Posted by that is to say.... on February 02, 2004 at 18:05:29:
In Reply to: Re: 5th valve on a CC Tuba? posted by Typically, on February 02, 2004 at 17:55:42:
When you press that 4th valve, you're now playing a GG (low G) tuba. Unfortunately, the tubing for valves 1-3 have the proper length to play notes on a CC tuba -- they aren't long enough to play notes in the key of G in tune -- they'll be sharp.
The 5th valve is tuned to be a proper two half steps in the key of G, or a "flat whole step" in the key of C.
Some CC horns (and others as well) use what's called a 2+3 tuning for the 5th valve, which is really a valve that drops the pitch by 3 half steps in the key of G, which is about the same as 4 half steps in the key of C (hence the 2+3 name).
HTH,
Steve Inman
Kokomo, IN