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Hi,

Any recommendations about the easiest key of trumpet for an Eb tuba doubler? I was thinking that a bass trumpet in Eb would be the easiest to adapt to. Thanks for any opinions. Bill.

Honestly, just stick with Bb trumpet. Eb tuba fingerings are essentially the same as trumpet (notes/fingerings are in the same position on the staff even though the clef is different), it won't be that hard to pick up, just make sure you use a large trumpet mouthpiece (I like to play on a Bach 1/5C).

Trumpets, in whatever key, all use the same fingering system, which is also used by CC tubas as well as treble-clef tuba parts in the British brass band tradition.

The only fingerings any of them share with bass-clef E-flat tuba are for the top-of-staff G, F#, and F, so an E-flat trumpet won't necessarily be any easier to learn than a B-flat or C trumpet.

Your opportunities for ensemble participation with an alto trumpet may be quite limited. Many, if not most, alto trumpet parts specify an instrument pitched in F rather than E-flat.

Just get a B-flat trumpet, cornet, or flugelhorn and enjoy.

Or...get an standard E-flat trumpet, rather than an alto. You'd likely get a lot more performance opportunities with the regular E-flat trumpet, and you could use the E-flat tuba fingering system on it to play literature for the C trumpet.