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a while ago i was playing with a professional tubist and he told me to start trying to hit a D an G just with the 3 valve to make fast playing easier. I now can hit D and G with just the 3 valve now my question do you use 1 and 2 or just the 3 valve to hit D and G.

Really it depends on what (BBb) tuba I'm using
Most often I play D with 3 as I run hat a tad flat and that is a better fit regarding to intonation
The G is on the other hand is very often 1,2.

The only tuba I need to play G on 3rd was my 1291 BBb (and clone) and
the same relative tone on my monster Eb (C)

MAYBE............ if going to/from 23 or 13 valve combo......maybe!

Tuning will likely be out.

Take the time to learn your technique properly.

Funny how many so called "pros" there are giving some funny ideas.

I wouldn't bother teaching that as good practice.

Good practice technique,done diligently , will establish the automatic thought processes so that you will have the "speed" you are looking for. You should be able to press 2 valves as quickly as you can press one. If you don't believe it - try keeping up with a woodwind player who uses all their fingers!

as regarding to speed...
I usually hit 12 faster than 3, and it's also more often
preferable in faster movements (IMO)

Ken Herrick wrote: If you don't believe it - try keeping up with a woodwind player who uses all their fingers!

Uh....OK

I agree with the "Funny how many so called "pros" there are giving some funny ideas." thou

I have seen or heard about trumpet players doing this for speed or effect in solo playing. I have never seen or heard about a tuba player using the technique, until now, at least.

I typically use 1,2 for G in all octaves and for D and B in and above the staff. However, I use 3 for D below the staff, as it sounds (or slots) better that way. For runs and suchlike I use whichever feels more convenient and comfortable at the time.

Maybe he was implying in a nice sort of way that your 1-2 combinations were sharp... as they often are on a BBb tuba.

I'm far from a professional player but I generally find myself using 3 in place of 1-2 on most every horn I pick up. Further... 2-4 seems most always seems more in tune than 1-2-3. .... as does 4 instead of 1-3.

Using less valves seems to suit my type of playing better. It's one of those 'habits' that I don't necessarily consider to be bad.

I agree with Dan on this - I do it most of the time for jazz and marching band work, and both on Sousaphone and tuba. It sounds a tiny bit better to my ear and easier on my hand. It also leads to using the 4th valve to replace 1 and 3 combinations (if you have it.)

If you have a B&H/Besson 3-valve compensating BBb tuba, then 3rd valve is actually preferred as it is tuned "dead" since the comp loops take care of valve combinations being brought down to the proper pitch.

On most traditional conventional 3-valve tubas, the 3rd valve slide is usually pulled so that 2+3 is slightly flat and 1+3 is only slightly sharp, with each pitch lipped into place.

Of course, depending on each particular instrument's response, either/or may work better. Some BAT Bb tubas, for example, open F is flat and 1+3 is in tune.

On my 186, I usually use 1+2 for G bottom line & D both mid-line & below the staff, with 3 on low G, due to its intonation characteristics with a different bell, as Dan set forth above.

Then, on one particular piece in community band a few years ago, it had an ostinato that went between G, C & D. I shoved 3 so it was in tune to play the G & D, and pulled 1 to play C 1+3 to suppress any blurp in the legato line, as there would be if I played D 1+2, or even 3, and C 4, which would require at least two valves moving at the same time, if not three, instead of just one as I set it up to retain the legato. At the end of the section, I had enough measures of rest while the upper voices made the transition that I could reset the individual slides for conventional fingerings for the balance of the piece.

Bottom line (pun intended): get to know your horn and its ideosyncracies so you can use either, or, both, or any other combination as the situation may call for.

TubaTinker wrote:It's one of those 'habits' that I don't necessarily consider to be bad.

I've never really had the need to use 3 instead of 1-2 but as Dan says, it's one of those "habits"
I have ALWAYS used 1-2 for G & D and have never even thought about it. It's just etched into
my brain I think & I don't know about anyone else, but I can actually move my 1st & 2nd fingers
(index & middle) almost twice as fast as my 3rd valve finger (ring finger)

My 1-2 combos need a pull- fine for long and sustained tones, preferred actually, but if racing thru the note the 3rd is an option, not a necessity

Using 3 instead of 12 for speed is fine, because intonation is not an issue when notes are short. (It's like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.)

For long notes it depends on which tuba you are using. On some horns I have to use 3 for high G in the staff, and others prefer 12. Some require 3 for D below the staff, and others don't. Same goes for G below the staff. You just have to spend some time with the tuner and get to know your instrument.

Also, don't forget that on those rare occasions when you are playing the 3rd of a chord it has to be around 11 cents low for a major third and high for a minor third. I recently had to remind a bass trombonist sitting next to me about that; he was watching a tuner on his stand and the pitch issue was striking when he centered his note on the tuner.

Art Hovey wrote:Using 3 instead of 12 for speed is fine, because intonation is not an issue when notes are short. (It's like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.)

For long notes it depends on which tuba you are using. On some horns I have to use 3 for high G in the staff, and others prefer 12. Some require 3 for D below the staff, and others don't. Same goes for G below the staff. You just have to spend some time with the tuner and get to know your instrument.

Also, don't forget that on those rare occasions when you are playing the 3rd of a chord it has to be around 11 cents low for a major third and high for a minor third. I recently had to remind a bass trombonist sitting next to me about that; he was watching a tuner on his stand and the pitch issue was striking when he centered his note on the tuner.

I second that thought. I can move faster with 1,2 but if it is a quarter or longer I use 3 for D (below) and G (at the top) of the staff. But the 1,2 combos on A Besson 994 I play is right on the money.