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Hi all,

So here's the lowdown. I am a jazz bone player by trade (did a bachelors in it and am currently making ends meet as my solely as a musician), but double on tuba and sousa. I mostly just play sousa in the jazz/New Orleans style and tuba in pit bands when the bass bone book calls for it. I'm pretty solid on sousa but that's mostly due to the fact I know the idiom inside and out and have solid improv/bassline skills and my aggressive attacks lend themselves to the style. I have absolutely no classical (or even formal) tuba training. However I have been approached by a classical brass choir to cover for the Eb bass chair (on a 4 valve BBb horn). I know I wasn't the first call, and likely didn't even make the top 10 but I have the gig now. Got my first rehearsal with them tomorrow and I could really use some tips on what to watch out for stylistically, balance-wise, and really just any pitfalls I may run into to avoid stepping in them.

Cheers,

Josh

I´m sure You´ll be fine.
Just forget about funkiness and string bass Emulation for a change.
More often than not, providing sonic foundation to the chords built up by the ensemble is the first job.
Establishing rhythmic and harmonic structure for the music to develop may be less important than You´re used to.

Basic rule: Do No Harm.

But are there any sonic differences between an Eb and BBb tuba I should be emulating? I know the tempo is allowed to fluctuate more in the classical world but is there a certain point in either direction where you should attempt to pull it back towards the original tempo? Is the tuba expected to have less bite on attacks like a jazz bone versus a classical bone or should the attacks be well defined to keep the rythmic drive clear? I'm just less prepared and experienced for this than I like to be for any gig I accept but they were in quite the bind, so I'd like to maximize the amount of preparation I can do in such a short amount of time by consulting as many resources as possible.

I studied classical tuba in college and have played in small classical ensembles with jazz guys, really good players. My advice would be to keep it light. You typically don't want that NOLA power attack, think more like a singing style. Blend rather than project. You're there to support rather than star.

Now you have to figure out how to be gentle without being tentative.

maybe in the meantime: listen?

I don't know if it's a totally misguided strategy, maybe not practical if it's hard to find recorded examples.

The Chicago area brass bands have a lot of attention to matched or blended horns, until you get to the tubas, and then it's anybody's guess what you might see. The priorities are different, and the player is what is getting the attention and not the instrument. This is a good thing in my opinion ( I have only ever been a guest in such a band ).

Hey Birdjosh, I wonder how it went. What type of repertoire is being played?

I would say that generally, the tuba helps the music most by supporting the section that provides the most harmonic and rhythmic content at a certain moment. You can achieve this by blending with their sound, imagining yourself as an extension of that section. Make them sound good. Imagine the listener thinking: Wow, the trombones sound great, so rich. Oh yeah, the tuba is helping them. Didn't even notice.

Also, experience gained in one field is a very valuable thing to carry over to another field. Those strong rhythmic attacks will no doubt come in handy at a certain point.

swillafew wrote:The Chicago area brass bands have a lot of attention to matched or blended horns, until you get to the tubas, and then it's anybody's guess what you might see. The priorities are different, and the player is what is getting the attention and not the instrument. This is a good thing in my opinion ( I have only ever been a guest in such a band ).

Is a piece specifically written to be played by a bass tuba scored any different that if it is scored for "any tuba"? An educated guess on my part is that such a piece would not depend on the deep low notes which are the weakness (such as it is) of an Eb/F. Or am I blowing hot air out of my...wherever?

Josh, you may find that your new group puts a higher emphasis on intonation than what you are used to. Don't get me wrong ... I'm not saying jazz players don't play in tune. It's just that the classical types push harder in that direction. First, listen closely to your tuba mates. Whether you're playing Eb or Bb is secondary; each instrument has its own quirks anyway. Tubas provide foundation for the whole group and they need to be right on pitch. A brass choir that plays in tune with itself (no easy accomplishment) is a beautiful thing to hear.

If you're joining a group that starts each rehearsal playing hymn arrangements for brass, you will know you're in a group that expects everyone to think about pitch with great care.

Hup

Hi all,

Thanks for the help. I think bloke's advice was the best but very hard for a professional musician with anxiety issues to follow. I am the only tuba in the band as it is a small brass choir. Luckily a lot the rep is well suited to my strengths in that a lot of it I'm just playing root-5th downbeats. Some of the rep definitely has some pretty low notes to hit (low to me anyways as they are fake tones on a 3 valve Bb sousa). What the rehearsal did show me was some flaws in my technique on the tuba vs the sousa. I've realized my slotting in the upper register is much more difficult than on the sousa and I need to get more familiarity up there on this horn. Also anyone have a good alternate fingering for low D on a MW25? I've tried 124, 34, and 234 but they all seem slightly off.

Cheers,

Josh

234 will be your best bet.