as providing a more effective alternative to the age-old ‘observation teaching method’ of past generations. I have seen it work wonders for success.”