Learning CC Tuba fingerings

[christiantaylor]

I am a high school student who just got my first cc tuba, a Kanstul 5490, what recommendations do you guys have for learning fingerings? Should I use a fingering chart?

[Norm in Bellevue]

What bloke said, plus

Begin by playing simple songs and etudes in the key of C. If you need to write in the fingerings, do so in pencil so that you can later erase them. As you become more comfortable in C major, go to F maj. and G maj., adding one flat or one sharp at a time.

When playing long tones, scales and arpeggios, look at the music. Do not use the fingering patterns from your BBb tuba while staring into space! At this stage in your transition to CC tuba, it's vital that your brain learns the relationship between what you see on the printed page, which buttons you push, and what comes out the bell of your new tuba. When I made the transition to CC tuba I did not do this, and it slowed the learning process for me.

You're young. You'll make the transition quickly. Have fun with your new tuba!

Norm

[swillafew]

I am about 15 months into my first CC tuba. I played easy and familiar music for a few months before I took it out in public. It was a goal to get as properly tuned as possible in the middle range before I went one more step. Mine is not difficult to tune but different than other instruments I used.

[Radar]

Instead of using a fingering chart I forced myself to figure it out in my head, by using the Bb fingering for the note 1 whole step below the note written. For example if I were to Play a D on my CC tuba I would use the BBb fingering for C. I found doing the transposition in my head quicker than locating, and turning to a chart. There was also a book I was loaned by Donald Knaub (Former Professor Eastman School of Music) called "Progressive Techniques for Tuba" that I found very helpful in the transition because early on in the book some fingering were given to you, unfortunately this book is out of print and hard to find.

[hbcrandy]

I am a high school student who just got my first cc tuba, a Kanstul 5490, what recommendations do you guys have for learning fingerings? Should I use a fingering chart?

MAKE a fingering chart.
By the time you've MADE it, you will KNOW it.

J.S. Bach learned to compose by copying others' scores. It's simple. It works.

This is good advice. Writing the note on the bass clef staff followed by writing the fingering under it will reinforce the note and fingering in your mind.

Also, if you are an ex trumpet player, with your CC tuba, imagine playing a trumpet in bass clef. C will be open and all of the others will follow.

[MaryAnn]

What I did at the age of 67 to learn Eb fingerings was xerox the parts (orchestral; I got the gig *right* after I got the tuba) and write in the fingerings. Since I know what valve lowers the pitch how much, I did not refer to a chart. (Please note that I did not use the NOUN "reference" as a VERB.) Gradually they all became memorized and I threw away the xeroxes and just used the music. It's really no big deal, instead is a matter of "just do it." I learned CC and Bb fingerings in my 50s, the same way. Clefs are the same procedure.