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I would not presume to advise,but it sounds to me that your tuba is hurting you instead of helping.

LOTS of 3+1 horns about. Give one a try. I've played both types (I've a York Master and a Besson) and I find life a lot easier on the 3+1.

Give it a try, it can't be worse than physically damaging your playing hand!

As people have indicated, the short answer to "is your career in trouble?" is no. You may have to switch horns to progress, but there are LOTS of options available no matter what your musical interests are. Just be glad you found out what this limitation is NOW, not later, and do what you need to make sure it won't bother you in the future.

Paul M wrote:I was wondering if I should try to switch to a rotary valve horn since there's a slightly larger area to place your fingers, and from what I hear they're adjustable. They also seem to not have to go down as far as pistons, which makes it a bit easier to keep my fingers straight.

That's the choice I made after I started having similar trouble with my fingers during my last year of high school, over thirty years ago. The shorter throw made playing a lot less painful, and -- as noted above -- rotors don't care where your fingers are on the spatulas (or if they're pushing at an angle). It's a good solution to this problem (still works for me!).

Paul M wrote:If not, how many horns out there have a 3+1 valve set up? That might even be better. Using the other hand is far more comfortable once I could learn to play that way.

A 3+1 setup might work as well (or better), but -- given that your ring finger's also acting up -- it'd be wise to try both and see which actually gives you better results.

http://www.dillonmusic.com/Used_Instrum ... ed%20Tubas

There is a 3+1 CC tuba on the Dillonmusic webpage.

I have both piston and rotary horns. I don't get along with 3 + 1 horns because top-action horns are a real pain for me. Also I don't like having to use both hands to manipulate a horn. It makes for real nasty page turns. This is all a matter of personal choice but in your position, I would give a rotary horn a try.

You should have that finger removed and have a second toe grafted in its place. Or maybe you should get a more comfortable horn.

You could do this



http://www.geocities.com/galvanized.geo ... nders.html

you could also do this and and make one that extends up as well as long as it's pushing down.

Ben

That picture above is fascinating!!

I switched this January from a Perantucci PT-4P to a MW 2145, also 4 piston +1 rotor. I still to this day have to work on chromatic studies and other things to help build the speed with the third and fourth valve that I took advantage of. I've determined that the valve caps on my MW are slightly further apart than the PT.

My fourth finger is just too short compared to my other three. I suffer from minor wrist problems from improper hand placement at the computer. I too look for any suggestions that I might help in this situation too.

I'd be a lot richer if I just sold all my instruments....... LOL.

bigboom wrote:You could do this



http://www.geocities.com/galvanized.geo ... nders.html

you could also do this and and make one that extends up as well as long as it's pushing down.

Ben

Interesting. What does the clothespin do?

The long answer, also, is obviously no. No need to abandon that tuba for a viola!

***

What do the clothespins do?

Maybe it prevents 'vapor lock'.

Remember when some of us shade tree mechanics would put a clothespin on the metal gas line of our old car?

I bet it's really holding water key closed.