Posted by longtime lurker on December 19, 2000 at 12:06:58:
In Reply to: ability posted by the observer on December 18, 2000 at 23:33:44:
1). A good high school tubist should have a 4-4.5 octave range, of which at least three are usable in everyday playing. AFAIK, range may help you win a solo competition, but no one has won a recent job solely because of range. However, which three octaves you select may help, or hinder, your chances for immediate success.
2). There are no pieces only a truly good HS tubist can play well. If a truly good high school tubist can play a certain piece well, many collegiate and professional tubists can play it just as well, or, more likely, better.
However, there are many pieces that the best high school players seem to like to play: the Ride, the VW, the Hartley, the Gregson, and so on. I would imagine that this helps a few of them get into excellent music schools. However, there always seem to be more HS players that can "play" those pieces than there are openings at the excellent music schools. The ability to play a certain piece at the high school level is not indicative of one's chances for success at the professional level.