Posted by PLEASE READ on May 22, 2001 at 20:43:34:
In Reply to: Starting lessons with a young tuba posted by Justin on May 19, 2001 at 11:06:53:
All of these ideas are great if you are talking to a more advanced (older) student. A kid in middle school can't always grasp weird concepts like blowing across the room and blow through your horn. And at 12 years old I certainly was not about to sing or take singing lessons in order to help my tuba playing. Of course it depends on the student, but you have to be realistic. He (or she) is only a kid.
And what is with the 2/3 or 3/4 of the mouthpiece on the upper lip stuff? If the kid can get a pretty good buzz then "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Arnold Jacobs would never mess with a student's face unless he/she were in serious need of it. Probably 9 times out of 10 that is not the case.
What you need to do is find the kid a private tuba teacher. Not a trombone player teacher, a tuba player teacher. If that is not possible (call local colleges and ask if there are any grad students teaching in the area) then you need to focus on large quantities of air. That is the key. DO NOT have the student blow out for 16 counts because what that will do is make him/her tighten up the abdomen and chest area in order to hold the notes out for that long and you DO NOT want that as a tuba player. The air must not be free of all resistence and should flow out freely as if sighing.
Also, have the kid play a lot of LOW NOTES for two or three count at a time. By low notes, I mean below low Bb all the way down to low F. DO NOT worry about embouchure. After a lot of practice blowing slow relaxed air and dropping the jaw he/she will catch on.
A good book to get is the Hal Leonard Advanced Band Method for tuba. The back of the book has studies written by Arnold Jacobs. Ther are comments on whtat to strive for when practicing the etudes as well. Some of the stuff will be a little too advanced but stick with the etudes that utilize the low register in half notes. (I can't remember what number etude it is) That is a great one.
I have been teaching for a long time and have had much success with all of the techniques I have mentioned.