How can I play softer?

[bort]

More air is always the answer... but if you're playing soft, make sure you're using enough of that air!

Overall, playing softly is a test of control, and it takes a lot of strength to play with control. I actually find that 6/4 tubas are easier to play with control, because of their ability to blend and "cover" with a broad sound. I also find that smaller bore mouthpieces are easier to play with "control" than large bore mouthpieces, which are better for "seek and destroy."

But yes, playing softly is tough!

[Voisi1ev]

Something that has helped me play softer with more control is an exercise I found in the "Brass Gym" Book. Play some real simple rhythm, like 4 8ths 2 quarters, or just 3 or 4 quarters for each degree of a scale. But play staccato at around 50 BPM, as softly as you can with a full sound and clean attack.

[Roger Lewis]

At one of the big conferences a while back (I think ITEC Cincinatti), Jens Bjorn Larson answered a question about soft playing.

You start blowing very soft air with your lips apart and slowly bring them together until a buzz begins. This establishes the "buzz" threshold. Repeat this over and over until you are comfortable with producing a soft buzz which should translate to a soft sound. I've worked on this in the past and it worked for me.

I used to practice soft long tones in a dark room and made an interesting discovery, Why the dark room? It takes away all the visual distractions and allows you to focus just on what you hear. After a little while, listening to a long tone on a D in the staff, I noticed a slight change in pitch on and off while playing. This really shocked me. I stopped playing, made sure I was relaxed and breathing correctly and tried it again. Same thing. This puzzled me for about 20 minutes until I realized that the first law of hydraulics was coming into play. You can't compress a liquid.

The horn was on my lap while I was playing, resting on the femoral artery in both legs, my pulse was causing the horn to move ever so slightly creating this slow vibrato, I learned to move with my pulse when paying softly and eventually moved to using a tuba stand when playing, Problem solved.

Roger

[peter birch]

I'm not sure if I read this from Arnold Jacobs or someone else, but volume of sound is not about the quantity of air you put through the instrument but the speed of the air. You have about 1.5 litres of air in your lungs to use for a note, if you expend it over 30 seconds you will be playing ay pianissimo, if you expend over 5 seconds it will be fortissimo, it is the difference between a whisper and a shout - the same amount of air at varying speeds. The control issue is about resisting the urge to exhale during a long quiet note

[Mark]

Keith Brion once told me that to play very, very soft you shouldn't worry about producing a good tone.

[Mark]

Keith Brion once told me that to play very, very soft you shouldn't worry about producing a good tone.

...so, were you both preparing to audition for the same gig...??

No, he was conducting me:

http://www.newsousaband.com/

http://www.seattlewindsymphony.org/Conc ... .php?ID=16

[swillafew]

If you can muster the patience to practice your long tones as a long diminuendo, you can be just as comfortable making a sound that's like a whisper as the other dynamics. This was a permanent fixture of daily practice as taught by two of my instructors, as described in "The William J. Bell Tuba Method". I remember being told to make my sound "fade away like a smoke signal". Each note was started as soft as possible too, and played through the available range of volume. Slurring from one note to the next pitch in the sequence (as notated in the exercise) is a challenge too.

[PaulMaybery]

To establish the soft sound is not a quick and easy fix and presumes that your breathing apparatus functions efficiently. To begin, I concur with Roger and Jens' approach to starting the soft column of air first and let the buzz begin on its own. THEN... as a follow-up, there is a practice of taking one note, a very comfortable one at that -( for example, the g at the bottom of the bass clef on a c tuba) and keep playing it over and over as soft as you can. While doing this, concentrate on that spot in the center of the embouchure - that optimal spot where the buzzing comes from. This sort of becomes a type of meditation on that one pitch. Keep track of what your tongue is doing and where it is touching and resting. Work at it for for up to a half an hour (YES - I'm serious) It will begin to show you quite a bit about about both your embouchure and the way you produce a sound. I like Roger's mention of playing in a darkened room without distractions. Playing soft should, like everything you do, be easy. If it is not working smooth and easy, then something needs a bit of refinement. But it does take time and diligence. Also, with regard to the embouchure, when the corners are held firm as they should be, the center part of the lower lip often is held a little too firm or stiff making it difficult to begin buzzing. Keeping that portion soft, not loose and sloppy, but soft without drawing it tense against the lower teeth. When the whole apparatus is soft and the action smooth, the soft notes should start to become easy. The breath in and then the breath out should also be smooth in transition from one to the other. Holding the air or closing the throat causes a certain abruptness in the release of air and a less than smooth and soft sound.There are quite a few components in the process, and they can be practiced individually and then put together. The key is to have your body learn this so you do not need to think about it. It that regard it is a somewhat lengthy process as is the development of any habit, especially if it is to replace one that has not been successful.
In a nutshell: BIG BREATH, STAY RELAXED, BLOW SOFTLY.

[Leland]

I'm not sure if I read this from Arnold Jacobs or someone else, but volume of sound is not about the quantity of air you put through the instrument but the speed of the air. You have about 1.5 litres of air in your lungs to use for a note, if you expend it over 30 seconds you will be playing ay pianissimo, if you expend over 5 seconds it will be fortissimo, it is the difference between a whisper and a shout - the same amount of air at varying speeds. The control issue is about resisting the urge to exhale during a long quiet note

^^^^^ Works for me.

Besides high-flow breathing exercises, I used to do very low-flow ones, too. In for 4, out for 64 (or longer). That's around 30 seconds, at least. We gauged "3/4 full", then "halfway", "1/4 full", while making sure the windstream was smooth and consistent.

Additionally...

We tubas can play softer than just about anything else in the room (especially in concert band). We don't have to play at the bottom edge of our dynamic range, not unless the director asks us to. I play pp with enough room to get down to ppppp if it's ever needed.

[tubamarc8891]

Play an entire Bordogni etude at the absolute edge of your ability to make sound. This is my go-to for working on soft playing because I have to allow my lips to respond to my ear. I personally try to avoid focusing on my chops as much as possible. Train yourself to let your mind's tuba drive the bus. Hear soft, play soft.

[TheGoyWonder]

Maybe don't play every freakin' measure. The decision to abstain, IS a musical decision.