Tuba NOTES

Scott Vaillancourt

July 18, 2024

• BOOK:  Song and wind – Arnold Jacobs

• Concept of sound and the fuel to make it happen

• Good modeling is the best teacher

• We will go through the mechanics of playing but ultimately the best way to learn is the same way we all learn language – avoid paralysis by analysis

• Starting a student on tuba

• What makes a good candidate?

  • interest

  • With very few exceptions, all body and personality types can be successful

  • Lung capacity is an important variable – but small people can be good too

  • Good ear

  • Good instruments to switch from

    • Euphonium, trombone, flute (kids with great tone but dexterity issues)

    • Saxophone (kids with woofy or airy sound)

  • More diHicult transfers

    • Double reeds, trumpet and other tight embouchure instruments

• Setting up

  • Many different styles of tuba – adjust the tuba to the student

  • Good posture (important for breathing) stand while sitting

    • Back straight, shoulders over hips, head up, etc.

  • Fit the tuba to the student – it can rest on the chair, lap or a tuba stand so that the mouthpiece is aligned with a 50/50 embouchure

  • Hand rounded as if holding an orange, thumb on the brace

  • Shoulders down and relaxed

• Making a sound

  • Start with the breath (mechanics of breathing) 

  • Tubas use a large volume or air under less pressure – source of a good sound - "oh" and/or yawn analogy

  • Expand the abdominal area and rib cage simultaneously and in a relaxed albeit large manner

  • Think elastic – effort is put into stretching – not as much into relaxing

  • Mimic a belows (hand on chest)

  • Breathing exercises

    • Show motion with hands

    • In over 3 – out over 5

    • 5 – 4- 3- 2- 1

    • Overfill

• Embouchure (with mouthpiece only)

  • Pitch is related to the frequency of the vibration – tubas are low so relatively slow air flow

  • Mostly 50/50 placement although some shifting for very low notes

  • Firm corners and a slight pucker in s flat plane (say “phew” without teeth or “wphew”)

  • Very little pressure on the rim of the mouthpiece

• Articulation

  • TOH

  • Open throat – raised soft palette (Julia child voice or yawn) – back of the tongue down

  • This open air column is interrupted by the top of the tongue

    • Flicks up across the front of the mouth rather than behind the teeth

• Ways to develop good playing

  • Develop your ear and sound concept - lots of listening (not just the tuba) away from the tuba

  • Mouthpiece buzzing – open relaxed sound

  • Breathing exercises

  • Long tones – with a tuner (pitch is in relation to air speed – volume of sound to volume of air)

    • If possible play against a drone to develop good intonation

    • Even sound at all dynamic levels

    • Include hairpins

    • Eventually pitch bends

    • Tuning and intonation

• Lip slurs

• Articulation exercise

  • Singing tonguing

  • Double tonguing

• Legato etudes (Bordogni/Rochut)

• Range exercises (low legato etudes and Paudert) – start with a rich full low register

• Things that develop good listening habits (duets, etc) – the tuba most often is in a support

• role or leads from “behind the curtain” it’s a foundation for time, sound, dynamic, etc.

• Develop musicality – more listening  :)

• Especially rhythm and phrasing

• Tuning

  • Main tuning slide

  • 2, then 1, then 2/3

• Common problems in beginning (and sometime more experienced) players

  • (Usually more helpful to not mention the problem)

• Bad posture – often due to the size and ungainliness of the tuba

• Weak sound – usually due to the large air requirements

• Excessively bright sound and/or double buzzing

  • Mouthpiece anchoring

  • Smiling embouchure

  • Lack of air support

  • Cheek puffing

• The tuba itself

  • BBb – CC – Eb – F

  • Piston vs rotary valve

  • 0-2-1-12-23-13(4)-123(24)

  • 3⁄4 - 6/4 – bore size not length

• Care of the instrument

  • Oiling valves and slide

• Equipment

  • Mouthpiece

    • Denis Wick

    • Yamaha

    • Conn

  • Tuba stand for little kids

  • Visualizer

  • BURP

  • Mutes

  • Common method books

    • Arbans

    • Bordogni (Rochut)

    • Blahzevich

    • Koprasch

    • Etc.

• Artists

  • Arnold Jacobs

  • Carol Jantsch - Philadelphia

  • John Fletcher

• other stuff

  • Vibrato

  • Extended techniques like flutter tounguing and multiphonics