Milestone Passed

[Mudman]

Tonight was a special milestone for me. Roughly ten months ago I started playing tuba, having never seriously played a valved instrument before. The milestone was a recital given by my faculty brass quintet, with most of the work done on tuba instead of my main axe, bass bone.

We opened with a madrigal, then played John Stevens' "Seasons." (The Stevens is 30 minutes of meaty quintet writing with mixed meter and extended solos for each instrument.) The second half of the program included the Stravinsky "Octet" (with members of the faculty woodwind quintet) and Koetsier's "Brass Quintet." The Koetsier has some fast technical passages that gave me fits for weeks of slow practice.

Our group had six rehearsals to get the music together. I usually practice tuba one to two hours a day on top of playing all day in lessons and practicing bass bone. Even using the most detailed practice techniques, some of the most technical passages were still hit or miss coming into the concert.

The playing was by no means perfect, but putting my tuba playing out there for public consumption brought a whole new level of intensity to my music making. It was a thrill to do some things well. Missing things that would be easy on my main instrument was a bit frustrating, but the risk was worth it.

If anybody is wondering if they should take some musical risks, I say go for it!

The best thing is that nobody in my group is going to report me to the ITEA standards committee. (I hope.)

Elatedly,

Mudman (soon to be working at Wal*Mart).

[Steve Marcus]

As someone who didn't begin serious study of the tuba until well into adulthood (originally trained on other instruments and self-taught on tuba), your words are very reassuring! Congratulations on your fine achievement.

[MaryAnn]

Good for you!! I started tuba just about exactly three years ago....while I've already done some serious amateur orchestra playing, this spring I'm going to be tubist for the orchstra's brass quintet in a chamber music / Cabaret performance. Nothing like the difficulty you describe, but still a new challenge.

MA