Re: BBb vs. CC for music major


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Posted by Mark on February 27, 2003 at 11:22:40:

In Reply to: BBb vs. CC for music major posted by Stefan on February 27, 2003 at 06:41:45:

I expressed my feelings in the post below concerning a "college tuba." I will say that I also have a student who is considering majoring in music in college and I am steering him towards a CC, but I'm keeping an open mind. I still have not played a top of the line BBb that matches the sound chacteristics I hear in a top of the line CC. This is strictly my opinion and I have told my student such. I have also said that I will invest in the time to make a trip to Dillon's to try out whatever horn he would like including any of the BBbs they have.

As far as the transposition thing....the fingering switch takes a small amount (albeit a bit of a frustrating amount) of time in the overall development of a player who is serious about music. Usually I find it takes a couple of weeks to start feeling comfortable. Music educators need to learn lots of sets of fingerings. This, in my opinion, should not be a factor in deciding what instrument to play. If you're a music major, you have to put in your time either way. When I used to have a studio of 30 players, I was able to play scales on my CC and finger the BBb fingerings with my left hand. It's a pretty interesting mind game. There's no way I could that now that I only teach a few students.

Having said all of this, I know that many feel that there have been greater strides made in the craftsmanship of BBb tubas. My ultimate advice...go try out a bunch and make you own judgement. That is certainly what I plan to do for my student and for my continuing education. This way we can all give more educated opinions rather than going on what we were taught 10...20..30 ..years ago.

Good luck in all you decide.

Mark




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