Re: Playing 2 or more types of tubas


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Posted by Sean Chisham on March 18, 1999 at 09:08:32:

In Reply to: Playing 2 or more types of tubas posted by Charlie Price on March 18, 1999 at 02:14:18:

The process of learning to play the tuba is basically the same for all the differently pitched instruments. Someone who sings, might ask you how you are able to perform music while trying to push those buttons and buzz the different partials. It is an ability mastered through practice. You just do it, as Nike would say.

Playing different pitched tubas isn't really doubling, per se. Doubling is playing different instruments like bass trombone and tuba or sax and flute. Playing CC and F tubas is just playing tubas. Same thing happens with the other brasses. Horn players play descant, triple, natural, double, and single horns. Trumpet players play C, Bb, D, Eb, A, and other pitched trumpets along with cornet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. Trombonists have tenor and alto trombones. Bass trombone is enough of a specialty that I would put it in a class by itself. None of these people are really "doubling". They just play various instruments of the same basic type for various situations.

Should you play other pitched tubas? Sure, everyone's doing it ;) Really, you don't have to play more than one tuba if you don't want too and are able to get everything done you want, with proper results, from a single horn. If you get a chance to play on an F or Eb tuba sometime, you will notice that the instrument has a different sound than your larger BBb or CC tuba. Deciding when to use that sound is up to you.

sean



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