Knighthood

It is time for you to start using your new skills to produce some great tuba sounds!

Follow these exercises and use the video examples as your guide.

Remember the F we used for the mouthpiece buzzing?

This is that same pitch, but now amplified using the body of the tuba!

For the next exercise, you will be asked to play a lower note, but with the same fingering, "OPEN".

Try to stay relaxed and remember that the slower the air,

the slower your lips will vibrate against each other, the lower the pitch.

Now try to go from the higher note (F) down to the lower note (Bb).

Tongue the F and then ease into the Bb without tonguing it.

Then try tonguing both notes.

The next highest "open" note is also called Bb, but it is the higher version of that "LOW Bb".

Again, try to stay relaxed, but remember that faster air will make your lips vibrate against each other at a faster rate,

thereby creating a higher pitch in the tuba.

First just play the F to the Bb, but eventually try to play all three on the same breath, tonguing only the first F.

You now know three very common notes for the tuba.

Try to play all three of them in a row and then back down.

Try tonguing each note, but then also try it where you only tongue the first note

and just speed up or slow down your air to change notes.

FINGERINGS and INTONATION TENDENCIES

Here are the rest of the notes you will need to be able to play eventually.

The fingerings are on the left of each row and the name of each pitch is above the note.

This chart also shows you how some notes have a natural tendency to sound too high (SHARP - #) or too low (FLAT - b).

A printable version of this chart is available to you if you scroll down all the way.

As you can see there are many standard fingerings that come along with their own tuning problem for you.

So how do you play these notes in tune?

There are steps you can take to make these naturally sharp or flat notes sound better in tune.

ALTERNATE FINGERINGS

Take a close look at the chart above. You will notice that it is possible to play one pitch using two or more fingering combinations.

Each fingering combination has its own natural tendency to be sharp, flat, or "ok".

Open or 0 = ok

2 = ok

1 = ok

1&2 = sharp (#)

2&3 = flat (b)

1&3 = sharp (#)

1&2&3 = very sharp (#)

Some of the most common alternates fingerings:

1. Instead of 1&2, try 3 by itself

2. Instead or 1&3, use 4 by itself if you have a fourth valve

3. Instead of 1&2&3, use 2&4 if you have a fourth valve

TUNING SLIDES

Here is where your left hand will really help when it comes to playing in tune.

Any time you have a standard fingering of 1 or 1&2,

and the note is naturally sharp, use your left hand to pull the first valve slide OUT slightly.

This will automatically lower the pitch on those notes and with some practice and the use of a tuner,

you will be playing much more in tune in no time at all!