<p>I agree with Compmom, if you are serious about being admitted as an oboist, which I think is your best shot, then you need to concentrate on becoming a fantastic one.</p>
<p>My d began bassoon at 13 after being a very mediocre clarinetist and saxophonist. By 17 she had won NFAA in bassoon, she now attends Shepherd School at Rice, a very good conservatory. Everyone around her is always amazed at how few years she has played. I can tell you how she did it.</p>
<p>She began her instrument in 8th grade. She took private lessons each week, 52 weeks a year, and practiced 2-3 hours each day (that does not mean orchestra or ensemble rehearsals, that means practicing scales, etc.) She listened 24/7 to professional bassoon CDs. She played in a pit orchestra for 6 weeks that summer. In 9th grade, she asked for a lesson with the bassoon teacher at the local precollge, Juilliard, and asked what she needed to do to get in. She auditioned at the end of 9th grade and was accepted. Her teacher told he she had to get a better bassoon and she got her first professional one. She played every orchestra gig she could get- every youth orchestra, local pit orchestras at community theater, formed a quintet, and spent every summer at a music festival or playing in a pit orchestra. She practiced about 3-4 hours each day in addition to all her commitments until one year before auditions, when she upped it to 5 or 6. Reeds were made between midnight and 3am. I’m not sure when she did homework, maybe on the train, but she did graduate well. By the time she auditioned for college, she was accepted everywhere but Curtis, with scholarship. Now she will tell you that she had mediocre technique in high school, (she only compares herself to professionals, never to students) but she managed to get judges to overlook it by having tremendous musicality and extreme due diligence from hours of practice a day. The minute she made it into college, she began her diligent work on technique. That takes more years than she had before then.</p>
<p>With regards to reeds, I’m certain she did not dedicate time to them until 10th or 11th grade. She needed to focus on her instrument first. Perhaps you should consider working something out with the teacher to do that later.</p>
<p>Can it be done? Yes. Does that life have any resemblance to a normal high school existence. No. She missed every high school function except the prom and graduation. She didn’t need a life outside of music, her friends all played music with her and she had a long road to climb in a short amount of time. I do not recommend this existence unless you are compelled to go there. You can never get back those years. I can tell you unequivocally the she has absolutely no regrets and loves her musical life! She’d do it all again, and maybe work even harder.</p>