Re: Re: Eb Fingering Confusion


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Posted by Joe S. on May 07, 1999 at 00:08:13:

In Reply to: Re: Eb Fingering Confusion posted by ken k on May 06, 1999 at 11:46:26:

Hello friend,


A minor point here, but tricks, per se, do NOT just apply to Eb treble clef parts. Yes, there is a positional relationship there, but, at least, I was referring to a slightly different "trick":


For "emergency" Eb tuba playing, the thing that many do is go back to their Bb trumpet-playing "roots". (Some of us have them, and some don't.) We can view CONCERT pitch BASS clef music and PRETEND that it is Bb treble clef (trumpet) music. We look at a WRITTEN bass clef Eb - third space (as an example), and PRETEND that it is a Bb trumpet treble clef third space C, and play it "open". "Voila", out comes an Eb.


I DO agree with you, that someone should "dig right in" and LEARN the fingerings for their tuba-in-a-strange-new-key, rather than relying on a transposition trick, such as the one described above, to get by.


*********************** (-: HOWEVER :-) **********************


Another little trick that you can use for playing F french horn solo music on a CC tuba is this: Take the same note in treble clef -- third space C. (In the french horn world, it sounds like concert F below it.) Change the french horn TREBLE clef to a BASS clef in your mind, and PRETEND that you are playing a BBb tuba (while actually playing a CC tuba). Look at the third space note in treble clef-(C) and view it as a "BBb tuba" bass clef Eb. Punch first valve and, ("voila", again -- sorry) out comes a concert F on your CC tuba, the desired note. Incidentally, the relationship of the tessitura is also correct, although CC tuba and french horn don't quite line up exactly in this way.


NOW! All of you college-aged CC players honking on BBb sousas in marching band who suddenly want to order sheet music to the Mozart, Strauss, etc., horn concertos, email me, and I will tell you where to fax your parents' credit card #'s (ha ha).


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