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I play a 4V CC tuba and the B-natural at the top of the bass staff is extremely flat, making it hard to center the pitch and get a good sound on that note. Are there any alternate fingerings worth trying?

Biggs wrote:I play a 4V CC tuba and the B-natural at the top of the bass staff is extremely flat, making it hard to center the pitch and get a good sound on that note. Are there any alternate fingerings worth trying?

What horn are you playing it on?


On my old miraphone Bb and Bnatural above the staff were always horrendous.

When in doubt, try all of the possible fingering combinations. 1-2 and 1-2-3 might work.

try open

He's playing a CC horn. Wouldn't open then be a C?

actually i think that it would be BBb sorry

Not being a CC player, this caused me to question this. I play a BBb and open is Bb on it, which of course is the tuning note. It stands to reason to me that on a CC horn the open tuning note would then naturally be a C.

i'm not refering to the open tuning note but the partial directly beneath the CC at the top of the staff on a CC horn is Bb

Since (on a CC) you play middle C = open, you CAN play D = open, and of course E = open, then you have a number of fingerings that should be able to get you close to B natural.

C (open) lowered 1/2 step via 2nd valve only is the standard fingering (which you say is flat)

Starting from D (open, not with 1st valve) lowered 3 half steps by 1,2 or 3 should be an in-tune B. But if this is flat, try 1st valve alone. I'll have to try this, and logic says you'll get Bb (as you'll most likely just lower the middle C by two half steps). But theoretically, you should be able to get B natural via 1,2 or 3, or maybe 1 alone if the others are also flat. (Theoretically -- I haven't verified this. So don't spend more than about 60 seconds if it doesn't seem to be working.)

Starting from E (open), you need to drop 5 half steps. So 4th valve only should theoretically get you to a B natural. So should 1,3. (Theoretically -- see disclaimer above.)

Those are the things I would try to experiment with.

Good luck,

Besson983 wrote:
(Also, to get all this to work, it would take practice. The same time to get used to a different fingering, you could just suck it up and play the note in pitch by ear and not blame the horn...)

I can play the pitch, but the tone is grossly inferior and much more inconsistent when compared to neighboring tones. I thought this was due to the note being unable to slot (frequency of my lips not matching the horn's resonating frequency). Is this not the case?

Up in that register there are a number of alternative fingerings, such as;

2
1+2
3
1+3
4

And more using the 4th or 5th valve combinations.

Try around and see which is the best for pitch and tone. Individual instruments sometime have difficult notes, but I am sure one combination will work.

Good luck!

Buy a new tuba, and run over your current one with a car.

But you don't have a car you say? That's okay! Public transportation provides great alternatives, and often provide that extra needed weight to really put a wrinkle (or pancake) in the bell!!

I think I typically used 3 alone for that high B natural on my MW 2145. 2 never seemed to slot in tune (although the previous owner had made it work) and 12 was too sharp. That was the only note that required any special treatment on that horn.

Interestingly enough, another poster has commented on the flat high register on my current F tuba. I find if I use 23 for high Eb and 12 for high E - the equivalent of your B natural - the notes slot perfectly and in tune.

MartyNeilan wrote: If this place was any more boring it would need a librarian.

see "Off Topic" post ....

Cheers,