Circular breathing

[TubaRay]

I do not, and cannot, circular breathe. That being said, to compare it to triple tonguing, and to go further and call triple tonguing only useful for showing off, is going pretty far.

Although triple tonguing is not one of my strengths, I believe it to be a very useful tool in daily playing. Perhaps circular breathing is also. I can certainly see where it could be.

To make a very general statement, I believe that tuba players spend their practice time learning the things they feel are most important to be learned. If they are under the guidance of a teacher, that teacher MAY have some effect on what they choose is important. But in the final analysis, the individual decides what is important to him/her. For me, circular breathing never reached a high enough priority. I do not consider it to be one of the basic skills necessary to play tuba. Triple tonguing, on the other hand, should probably be considered a basic skill.

[Leland]

As I said in the thread I linked, I didn't use circular breathing to show off when I was on euph and the only other euph player was worthless. I had to do it to keep the line going.

One of my fellow students (saxophone, in this case) made good use of it in his senior recital -- not for showing off, but out of necessity. I only knew that he was doing it because I could see it in his cheeks. He sounded just fine, and he's in the Offutt USAF band now.

If you only do it to show off, then that's all it's good for. If you actually USE it, then it's a tool.

It's still hard to do it on tuba.