Re: Re: Re: Re: Buying first tuba


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Rick Denney on March 11, 2003 at 12:33:24:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Buying first tuba posted by Rex Roeges on March 11, 2003 at 10:33:41:

When I was writing articles on bicycle technology for Triathlete Magazine, I got lots of requests for advice about what sort of bicycle to buy. Often, novice triathletes would ask about the most expensive and sophisticated bikes on the market, but I would steer them away. Why? Because they are not in the position to appreciate what the high-end bike has to offer, and also may find the most narrowly set-up special-purpose bikes hard to ride. An untrained novice cyclist has no business trying to learn how to ride on a forward-position, flat-back time-trial bike with aerobars. They should start with a solid, predictable, easy-to-steer road bike. I've seen too many novices crash bikes that experienced riders loved because of their "nimbleness" or their "aero efficiency".

There's no way a novice can play a tuba and have it "pick him." That's why novices are such easy prey for the thankfully few unscrupulous tuba dealers. You put a solid, predictable, vanilla instrument in the hands of a novice. At first, the tuba should steer the player, not the other way around.

The returning adult differs from the child beginner in key ways. One is that he already has fingerings programmed into his brain. When my wife's uncle returned to tuba playing after 30-odd years, it took his embouchure a few months to get to the point where he could play a scale, but he could still remember the basic fingerings. That's a useful head start. Another is that he has the responsibility to balance his hobby against other duties and constraints, and that includes both cost and time. A switch to a CC demands more of both, and the player ends up fighting those technical issues instead of making music.

Anybody who's good enough not to really need to worry about fingerings doesn't need our advice in the first place. Furthermore, they aren't returning adults in that circumstance--they have already crossed that bridge. Or, they are like Mary Ann, and a pro-quality musician with those skills already in place, but new to the tuba. Her requirements were dramatically different from the typical adult novice. The F and CC tubas were just right for her, for reasons unique to her situation.

I said that I was bucking the conventional wisdom. The reason I do is that novices don't know what's best for them, and "finding out what works for YOU" is a process that has no efficacy for them. I have been there; I know. It takes a few years to get to the point that you know what you are playing. What instrument do you play until then? A versatile, 4/4 tuba with easy good intonation and responsiveness, that gets a good enough sound so that you'll have something to grow into. If you already know BBb fingerings, then start there. After a few years, the guy won't be a novice any more and he'll be able to chart his own course and take on his own challenges.

Rick "who thinks you guys think too much from the perspective of having skill" Denney


Follow Ups: