Tuba method inquiry

[tclements]

I have been teaching a bunch of beginning tubas lately. After Rubank Elementary (which I like for beginners), into what book should I move my kids. Thanks!

[iiipopes]

Rubank makes an Intermediate and an Advanced method as well. My band director used the Advanced for everything but percussion. It does not do anything in real depth like some of the other methods do, but it covers all aspects of playing: keys, scales, melodic studies, articulation, flexibility, etc. Any player who can do both volumes of the Rubank Advanced will be able to play any college level material.

[ken k]

i hate the rubank intermediate book, as organized as the advanced book is the intermediate book seems to be very haphazard. there is an old band series by Ed Sueta. Plain old books nothing fancy but very good rhythmic training. You can review stuff in book one and go through book 2 & 3 and then they should be ready for the Rubank Advanced book. Also if you can find the old Mel bay fun with tuba lots of great old songs to get the kids playing melodies.

[Bill Troiano]

Check out the First Book of Practical Studies, and then, The Second Book of Practical Studies, by Getchell and published by Belwin. They are just a series of etudes starting with simple quarter, half and whole note studies in Bb and progressing up to medium difficulty by the end of the second book. Plus, the end of the first book has some useful scale studies.

[jonesbrass]

I always move on to Arbans and Rochut.

[ken k]

how old are they? I forgo alot of the technical stuff such as Arbans, etc. with the younger kids and just try to get them playing melodies and tunes (something tuba - and trombone and euph - players rarely get to do at school and in band music). A.) it is more enjoyable and B.) it will help keep their interest (remember most kids have an attention span of a flea). You can use lots of songs to teach rhythms and techniques such as slurring and artix without getting into the boring old books. When a kid gets serious, usually in HS, then I hit them with the meat and potatoes. Don't get me wrong I still work on tone, scales, and keys.

I do like the Rubank Advanced books, they are sort of like an Arbans "lite". I usually get older MS or younger HS kids into this book. It is very well organized with chapters including scales, artix, melodic interpretation, technical studies and solos all organized by major and minor key signatures.

FYI, I have been teaching elementary band for 25 years, and my main focus is to get kids to love to play their horn, not turn them into professional tuba players. If they end up loving it that much, and want to really get serious about it, then I take them to the next level. Just my philosophy on teaching. I know as a kid, I never practiced in elementary and junior HS. It wasn't until HS when the light went on so to speak. Would I be a better player today if I would have? I don't know.

ken k

[ken k]

I also assign a simple song that they have to learn to play by ear every week. I start out very simple like mary had a little lamb starting on different notes, then go to twinkle twinkle, old macdonald, etc.

[JCradler]

Kuhn - Cimera Method
Old school, baby! No fluff, minimal commentary. The Beeler books are also quite good.

[Chriss2760]

Hey Tony,
Nice to see you posting here. And a big Thank You for your book on warm-ups. Great stuff and I use it frequently.
For your "moving beyond the beginning stage" students I would recommend A) the Blazevich and B) Rochut studies and, when they're ready, a good book of solos, (like Wekselblatt's) will give them something fun to work on in addition to the long-tone and flexibility stuff.
Best.
Chris.

[tclements]

Thank you for your help on this. I have you cannot go from the Rubank Elementary straight into yrell, or Blazevich or Rochut. I'm looking for a 'bridge' method to get us out of Rubank, moving towards the Cimera or the like. I use also "Legato Studies for Bass trombone or Tuba" by Fink as well.

[Roger Lewis]

I would also recommend the Hal Leonard Advanced Band Method which has lessons and exercises by Arnold Jacobs for about the last 20 pages. Challenging but not tooo hard and Mr. Jacobs stuff is pure gold.

Once I have my students past the elementary stage I usually go with some simple Kopprasch, Rochut and Remington. This gets them moving the air, thinking about music making and starting to slur effectively.

There are certain method books that you will never outgrow:
Remington Warm-ups (I prefer the 9 page hand written version)
Rochut etudes for trombone (Bordogni)
Arban
Clarke Technical Studies
Kopprasch

Another goodie is Roger Bobo Mastering the Tuba .

Just my $0.02.

Roger

[djwesp]

I'm looking for a 'bridge' method to get us out of Rubank...

This, I think, would be a great opportunity for practical studies 1/2. By the end of 2, going into kopprasch, or rochut is a reasonable expectation.

Another thought is using 24 artistic studies (by frank woodruff) in place of kopprasch/rochut. It contains blazhevich, rochut, and kopprasch and is laid out in more of a progressive (of difficulty) order. It turns out cheaper and is easier in the long run.

[sailn2ba]

I'm curious what folks think of "progressive techniques for tuba" by donald knaub.It features a daily routine (warm-up) section and all 70 of the Blazhevich etudes. It's out of print. My copy, publ MCA/Hal Leonard has the cover featured on Amazon, but it's ISBN 0-7935-1780-X. Cost on cover was US $14.95.

[sailn2ba]

. . . and what is the situation with copyright on the Arban Trombone Method? I see that free downloads are available on the 'net. Presumably that's the 1936 version.

[Three Valves]

1st/2nd Book of Practical Studies paired with the Shoemaker - Legato Etudes for Tuba

' just the stuff that popped into my head first as "after Rubank" stuff...

Check out the First Book of Practical Studies, and then, The Second Book of Practical Studies, by Getchell and published by Belwin. They are just a series of etudes starting with simple quarter, half and whole note studies in Bb and progressing up to medium difficulty by the end of the second book. Plus, the end of the first book has some useful scale studies.

Any more thoughts on "intermediate" stuff??

I'm finding Blazhevich a little too challenging!!

[Three Valves]

Another thought is using 24 artistic studies (by frank woodruff) in place of kopprasch/rochut. It contains blazhevich, rochut, and kopprasch and is laid out in more of a progressive (of difficulty) order. It turns out cheaper and is easier in the long run.

Another possibility, appears to be out of print, but I can always check dusty shelves!!

[hup_d_dup]

For those who consider Bordogni/Blazhevich/Kopprasch (essential as they are) to have a somewhat archaic approach to melody, you may want to consider Style Studies, edited by Patrick Sheridan. This would be a good book for an intermediate level student.

Hup

[ken k]

check out hip bone music .com.

Michael Davis has some cool play along CDs that are modern and "hip"

kk

[Ace]

I'm curious what folks think of "progressive techniques for tuba" by donald knaub.It features a daily routine (warm-up) section and all 70 of the Blazhevich etudes. It's out of print. My copy, publ MCA/Hal Leonard has the cover featured on Amazon, but it's ISBN 0-7935-1780-X. Cost on cover was US $14.95.

The Knaub is excellent. I sold my copy but hope to find another. I also like Tony's use of the Fink. It's a great book for teaching use of air, slurs, dynamics, range, etc.

Ace

[Mark]

Any more thoughts on "intermediate" stuff??

I'm finding Blazhevich a little too challenging!!

Tyrell - 40 Advanced Studies for BBb Bass