Posted by Steve Dedman on November 21, 2001 at 12:20:03:
In Reply to: Re: Re: What is it About the Tuba? posted by Rick Denney on November 21, 2001 at 11:35:14:
I think that there's also the element of wanting to be different somehow. How many times have you had to repeat the sentence "I play the tuba" to someone that isn't quite sure they heard you correctly? There's the element of wanting to stand out; have you ever noticed that a lot of tubaists (usage for Joe S.) seem to also be the class clowns?
I think that part of the reason we all seem to enjoy each other's company (for the most part) is that we're all in on the same joke. By playing the horn very well, we are giving a collective Benny Hill kick up the backside to all of those woodwind and trumpet players who think that tubas aren't good for anything but LouderLowerRhythmPartInAMarch. It's fun to watch their shock/disbelief/consternation when we triple tongue our way through the opening of In Storm And In Sunshine. It just seems vaguely macabre to them that one would actually spend that much time to learn that on a tuba, when they could learn it quite easily on an instrument drilled full of holes.
SD