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Last week in brass band I was playing the E-flat treble parts appropriately on my Willson/Besson 4-valve compensator E-flat tuba. One of the pieces that we were reading did not have bass clef BBb parts. I offered to take a BBb part in exchange for the E-flat part to make it easier on the BBb player next to me. He's a bit of a newbie in the band, so I explained to him that he could play it like bass clef by adding 3 flats to the key signature.

I thought I could handle the transposition pretty well on the fly. I struggled through some of it with somewhat limited success until remembering a quote about Arnold Jacobs taking his Curtis audition on an E-flat tuba with the 4th valve taped down making it a BBb. The epiphany for me was that with that 4th valve down I could play the BBb part just fine like Bb treble clef. Well sure! Of course the 4th valve on an Eb compensator virtually turns it into a three valve BBb tuba... a little stuffy, but not badly out of tune.

I'm sure a lot of you brass band veterans are having a good laugh at my naivete.

I'm sure a lot of you brass band veterans are having a good laugh at my naivete.

Once apon a time when I played brass bands, there were no B flat players for a gig but they did leave the music. I remembered that story so I tried it and it worked! I was on a compensating Besson, Jacobs was on a non compensating King and had to push and pull slides.

Sam Gnagey wrote:Last week in brass band I was playing the E-flat treble parts appropriately on my Willson/Besson 4-valve compensator E-flat tuba. One of the pieces that we were reading did not have bass clef BBb parts. ....

WHAT... No bass clef BBb parts???

Oh... the shame of it, Sam! I know of one fellow here in the great state of Indiana who insists that high schools ought to teach students proper brass band procedure.

I also play Eb (sometimes) but my feeble old mind still struggles to switch back and forth once a week for the sake of playing in a 'traditional' brass band.

Hmm . . . Epiphany Brass Band. Not a bad name.