Posted by Jay Bertolet on March 18, 1999 at 09:37:37:
In Reply to: Playing 2 or more types of tubas posted by Charlie Price on March 18, 1999 at 02:14:18:
I think you'll find that in the U.S., it is almost required that you play on a CC or BBb and an Eb or F. The standard orchestral excerpts usually selected for auditions are nearly impossible to execute consistently on just a CC or BBb tuba. Certainly they can all be done on these instruments but the comfort level and the probabilities for accuracy go way down when using just a CC or BBb tuba. There is a certain logic in having to play a small horn and a big horn regularly. Many of the orchestral tuba parts were not originally written for a tuba. Today's orchestral player is playing parts that were written for tuba, serpent, ophicleide, saxhorn, contrabassoon, cimbasso, contrabass trombone, and many others. Many of these instruments didn't project nearly as much sound as today's tuba does so it really does make sense to have a "light" tuba which produces a sound closer to the sounds of the instruments the parts were originally written for. The comfort level aspect of this comes into play when you consider that many of these instruments were pitched in a higher octave than the current CC or BBb tuba. I was reading with much interest the thread a few spots down from this one dealing with the Kellaway Morning Song and whether or not to perform that piece on BBb tuba. It is the same argument I have with students about the Vaughan-Williams Tuba Concerto. Yes, it can be done on a large tuba but what have you got? In my opinion, you have a square peg that has been shoved into a round hole. I've heard many great players try to play the Vaughan-Williams on a CC and crash. But even the ones that did it successfully ended up with a product that was missing he essence of the piece. There is an easy feeling with such pieces that I can only capture when playing on a tuba that allows me to focus on the music and not on the execution, a tuba that the piece was conceived for and not a tuba that requires you to be a contortionist to achieve the same results. I suspect the same results would occur if you tried to play some of the louder and more demanding excerpts, like Prokofiev's 5th Symphony or Respighi's Fountains of Rome, on a smaller Eb or F tuba.
As far as getting used to the fingerings, I would suggest that it comes with time and familiarity. One thing that I stress with my students is that you should think in the realm of the tuba you're playing. That is to say, when I'm playing Eb tuba I'm not thinking in terms of CC and then transposing. As far as fingerings go, I think like I'm holding a completely different instrument than the CC. I find that approach especially useful when switching between tubas frequently. I believe it keeps me from confusing the two sets of fingerings.
I hope this all helps you. Good luck!