Just moaning

[MaryAnn]

Eb fingerings are the only ones I don't know quite well. So I buy an Eb tuba, of course (and love it, no question the right one for me forever.) But I had trouble going to sleep last night because I seemed to not be able to stop playing E major scales in my head trying to memorize the fingerings. I'm going to have to woodshed on all the scales and arpeggios until such time as when I see the pitch on the page I know which fingers need to push what valves without doing "this far down from the nearest partial" mental gymnastics.

[scottw]

Good for you in pushing your limits to learn something new. Eb might be perfect for you if only for it's smaller size. I originally started on Eb, played it for the first 8 years. I went to college and they handed me a BBb and said first rehearsal is day-after-tomorrow, be ready. So, I learned it. Fast forward to the present: I needed to learn Eb again for a Civil War band I joined several years ago. This time, at my advanced age, it took longer to get all the notes under my fingers than it did at 18. But, I kept at it and it did get there, as it will for you, too. Now, I still get brain farts and play Eb fingerings on Bb and vice versa from time to time, but I don't embarrass myself so much anymore. If you can double on F horn and tuba, etc., you can surely make this move! Hang in there. Congrats on the new horn!

[MaryAnn]

It's sort of "exactly in between" the CC I had and the F I had. Plays really well down low but my air supply is sufficient. For me, it seems not to be so much the bore as the tubing length, that determines whether I have enough air. Plus it's one hell of a well designed instrument. I'm one lucky little pipsqueak.

[opus37]

I have been playing Eb for a while now having learned it when I purchased an old Martin for $20. It was my only horn at the time, so I had to learn it. It has been very versatile. The fingerings are very similar to trumpet, Euphonium in treble clef and F horn in treble clef. (There is a little mental gymnastics that happens, but that's not hard.) Smaller to travel with and at home in almost every setting.

[marccromme]

Eb fingerings are the only ones I don't know quite well. ... not be able to stop playing E major scales in my head trying to memorize the fingerings. ..... without doing "this far down from the nearest partial" mental gymnastics.

Hi Mary Ann - so you figured out what the 5th valve is used for in E and B major ? Fine! The trick for learning new fingerings or new clefs is not to do mental gymnastics , at least not willingly and forcefully.

The trick is to play very easy tunes - childrens songs, lullabys, christmas carols, whatever you like and can play without thinking - read the notes and just play them. The easier, the better! Take your favorite melody, transpose it into different scales, and just play them.

Your brain will pretty fast learn the fingering by repetition, not because you think hard about partials, but because you do it right every time. This approach will automatically and unconciously make the connection between reading and fingerings without brain farts or heavy thinking.

Try it, it works. When you can do it with simple melodies, you just advance to more tricky ones. In case you get bored of the play, you just sight-transpose one half step up (12 times!), still using very simple melodies you know well. I 4 weeks time you will master it!

[MaryAnn]

Yes I'm now messing with the 5th valve to see where it works best. I find repetition simply takes longer than it did when I was 20 or 30. And yes, I do easy tunes, by ear, in all the keys. That seems to work the best. I don't read until I know what to mash for what pitch, because I read by pitch.
The last new set of fingerings I learned was 6-7 years ago when I learned oboe (yes I know I am crazy.) I'm hoping this set comes more quickly than those did. And I emphasize that the whole point is to avoid gymnastics, and I won't be out there trying to play in a group until such time as "what to mash when I see X on the page" is automatic. Thanks for your valve slide tuning dissertation. It fits very well with how I tune the slides on my horn.