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What did you play for you senior recital? That might give a hint as some of the lit you know, and some might be able to be recycled

I am not closely familiar with tuba lit--as a tuba player would be, but I would say you should play something "tried and true" that you have played well in the past. Those solos you can pull out for anything your whole career, and they will get better and better.

Marines, Army, and Navy should be using the same old military audition form that is used at the school of music. I am doing a google search, and I cannot find a copy of this form, sorry. If I remember right, according to the form, the audition is 10% scales, 40% prepared pieces, and 50% sight reading. I am pretty sure the sight reading comes out of a standard school of music book for your instrument.

Here are the instruments for which the Navy requires doubling (that doesn't mean your band might not ask you to play bass as well, but its not in the "regs"):

https://www.npc.navy.mil/CommandSupport ... rtunities/

Tuba is not on that list. (Euphonium is--one of the reasons I steered away from the Navy programs... but in retrospect it probably would have been good for me!)


Enjoy the audition and play well! You'll enjoy the Navy bands--they have the very best locations. I have a friend who has been in Navy bands for about 8 years now. She has been to 3 bands--the first was San Diego, the second Pearl Harbor, and now she is in an inter-service NATO band in Naples!!!

Navy tuba players are no longer required to double on electric bass. I was the last navy tuba player who had to do that. the rule changed while I was at the SOM. Friends who are still in, tell me there may be some doubling on trombone or euphonium.

Tom Gregory,3811/15
CinCLant Fleet Band
'93-'96
Navy Band Great Lakes
'96-'99

Technique and lyricism ?

How about the Strauss Horn Concerto #1 ?
That one seems to be written for F-tuba, really, and shouldn´t be too hard.
Mvmt. 1 is a mix of both, #2 is VERY lyrical, and #3 can show off what you can musically do with finger, air, and tongue.
Get a (any) Hermann Baumann recording of the original, in case you need a listening experience of the piece.
(Don´t do it as recorded on the Jacobs CD, this is a ROMANTIC piece, not a race)

Have you checked with a Navy Music recruit liason or anything like that? I just finished up a tour as the tuba instructor at the Navy School of Music, and as of 6 months ago they weren't hiring any tuba players... They were over strength on tuba, and hadn't hired any tubists in about 3 years...

as a navy musician i might be able to shine some light on your situation. as far as doubling, your job will be tuba instrumentalist...no bass double (although you could ask upon graduation from the school to qualify on euphonium and trombone to make yourself more marketable in the fleet). from my experience i have noticed that the guys here want someone with a good sound, time, and intonation; but you already knew that. the guys who will audition you are a little more selective nowadays since musically we are getting better and better musicians. in general, if you want to join the military and play tuba, know how to play marches! that will be the bulk of your job...ceremonies and more ceremonies. the big thing, if you were to be selected, don't forget the theory that you learned. although the navy seems to have their own version of theory, a good basis will get you far because that is how we advance in rank. I just took my E-5 exam the hamster on the wheel in my head is still in a coma because of it. to put it simply, there are over 150 E-4s in right now in the program. if they only promote about 10 people and over 75% have some sort of college level education, how could you weed through the crowd to find the brightest ones? you make the test impossible. stacked questions galore (i.e. take the 3rd note from the 15th bar of the melody line from the anthem, the 2nd note from the 10th bar of the marines hymn, and the 27th note from the flag officers' march and superimpose it on some complex chord then transpose it from some instrument then do 15 other things to it and tell me what mode scale is that ). getting in shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as we have an opening...the hard part is making rank against a ton of people who could be as smart if not smarter than you. all in all, i love my job and wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. I'm a full-time professional paid musician with benefits. what percentage of the thousands of musicians in the country can say that? i feel blessed that the navy has given me this opportunity and i hope that you get the same opportunity. good luck.