Here's a thing that happens ALL THE TIME. A student misses something - a low attack, a slur, a high D. People miss things, no problem. But then they miss it again. Immediately, I stop and say, What's happening there? Is it an oboe problem, a reed problem, or you? Almost without fail, they say it's them. Their own personal failing that made the note not speak. And bless their hearts, it's in a broad sense true, right? When my Tough Love Hat is on, I have to point out that every reed problem is your own fault - you made it, or selected it for today's task, or let it get to this decrepit state, right? And not paying attention to your instrument's adjustments is a lapse on your part, too. But in the immediate sense, it nearly always turns out that that problem was NOT the student being careless or sloppy. Very often, it's the mechanism of the oboe or the construction of the reed that is sabotaging things, and THAT is a screwdriver or a knife proble