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Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this wonderful instrument and thus to this forum. I'd like to access the collective wisdom of the tuba community for a few tips. First of all, I should mention that I'm coming from trombone (been playing a large tenor for many years) and also that I just bought an amazing instrument that I've completely fallen in love with, a Mirafone 188 from the early 1980s. So I'm re-training my embouchure and air-flow and spending a lot of time being dizzy.

My questions (based on C1 = pedal, C2 = 2nd partial, and C3 = in the staff):

1) What are the "official" fingerings for the low-low stuff (between pedal C and F1)? My fifth valve drops the horn a major third and all the fingering charts I can find are for CCs with a low major 2nd. I am still not convinced that any of my fingerings are right as I may be subconsciously lipping the wrong fingering into tune.

2) Does anyone have a good recommendation for tone-building books/exercises?
Other practice tips for those of us coming from the trombone world?

3) Does anyone else with this horn ever experience what I can only describe as a fairly hard "break" between C2 and D2 (fingering D2 with the fourth valve)? It may be that I'm just not used to rotary valves but it seems much more abrupt than the others.

Thanks,
Trevor

I can only respond to #2.

Get the Hal Leonard Advanced Method book for the Jake Studies in the back. You probably already have an Arban's book and a Rochut, so start with those 3.

Stefan

I can give you the fingerings that I use for those notes on my 186CC tuba. I cannot claim that they are official, but the general rule is probably to find the fingering that plays in tune with the least amount of embouchure adjustment. It is a good idea to know as many alternate fingerings as possible, but I'm sure that is old hat for a trombone player. You guys probably use more alternate fingerings than tuba players do.

From C1
C Open
Db 1345
D 345 or 1245
Eb 134 or 145
E 234 or 45
F 235
F# 125

Hope it helps.
I also usually play Db2 125

Thank you Stefan, and thanks Kendall -

I'm very pleased to see that your fingerings correspond to my own exactly, including the Db3 with 125. It's surely old hat to you, but the timbral difference between alternate fingerings is a trip. How much can good players color the notes evenly between open, 1 key, and 3-4 key notes?

#3 for me them...

The break is in your face... Ha!

Ok for real though...

What I believe you are describing is that you are having trouble in the transition going from the C to the D, and probably not always from the D to C.

Some players struggle with transitions in this register but not always these same notes or sometimes more notes.

It is like a gap in your embouchure where u have to "shift" To get the notes to speak clearly.

I don't know of a great exercise to fix this but it is definitely something that you will have to work (struggle?) thru. I had this problem for a long time, just be sure to spend some time in this register with scales and lip slurs to work thru it.

Hopefully someone will have something great that helps with this!

The problem with the C to D shift may be caused by the instrument (bad valve alignment or too long/short pulling of the slide) or with you.

The cause could be sloppy finger to embouchure coordination. The right pinkie isn’t the strongest finger and may need some training. If the shift becomes better when using the index for the 4th valve, then you have found a potential root of the problem.

It also may be that you are not yet accustomed to the change in resistance between open 2nd partial and 4th valve 3rd partial. Low C fingered 124 is likely to be a bit flat. Still it might be worthwhile smoothening the C to D transition by using 124 and 4 respectively. If you succeed, you have gained sense/knowledge of the playing proportions of D. Now try achieving the same smoothness with the more standard 0=>4 shift.

Klaus

Klaus - you've solved it. I have absolutely no problem when the C is fingered. It's just going to take some work. Thanks much for the tip!

(Apropo, Gartenzwergenthauptung ist immer nötig)

I should have read your post better. The problem I was refering to would be in the C3 range....

I played Shenandoah today in a concert band on a 187. Lots of Bb to C slurs; 14 with a pull on one to 4 worked just fine.

The purpose of my suggestion was not a permanent re-fingering of the second partial C of the OP’s Mira 188. Not that I dismiss re-fingerings in specific situations, even use them regularly for certain 5th partial notes on many of my brasses.

Rather I relayed to my own exercises for achieving evenness of sound over shifting partials. On the tenor trombone such exercises would be about playing D above the staff in 1st, 4th, and #7th positions or F above the staff in 1st, #4th, and 6th positions with as smooth transitions and as even a sound as possible. This strengthens ear, embouchure, and air support adaptivity and hence the ability to make split second adjustments.

Without having heard the OP playing, my experiences would let me assume that the problem is a lack in consequent air support for the 4th valve D after the fairly easy-blowing open C. Maybe also that the C tends slightly flat and the D tends sharp due to a too short or none pull of the slide, so that the buzz for the D doesn’t match the length of tubing.

One way of achieving a surplus in mastering the D is using exercises of the trombone type mentioned above here. There are at least five fingerings for that D, even if some are definitely on the sharp side.

Three as 3rd partials: 13, 25, and 4

Two as 4th partials: 1245 and 345

Circling between these fingering while using no attacks and trying to achieve the effect of one long steady note will certainly improve awareness of embouchure control and air support for that note.

Same exercise can be applied with the relevant fingerings for C# and for C natural respectively. And then smooth transitions between C, C#, and D should be worked on with the end goal of being able to play them with their standard fingering of 0, 125, and 4 respectively.

I have NOT done similar exercises on my own CC tuba, as I play it extremely rarely, but the problem by principle is of the same type I meet on bass trombone and on euphonium when shifting between the open pedal and the notes right above it. On my compensating basses I refinger the 2nd partial 14, when it occurs as a leading note in a given musical context.

Klaus