Re: question from a non-tubist


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Posted by Rick Denney on August 09, 2001 at 13:45:38:

In Reply to: question from a non-tubist posted by Jayson Devries on August 09, 2001 at 13:25:29:

Well, this is a can o' worms.

Personally, from the perspective of a strictly amateur player who stayed with BBb, I'd say that playing a sousaphone badly will damage one's playing, but playing it well should not. Most tuba players in marching bands are encouraged to blow their guts out, with no regard for the resulting sound or musicality, no matter what instruments they are playing. This always does damage.

There are other issues. If the player is truly bound for the pro ranks, then he should probably make the switch to a CC tuba sooner rather than later, though arguments abound as to when this should be done. While playing a CC tuba in concert band and a BBb sousaphone in marching band may be a bit confusing, any really good player will overcome these problems easily. If he can't, then he might not be professional material. Being a pro tubist requires talent, and beyond that a compulsion to be the very best and overcome a host of obstacles.

And any good player should learn the fourth valve and special techniques for manipulating the intonation of the instrument, which is difficult or impossible on most sousaphones. That said, playing sousaphone for a few months out of the year is unlikely to make learning those things all that hard to do--they just aren't that big a part of the picture.

There are more than a few folks who think a sousaphone, particularly when the bell can be properly aimed, is one of the better tuba forms for making music. The football field is not usually where these qualities are sought or found. So the issue probably isn't so much sousaphone vs. tuba, but marching band vs. no marching band. But if your school is like the Texas high school I attended, that isn't a choice.

Finally, I get to the important point: Where is the student's private teacher in this discussion? If the student is a really good player with professional potential, then he needs the instruction of a real professional tubist as early as possible. That will have a vastly greater impact on his playing abilities and sound concept than the instrument he plays. His private teacher will have an opinion about his playing in marching band that you should listen to and consider.

Rick "whose lack of lessons early on did him much greater damage than the sousaphone he played exclusively until his senior year" Denney


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