It is very similar to an oboe , but as it is longer than an oboe it plays lower notes . Its pear-shaped bell gives it a more covered timbre than that of the oboe , being closer in tonal quality to the oboe d'amore . Whereas the oboe is the soprano instrument of the oboe family , the cor anglais is generally regarded as the alto member of the family , and the oboe d'amore , pitched between the two in the key of A , as the mezzo-soprano member .