Appropriate Student Mouthpiece ??

[Elbee]

+1 on the Bach 25. I'm playing it now after losing a lot of weight including my cherubic lips etc.

[tclements]

I know I was a bit flip with my "anything but a 24AW" answer. Seriously, any mouthpiece, unless it is HUGE, is fine to start with. For a person with a small mouth, I'd go with a Bach 18-SIZED mouthpiece. I think the 25 is way too small and is kind of a specialized mouthiece, like for a high part on a bass tuba. If the player has larger facial features, a Bach 12- or 7-sized mouthpiece will be fine. My general rule of thumb is: use the largest mouthpiece you can.. But at all costs, avoid the 24AW. There are many mouthpiece comparison charts on the internet. Use one of these to find a similar sized mouthpiece. The best advice is, ask a local tuba pro. There are plenty in your area, I'm sure.

[Wu299]

Im a student myself, using 24AW... Can you please explain why this is so horrible mouthpiece?

[Rick Denney]

I know I was a bit flip with my "anything but a 24AW" answer. Seriously, any mouthpiece, unless it is HUGE, is fine to start with. For a person with a small mouth, I'd go with a Bach 18-SIZED mouthpiece. I think the 25 is way too small and is kind of a specialized mouthiece, like for a high part on a bass tuba. If the player has larger facial features, a Bach 12- or 7-sized mouthpiece will be fine. My general rule of thumb is: use the largest mouthpiece you can.. But at all costs, avoid the 24AW. There are many mouthpiece comparison charts on the internet. Use one of these to find a similar sized mouthpiece. The best advice is, ask a local tuba pro. There are plenty in your area, I'm sure.

This advice is consistent with Doug's advice, though it may not seem so. The point is that many times, 12-year-olds have a faces plenty big enough for a regular mouthpiece. The automatic advice to use something small for a 7th-grader may apply in some cases, but I think it will end up teaching the kid poor fundamentals by making some things (higher play, for example) seem too easy.

I started on a 24AW and played one all through school. I could not agree more strongly with how inappropriate these mouthpieces are. They reward the student for using too much pressure by providing that oversized rim, they make it nearly impossible for the kid to hear himself make good tone, and they suck air for no good purpose.

The two archetype mouthpieces, both of which are relatively cheap and available, are the Conn Helleberg and the Bach 18. The 18 is probably the better choice. But neither of these mouthpieces should be the reason any kid (or adult) can't play well, and neither will reward a player for not using good fundamentals. These are mouthpieces they can use until they are experienced enough to choose something better for specific reasons.

If the kid's face is too small to accommodate one of these two mouthpieces, then maybe consider something like a 7B.

Rick "still correcting issues reinforced by using that 24AW" Denney

[Doug Elliott]

The thing about a 24AW that has only been alluded to, is that the extremely wide rim, combined with the position of the nose on your face, dictates mouthpiece placement in a way that may be far from ideal, especially for younger and smaller players. And for someone who does have a large enough face to accomodate it, the inside diameter is very much on the small side. That combination is ideal for certain embouchures, but not for the majority of players.

[iiipopes]

...using either the Schilke 66 (if he has to go higher), or a Conn 18 (when he wants a big volume of low notes). For another week he practices on the Jupiter 378 at home, with the Schilke 66. He now has a teacher who really knows tubas, so in the future I'll simply follow the instructions from the teacher (for now they are: stick to the one mouthpiece you like and don't use any others).

Good advice...

Excellent advice.

The best advice.

[tclements]

Hmmmm. I wonder where Ralph got THAT advice .......

[ralphbsz]

That's a trade secret which I can not divulge. I have hush-hush sources for tuba advice. And other even more clandestine sources for tubas.

[GC]

Hm. It's interesting how many Brits use the 24AW or pieces modeled after it on the professional level.

Personally, I think it's a good mouthpiece for adults who play large Eb tubas. For kids, much less so for the reasons noted above. I don't have such a dislike of the rim, but the backbore is an issue.

A friend of mine who has taught good middle school tuba players for decades prefers Wick 4 or 5 mouthpieces for small kids and moves them up as they grow.

[skeath]

Bach 18

[iiipopes]

Bach 18

Agreed... but I like the Blessing 18 a bit better. I also think a Wick 2L would work pretty well.

I have one of each. I can attest that a young tuba player (my son) can get good intonation and tone out of each -- but only one note at a time, since the throat of each is so large that it sucks the air out of a young player like a bad balloon.