Going from BBb to CC

[doddyhop]

How long did it take you get CC muscle memory fingerings from BBb to CC tuba?
Approximately how many hours each day, how many days each week?
What did you do to practice CC fingerings and binding them into muscle memory?

[TubaofGilman]

I didn’t go from BB to CC but I went from Eb to CC.
It took me about 2 months practicing 3 days a week an hour a day on just scales and long tones.

[Reptilian]

For what it's worth, I've read that it takes roughly a similar amount of time for your brain to change its ways as it does if you were to be dropped into a foreign country and needed to learn the language to survive--about two or three months, give or take, and you should be able to find the bathroom.

That's about how long it took me, so it kind of adds up (at least in my experience).

Since I happen to be one of the first people on the scene here, I'll tell you what many others will tell you, and that's to play things that you are very familiar with so that you know when you play a wrong note. Pull out your Bordogni, your Tyrell/Koprasch/Blazhevich/Arban/Slama et al and just start playing. Even any warm up / daily maintenance routines will aid you.

Just get to playing familiar material and you'll be absolutely fine. If I can do it you can do it! Good luck.

[happyroman]

How long did it take you get CC muscle memory fingerings from BBb to CC tuba?
Approximately how many hours each day, how many days each week?
What did you do to practice CC fingerings and binding them into muscle memory?

I bought my CC the summer before my senior year and had to learn the new fingerings in order to compete in the school auditions that would determine ensemble placement for the entire year, so I was very motivated. I picked the Vaughan Williams as an audition piece, and ended up writing in all of the new fingerings so I had something to go by early in the learning process. As I learned the VW, I learned the fingerings.

I was also a student of Arnold Jacobs, so I was immersed in his studies in the Hal Leonard book. In particular, there is a scale etude that goes through all keys, so I found that very helpful. The "beautiful Sound" etude is also intended to be played in all keys, so that was helpful as well.

This method worked well enough that I won the auditions and was placed in the top ensemble my senior year. So, I was able to learn them in less than one summer break.

[groth]

All depends on where you are at with your musicianship. If you're a high school kid going to college and switching you'll have an easier time (not sure why you would but alas I digress). If you're an older player who has played 20-30+ years already on one key'd horn and plays as a hobby for a community band or dixieland group, switching simply doesn't make any sense and is unnecessary unless you are dead set on it.

[windshieldbug]

Ask a horn player at your experience level.
Serious horn players, like serious tuba players, need to acquire the ability to transpose a range of instruments to another range of instruments.

[Three Valves]

Don’t do it, man, don’t do it!!

[Awegner2]

This was something that I wanted to post about immediately after buying my CC. I will say that while everyone is different, the sentiment of two to three months is a fair statement. I also agree with not trying to look at the situation as "replacing" but rather "adding" knowledge. I can flip that switch when I convince myself I have to. Personally, I spent about three months missing notes regularly. What tended to get me back into BBb fingerings was resting in the middle of a piece and then coming back in on an accidental or something irregularly high. Practice the entire range of the instrument and don't stick to comfortable keys. Learn to read the sharp keys (you're a CC player now and you should reap the benefits of your instrument) and practice your high register a lot at first. You won't regret it.

All things considered, I will never go back to BBb. Ever. I know some people will say it's more appropriate for some German or Russian literature, but I've found that I play better off the CC overtone series than I do off the BBb overtone series. Community band once a week and a few hrs in between is all it took for me to fall in love! Hope that helps.

[Awegner2]

Bloke, I agree with you. We were playing BBb sousaphones (gotta love the YSH series horns) every day. Personally, I didn't get my Wessex until after college but I did see a lot of people make that change upon beginning their studies. It's kind of a "when in rome" type thing I imagine... That being said, a lot of people will get recommendations from their tuba professors when they start in college that likely include CC horns.

[Bill Troiano]

I think I played through beginning tuba books when I was learning how to play CC. But later, what I did when I had advanced tuba students that bought a CC tuba, was to have them play through the entire, First Book of Practical Studies, by Getchell. It's an etude book with mostly 2 etudes per page. It starts out basically as easy as it gets with quarter notes and half notes in a 1 octave range. Each etude adds something new and the book progresses nicely. I didn't like using pattern exercises, such as scales, because the mind can adjust to the patterns without really knowing the fingering for each individual note. Simple etudes was what I used with my students. There is also a Second Book of Practical Studies, but I think I usually moved on to Tyrell after playing through the first book.

[roughrider]

I might suggest that you play through music that you know completely how that music sounds, so that - if/when you make an error with your new set of fingerings - you immediately recognize/understand the error.

+1 This very simple tip made a HUGE difference for me in learning CC tuba!!

[Art Hovey]

I bought a second-hand CC tuba some years ago because the price was right and I knew I could unload it. I had no trouble playing dixieland gigs with it after only a couple of days, because I know my scales and I know the tunes, and I don't have absolute pitch. It was just a matter of pretending to play the tunes in a different key.

But sight-reading has always been difficult for me, even though I practice it every day. Reading with a CC tuba is twice as difficult for me. I suspect that if I had sung in choirs when I was young I might have developed some sight-singing skill, and that would have made it easier for me to learn to read with tubas in other keys. (I should have learned to associate printed notes with pitches instead of fingerings.) But I spent my time on other things such as differential equations, and am still happy with BBb tubas.

[zac.spurlin]

I think I played through beginning tuba books when I was learning how to play CC. But later, what I did when I had advanced tuba students that bought a CC tuba, was to have them play through the entire, First Book of Practical Studies, by Getchell. It's an etude book with mostly 2 etudes per page. It starts out basically as easy as it gets with quarter notes and half notes in a 1 octave range. Each etude adds something new and the book progresses nicely. I didn't like using pattern exercises, such as scales, because the mind can adjust to the patterns without really knowing the fingering for each individual note. Simple etudes was what I used with my students. There is also a Second Book of Practical Studies, but I think I usually moved on to Tyrell after playing through the first book.

This is great advice! I find that you really need to play music and not scales. Your fingers already know the patterns so grab etude books and play those. Especially material that moves around and is a less scales and more melodic if that makes sense. Rochut is great for this. Have fun and don't worry the struggle takes some time.

[TubaChris85]

I was a BBb player for 22 years and bought my first horn ever 9 months ago Wessex Wyvern (I love it) pitched in CC. It didn't take but a month or two and I was feeling pretty confident in my CC fingers. I still goof things up here and there especially while sight reading and when lots of accidentals start getting thrown into the mix I flub in some BBb finger grace notes

Here is the part I find the hardest, for instance we finished a memorial day concert with Stars and Stripes Forever. As a Marine musician we had this on our "memorized" list and I have played this march several thousand times. I walk around at work and will catch myself fingering it in BBb, its something that is just ingrained into my DNA my grand children will pick up a tuba and for some reason know how to play this march in BBb. For some reason playing that on the CC horn felt very difficult.

[Tom B.]

This isn't exactly the same as going from BBb to CC, but maybe the same principles apply. I learned on a CC and subsequently bought an F tuba. I used the Getchell books to learn fingerings and it took me about two months to get relatively comfortable. Then I had surgery on my left hand, and my surgeon told me the CC tuba was too heavy to pick up until I healed completely, but the lighter F horn was OK. So, I was suddenly thrust into exclusively playing an F tuba in a fairly decent concert band. I did ok except for those notes that aren't in the Getchell books--particularly those low notes. I spent a lot of time practicing passages and after a couple more months, they were also solid.

Bottom line--as you work on new fingerings, don't skip the extremes--especially the bottom end.

Tom