Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

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Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by hup_d_dup »

When I played trumpet I occasionally saw fingerings marked in, but until I took up tuba I never saw full pages of fingerings marked in, literally every note – even tied notes. And I have seen it a lot, not just in one band but several. I understand that there may be some confusion changing to and from tubas in different keys, but how to explain this?
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Or this ????????
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Curious.

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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by bisontuba »

Uhhhh...what was that....who....,.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by eupher61 »

What was the question?
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by eupher61 »

Seriously. Many more players switch on the fly to tuba than to trumpet. That's one way, maybe the only way, the BBB tradition has it right.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Donn »

I never tried finger numbers, but I guess one could look at it as a sort of musical notation. If you're looking at the numbers, it would be simpler to just follow the numbers rather than switch back and forth, so it's simpler to mark up every note.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Toobist »

I haven't noticed any short-term memory issues... I make my students erase any such fingering/crutch markings.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Toobist »

I haven't noticed any short-term memory issues... I should also mention that I make my students erase any such fingering/crutch markings.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by iiipopes »

I didn't think we did - wait - what were we talking about?
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Untersatz »

I really like the sixteenth notes the best :lol: alternating between Ab & Bb
Why someone would need to write the fingerings on the other 3 sets??? :shock:

Bob, you are right! must be from Colorado or Washington :mrgreen:
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Jess Haney »

tuben wrote:
Do tuba players have short term memory problems?
Perhaps more so now in Colorado. :mrgreen:
ha ha funny, I have seen this a lot in brass bands. It helps for awhile then it becomes a crutch if they rely on it for too long. They also cant sight read for beans and after we have waived goodbye to them and we pull up pieces from years past I keep a big eraser for such folk.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by pgym »

[double post]
Last edited by pgym on Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by pgym »

TubaMusikMann wrote:I really like the sixteenth notes the best :lol: alternating between Ab & Bb
Uh ... REALLY? Second valve for Ab? (When was the last time you had your memory tested? :twisted:)
Why someone would need to write the fingerings on the other 3 sets??? :shock:
Maybe he's so used to using 1st valve for Ab that he needed to remind himself to use the 2nd valve. :tuba:
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by fairweathertuba »

While learning CC tuba I went through 4 or 5 entire method books and marked in the fingerings as quickly as possible. Learned the fingerings fairly quickly that way, Then went back and erased them all because having the fingerings written in was actually slowing things down for me by that point.

I feel having students write fingerings in as a learning tool is fine, but erasing the written in fingerings should then also happen after the learning has been accomplished. Disclaimer here: I don't have any students, but if I did I'd sure let them mark up whatever needed to be marked.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Chuck Jackson »

I teach Orchestra in a high school setting with a wide range of playing abilities. Each of my students has heard me say the following at least a thousand times by the time they graduate:

"No one will ever accuse you of playing great because you wrote in everything necessary in your music to enable excellence. But, they will wonder why you didn't if you don't. Never take ANYTHING for granted."

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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by MartyNeilan »

My pet peeve is with someone who writes in the incorrect fingerings. If someone is not a capable enough player to need to write in every fingering, they are more than likely also not a capable enough player to write in every correct fingering.

Marty "who plays CC tuba and uses a few alternate fingerings, so nothing written would apply anyway."
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Untersatz »

pgym wrote:Uh ... REALLY? Second valve for Ab? (When was the last time you had your memory tested? :twisted:)
Why someone would need to write the fingerings on the other 3 sets??? :shock:
I was hoping somebody would catch that :wink: I'm still trying to figure out why my Ab below the staff
is always out of tune when I play it with 2nd valve :shock:
My long term loss of short term memory? :mrgreen:

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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Heavy_Metal »

I'm told the memory is the second thing to go as we age.............

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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by eupher61 »

there is no evidence that that is an Ab in the sixteenth note sequence. note the key change in the first picture.
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by Untersatz »

eupher61 wrote:there is no evidence that that is an Ab in the sixteenth note sequence. note the key change in the first picture.
Oh man, I forgot the key change.........again :shock:

What key are we in now??? :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Do tuba players have short term memory problems?

Post by deholder »

I had a previous director that was a minimalist when it came writing on the music. He would bark "the composer had given you what you need to play it"

More recently I was told it was a sign of professionalism. I tend to mark breathes, awkward passages and the like. But every note?
I think the player and their ability level probably drives what is marked.
On a unrelated note, I always have a bit of pride when I can play something that the previous guy had written up or down to make it easier. I always say to myself,
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