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Hello all,

I'm a total sousaphone newbie. At age 60 I'm having an "end of life crisis" I guess. After forty years of playing bass guitar and string bass, I bought a used Olds fiberglass sousaphone

I've never played any brass before and am looking frantically for a local teacher (area music stores seem to "bottom out" at trombone or french horn). In the meantime, I bought two books: "Practical Hints On Playing Tuba" by Donald Little and "Pares Scales for BBb Bass (Tuba-Sousaphone)" in the Rubank edition.

So my first question...is the BBb sousaphone a transposing instrument or not? Neither book discusses this and the Little book shows the overtone series as starting on Bb.

PS: I live in Worcester County, MA, USA

First of all...Welcome to Tubenet.
The tuba is usually not considered a transposing instrument. Neither of the books you purchased treat it as such. In other words when you play a low Bb on the tuba(sousaphone) it will be the same pitch on the piano. It is the same pitch as when you play the 2nd line Bb on your bass. Both of the books you purchased are very useable to get started. Just take your time and work on making a good, in tune sound. As far as a teacher, you might try a college or university in your area for some recommendations or maybe even a community band/orchestra for some names. I'm sure some folks on this board will have some ideas as well. Again, welcome aboard and good luck!
Pete

Welcome to low brass!

Yes, the American notation convention, both orchestra and concert band, is that tuba is a "concert pitch" instrument. The reason your sousaphone is called a "BBb" sousaphone is because the lowest open (no valves down) note that it conventionally plays (regular pitch, not the super low "pedal tones"), is BBb, two ledger lines and a space below the bass clef. You will get the fingerings eventually. Focus on a steady buzz, with constant air support, taking large deep breaths that will tire your intercostals more quickly than you are used to, as you think, "Big, Slow, Air." Once you can actually produce a steady, quality, sustained tone, the rest is where the fun is.

After two months I'm starting to make some progress (still unable to locate a teacher, believe it or not), finally beginning to get enough air going to make it sound like a sousaphone, although I have a loooong way to go with long tones and dynamic control.

I have a practicing question...I noticed what looks like blood in the mouthpiece and my lips feel chapped. How do I know when to take a break rather than damage my lips? I've been doing 30-60 minutes a day.

I have been doing some mouthpiece only practice, comparing with a pitch pipe to try to get my brain and lips hitting pitches reliably. Is this a good idea or not? It obviously strains my lips less than doing it with the instrument I can also do it in the car

hubcapbrian wrote:After two months I'm starting to make some progress (still unable to locate a teacher, believe it or not), finally beginning to get enough air going to make it sound like a sousaphone, although I have a loooong way to go with long tones and dynamic control.

I have a practicing question...I noticed what looks like blood in the mouthpiece and my lips feel chapped. How do I know when to take a break rather than damage my lips? I've been doing 30-60 minutes a day.

I have been doing some mouthpiece only practice, comparing with a pitch pipe to try to get my brain and lips hitting pitches reliably. Is this a good idea or not? It obviously strains my lips less than doing it with the instrument I can also do it in the car

It sounds like it's working for you, so evidently very a good idea - considering that the playing with the tuba attached isn't going so well. You should be able to play for an hour without tearing up your lips. Hard to say from here what's going wrong. Sometimes you can teach yourself to play and it works out OK, but you might be at a point where it's time to get some remediation.

I had blood on the mouthpiece a couple of times, till I realized there is a certain sharpness to my whiskers after a day or two, or three's growth, that stabs the skin. Longer whiskers don't stab inward, nor clean shaven skin. Other than that, don't press hard on the mpc. It's a bad habit anyway.

Thx for the replies. Gotta say that when I do nail the notes it shakes the walls of my music room and all the string instruments sitting on stands start ringing. Awesome feeling

Think I'll give my bone playing buddy in town a visit while I keep chasing down teachers. I had a few leads that didn't pan out, but I haven't given up yet.

How much blood? I occasionally get tiny, tiny amounts myself after practicing for three or four hours.

Try to hook up with the music dept. at Salisbury U. Bit of a ride, but once every 2-3 weeks shouldn't be too big a problem. They should have teachers available.

Zaphod Beeblebrox wrote:I occasionally get tiny, tiny amounts myself after practicing for three or four hours.

No pain, no gain!