Lessons

[scottw]

As was said before, any chance you have to improve your skills should be taken. Ideally, a tubist who is an accomplished jazz player would be better positioned to mentor you in the nuances of jazz style than would a sax player, but all aspects of jazz need to be learned [even from a SAX player! ] Good for you that you are trying to expand your horizons! Keep your mind open.

[DelVento]

This is something we should all do.

This semester I've been going to as many masterclasses as possible and I think I've learned more from a classical saxophonist than I have all throughout high school. My main instruction comes from my euphonium teacher but going to different masterclasses and taking different lessons can only improve your playing.

You'll also realize how differently people practice...it's scary watching how piano players practice as opposed to low brass players.

In fact as I'm writing this I just got out from a vocal baritone masterclass!

-John

[Tom]

Different perspectives (just for the sake of getting a different perspective) can be a good thing, but learning from the best musicians you can find is the best thing you can do regardless of what they play.

[TubaCoopa]

One of the best things you can do besides take lessons is listen, listen, listen. There's tons of great jazz albums out there, and they don't have to be jazz tuba either. Just listening to all sorts of songs and soloists will expand and solidify your concepts of jazz. I recommend Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. Possibly the best jazz album ever recorded.

[MileMarkerZero]

My applied instructor in college was a trombone player that had turned his formidable musical talents to the baton. He didn't teach me very much about playing the tuba, but he taught me loads of music. I still use the things he taught me every day, now almost 20 years later.

[skeath]

In the early 1980s I was on the faculty at Southern Methodist University, and we had a chance to have Roger Bobo speak to a very small group of students. One of the things he said was

If you have a brass quintet, the very first thing you should do is get coaching from your string faculty. The string players and vocalists have it all over us on phrasing and style.

I was pleased, though a little surprised, as that was not a common sentiment among players /teachers at that time.

[Rick Denney]

It depends on what sort of help you want or need. I would happily study music from any musician, irrespective of instrument, if I thought they could help me improve.

But if I was needing help with my embouchure, breathing, and technique on the tuba, I would probably want a tuba teacher.

Put it in another context: Say you were a photographer and wanted to improve. You might seek instruction on how to use a camera, develop film, and make a print, or you might study with a painter to learn how better to see. Or, you might do both. You might learn the seeing part from the photography instructor, but more likely you will learn photographic technique. You know for sure you won't be wasting your time on technique, if that's not your goal, when studying with a painter.

Rick "noting that Jacobs valued his solfege instruction from an oboist more than any other instruction" Denney