Hi, my name is Lori Kunde, and I am an oboe player/teacher/reedmaker in Colorado. I tell my students to try vibrato as soon as they are ready, as oboe is very lyrical....like singing. If you hear a song and you sing it, you will find you "pay attention" to certain notes....any time you have more than a few short notes in a passage, vibrato becomes important there.
I agree with others that you should work on it in practice before you try it in public. Don't move the mouth or jaw, let it come from the air movement behind the reed, below the neck.
Its not harder to do than regular blowing, but different. Try working with your teacher and doing an "imitation" exercise. Let teacher "sing" through a few notes, then you try it.
Good Luck!!!!!!!!
Lori in Denver
