Learning how to play the oboe:
specifically scales in 6th grade

Every
Good
Boy
Deserves
Fudge

We used this acronym to
help us remember which note
correlated to which bar on sheet
music

F.A.C.E.

We used this acronym to
help us remember which note
went between the bars on sheet
music

Stairs

My teacher used this
to explain what scales were
and how they should sound

Hearing

I could hear how the scale
was supposed to sound

I could hear which notes
were wrong by how it sounded
when I played. I also learned to
play by ear

Smell

Band rooms have a particular
smell, so when I play now I
think about that scent. I also think
about playing my oboe every time
I smell something with a familiar band
room scent

Emotional

Every time I listen to classical
music I get super excited to hear
the oboe solos

I also get stressed when I hear
oboe solos because I remember
the pressure put on me to perform
well when I had a solo

Taste

I could taste the reed
in my mouth

Sight

I was taught which notes
I was pressing on the oboe
correlated with each note on
the sheet music in front of me

Touch

I used my fingers to
touch the different key
pads on my oboe for the
different notes

Playing my ninth grade solo over
and over again in front of the class

Taking chair tests to see who
would be first chair in class

Having my teacher tell me
I couldn't be first chair anymore
because the other oboe player
felt bad that she hadn't been first
chair ever

Taking scales tests in front
of my class

Declarative

Consciously having to think about
which note goes by what name
on the sheet music when asked

Non-declarative

The act of moving my fingers
over the keys which became
muscle memory

Reconstruction

I learned the acronym:
Every Good Boy Likes Fudge
instead of: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
which caused me to be super confused when
I didn't know where the "L" note was on my
oboe. I had to relearn that acronym.

Reconsolidation

I thought the first time I
learned to play scales was
in my classroom in middle
school, but I've been reminded
that I actually started taking lessons
a couple weeks before school started
so I had already had some scale pracitce