TubeNet

I have noticed over the years that low brass players and especially tubists tend to work well in a team environment. Interior linemen, too. They are collaborative, supportive of fellow team members, and work toward the group's plan rather than their own.

It doesn't seem to matter whether they are former players or active ones. This is totally unscientific and based only on my personal experiences in high school band, in football back in school, in a good size college band (LSU), in community bands, at work as an engineer, and in volunteer organizations.

I think it is conditioning that causes this because I have as big an ego as anyone, but years of playing guard in football and tuba in bands suppressed it (at least in group situations). Since there is little glory in these positions, satisfaction tends to come from doing one's own part well and from the success of the group overall.

I think a 1st chair trumpet or clarinet would be less likely than a 1st chair tuba to be a supportive team member if they were not the leader. What's your experience?

I do find that to be very true, though I have felt that more in the orchestra, than the band. I've had the VERY good fortune to be able to play along-side a professional bass trombonist ( Incredible player, incredible musician ). That, along with playing with other students who care about what they're doing, really helped me to understand and be able to contribute to that "collective", be in low brass, all winds, or whatever. Some of the most fun I have had playing, though, is going all out on some big low brass sections in the orchestra ( Tchaik. "Marche Slave", Saint-Saens "Danse Bacchanale", etc. ).

I've played only in a few high school bands and a college band, and I have not yet encountered a "super-hero wannabe" in performance. In the latter, either the kids cared and knew their place in the band, or they didn't care and didn't do much of anything. The college band was much better, most everyone was sympathetic to the rest of the group and it sounded great.

Although not based upon too many personal experiences of working with dedicated tuba players in the non-musical work force or athletic field, I suspect that your observation is generally correct.

Certainly there are some tuba repair specialists who play quite well but quietly go about their work and do an expert job, sometimes in a shop with louder, more flamboyant workers. I can think of several--one in Itasca, IL, one in eastern Iowa, one in New Jersey, two or three in Indiana, one in Tennessee--well, maybe that last one isn't so quiet...

It's not an accident that a very small percentage of tuba/euph players aspire to tour the world as purely soloists (e.g. Pat Sheridan, Steven Mead, Oystein Baadsvick, and some others) as, for example, James Galway permanently left the Principal Flute chair in a world class orchestra to have his moniker, facial image, and golden instrument plastered (not HIM, his photo!) on posters, album covers, etc.

That's not to say that tuba players don't have the ability to play on a level with master soloists of other instruments. We just prefer to be part of the ensemble--the team, as Michael Denney pointed out.

There are many professional tuba players who participated (or still do) in team sports and have done well in supportive roles. One prominent example is Carol Jantsch's passion for ultimate frisbee.

Particularly because of my relatively short stature, I'm often asked, "Why did you choose the tuba?" To laypeople, an answer such as, "The tuba chose me" would be meaningless. My usual answer, which is quite accurate, is, "I enjoy being in a strong supportive role." The very word "supportive" implies that one is a member of a team.

I'm reminded of a lyric from an old Golden Records monophonic LP which had music by Alec Wilder(!) conducted by Mitch Miller(!) with the tuba player (some of you are mouthing his name before you read this), Bill Bell(!!!)*. Mitchell Barer's lyrics pertaining to the tuba are:

"I support the rest of the orchestra,
That's how I do my share.
They all sit on top of me as if I were
A great big comfortable chair.
But I am happy and don't mind a bit,
I never wear a frown,
For I've discovered, when you're on the bottom,
You can't fall down....
Yes, you can't fall down."
Does that last line have any hidden reference to beer, another characteristic frequently (often justifiably) associated with tuba players?

*The short solo accompanied by the chamber orchestra that Alec Wilder wrote to highlight the tuba after the song with lyrics ends is played beautifully by Bell. I'm surprised that I've never heard this little gem performed live. Certainly the music was published...? If not, it's easily transcribed.

.

On one hand, I agree that for most tuba players that is completely true. However, there are also the few and rare tuba players that can be described as lead trumpet players at heart...I'm one of them. I love getting solos and being the most prominent member of a band, I love playing in the super high range, and I love being #1. I think we've all agreed at school that I'm a lead trumpet player stuck in a tuba player's body (though not necissarily stuck, it's definitely my weapon of choice )

I like to think of myself as a good team player - with a twist. I have been trying to stop playing with the ensemble i am now in, for at least the last 2 years, due to the fact that I don't really contribute enough to the ensemble. It's not that the music is short on tuba; but that my skills are deteriorating, rapidly (physical limits) and I truly think they would be better off without me. I know...just quit! Everytime I even mention it, I get sucked back in by effusive compliments on my playing (yeah, right) and how the ensemble/band would be somehow diminished by my departure.

How's that for strange?

tuben wrote:

Steve Marcus wrote:*The short solo accompanied by the chamber orchestra that Alec Wilder wrote to highlight the tuba after the song with lyrics ends is played beautifully by Bell. I'm surprised that I've never heard this little gem performed live. Certainly the music was published...? If not, it's easily transcribed.

Can you share a sample of that section with us?

Go to http://www.artsreformation.com/records/
Scroll down to "Golden Records"
The first title, A Child's Introduction to the Orchestra, record #GLP 1, has a link to an MP3 of Side 1 and Side 2 (for those who aren't familiar with the concept of "two sides of a record," just click on the MP3 link).

The vocal about the tuba appears at 14:39 of Side 1. (I had left out the first few lines of the lyrics of this song in my previous post for reasons that will be obvious. They represent the sad stereotype of the tuba of which we now, more than 50 years after this was recorded, have thankfully broken free.)

The instrumental tuba solo composed by Alec Wilder, performed by Bill Bell and an ensemble of trumpets and horns, can be heard at 16:04.

Alec Wilder DID have some highly unusual names for some of his compositions--even crazier than Percy Grainger's. What is the name of this little tuba solo gem and was the printed music ever published?

Incidentally, the MP3 link above will lead you to the entire album. It contains some wonderful music by Alec Wilder throughout. His harmonies were simultaneously simple and clever, even in a pedagogical effort such as this collection of miniatures.

I had forgotten the wonderful brass procession music composed to highlight the trumpet. It appears at 13:05, immediately preceding the vocal about the tuba. It is so diatonic, so simple, yet so beautiful.

I was first chair trumpet player from 5th grade through high school, switched to the tuba my junior year just for change of pace, and the fact that we didn't have a tuba player!! I realized that the band would be better if it had a tuba in it, so I changed.

I think you are perhaps generalizing a little too much, you have to be competative and have a "dog eat dog" attitude to be first chair trumpeter. It is usually the most competative instrument in the band. I think this attitude may lend itself latter in life as one that is willing to work extremely hard to achieve their goals. Also one who wants to achieve "team goals" as they grow up into the adult world.