Practical range for a high school tubist

[sloan]

F to Bb

[windshieldbug]

[Bob Mosso]

Joking aside:

one octive below the F shown above

and one octive above the Bb shown above

[Water Music]

I would say pedal Bb to Bb on top of the bass staff. On CC, same except up a whole step.

[tubaribonephone]

I say screw practicality!!! Go as high and as low as you possibly can!!










But with good tone and sustainability in all dynamics ranges!!!

[tubaribonephone]

I know in the V.W. high F's (above the staff). I think there is a G or an A but I'm pretty sure those are optional.

[iiipopes]

When I was in high school, we marched with King fiberglass (pre-cyborg) souzys, which had to double for concert band. So our range was a bit more than the two octaves from the low F 1-3 for concert band. Even now in University Community Band, even though we're playing top level stuff, I have only seen a low Eb in one piece, and nothing above the top of the staff.

[phoenix]

The Gregson goes to an E above the staff in the 1st movement, the Eb below that in the 2nd, and the A (if i remember correctly [and this is optional]) above that in the 3rd.

The optional note is a G, three lines above the staff

[Joe Baker]

Which H.S. student? The average one? The exceptional? The extraordinary? Or the future pro?

When I was in H.S., tryout for All-City/Region/Area/State included scales bounded by E four leger lines below the staff to E in the staff, and I recall at least one tryout etude from Blazhevic that went to Bb on top of the staff. All of the "pretty good" tuba players could at least hit the notes within that range, so I'd consider that a "normal to good" range.

But I'd caution you not to think of there being a "right" range for a High School player. To recall for the zillionth time a recent example, just think how much less Carol Jantsh would have accomplished if she'd achieved the "right" skill-set for a high school player and then stopped.

Many players, for reasons of natural capability, will never achieve a high level of playing. Others won't because they will fail to put in the work. But until you find yourself limited by your own ability or desire, don't ever stop working just because you've reached some arbitrary "level" of performance. That goes for tuba playing, sports, academics -- whatever you do!
_____________________________
Joe Baker, who stupidly slacked off when he made first chair in Dallas All-City Band (30 years ago) because he thought he'd "arrived" .

[Mark]

The Gregson goes to an E above the staff in the 1st movement, the Eb below that in the 2nd, and the A (if i remember correctly [and this is optional]) above that in the 3rd.

Also, the first movement of the Gregson goes down to a D.

[Mark]

A couple of minor corrections to previous posts.

The high note in the first movement of the Vaughan Williams ia an Ab in the cadenza, not an A; and although it is marked as optional, most audtions that require you to play the VW expect those notes to be played.

In the second movement of the VW, the highest note is an E not an Eb.

I don't have it in front of me, but I believe that the high note in the third movement of the Gregson is a G. However, the alternative cadenza has an Ab above that.

[MartyNeilan]

The high note in the first movement of the Vaughan Williams ia an Ab in the cadenza, not an A; and although it is marked as optional, most audtions that require you to play the VW expect those notes to be played.

Then again, there is the Fletch / AJ approach to the cadenza which places the Ab in a different and much more musical place.
The first time I played it that way for a trombone pro who had only heard the "written" way he agreed it sounded much better.

[Rick Denney]

Do you guys really put the Gregson in the arsenal of all but a handful of high-school prodigies? With the exception of those prodigies, gauging range on the basis of what's in the Gregson is likely to lead to kids trying to extend their range upward without doing it the right way, with the result that they use pressure instead of embouchure strength and mechanics.

If you just want to see where you stand against the typical expectation of a high-school-level player, then Dr. Sloan's answer is completely appropriate, it seems to me. Beyond that, range is not a particularly useful target, and will come with normal development.

Those who can tackle the Gregson or who might repeat what Carol Janstch has done won't care about this range. They will be way beyond that concern.

I agree with Joe Baker (as usual) that one should not be limited by external standards, but rather keep working until they reach the limit of their own ability or desire. But targeting range as the measure of excellence, rather than tone, articulation, and musicality, is likely to lead to more problems than skills.

I also know many players who can play the high parts of the Gregson but who have great trouble in the pedal range of a BBb tuba. I'm one of them (though I do not claim to be able to play the Gregson beyond the hacking stage). But then I have more than the usual F tuba experience for a hobbyist.

Rick "much more interested in sound and technique than in range" Denney

[iiipopes]

Rick "much more interested in sound and technique than in range" Denney

And on that point I agree with Rick completely.

[passion4tuba]

How old are you (the person who made this post)? i mean alot of issues of range fall under a player's own personal physical development...at least that's what i heard. I kno last year (9trh grade) it was hard for me to just play a B flat above the staff ...and i practiced my butt off too..but it would barley come, but over the summer i just kept working at it and i can play an F above the staff with tone quality, an of course almost any one can squeak out some high stuff ...


i have to agree with previous posts and say that range comes 2nd to good tone...my band director keeps telling me that...and i only really started focusing on range after a considerable number of credible tuba and brass players said i had a nice/solid quality of sound. Also just doing scale variations out of my arbans book improved my range...It seems most of the tuba players i have met in Texas have good ranges...especially considering some of them arent even 16 ...but anyways i guess to answer the post....wouldnt a "normal" range be the all/reigon chromatic scale (low E to high B flat)? idunno..[/code]

[TexTuba]

I never wanted to extend my range for the sake of extending it. I did it out of necessity in order to play pieces I wanted to play. Two of those pieces being the Gregson and VW, and then Symphonie Fantastique. I was told this by my teacher and I work hard to live by it. "If you go directly to the music, the technique will come indirectly." I try not to THINK about the Ab in the VW, I think about the MUSIC. Once I accepted this mentality, I stopped straining for the high notes. But that's just me. Good luck!

Ralph

[TubaRay]

I never wanted to extend my range for the sake of extending it. I did it out of necessity in order to play pieces I wanted to play. Two of those pieces being the Gregson and VW, and then Symphonie Fantastique. I was told this by my teacher and I work hard to live by it. "If you go directly to the music, the technique will come indirectly." I try not to THINK about the Ab in the VW, I think about the MUSIC. Once I accepted this mentality, I stopped straining for the high notes. But that's just me. Good luck!
Ralph

Well, I spent a good deal of time and effort working to extend my range. This I did years ago. I now simply work to keep it. That hasn't been too difficult, which I believe is because I learned the proper way to do this. I agree with you concerning the mentality of going "directly to the music, the technique will come indirectly." Once one has the technique and then the mental "picture"(actually the sound), it should be reasonably easy.

[LoyalTubist]

I knew kids when I was in high school who thought they were doing well by getting a middle line D or the F above that. Coming from a typical California High School Parade Band (we memorized one march for the parade season, which is basically parallel to football season), we played a lot of good marches (and memorized four, one for each year of high school.)

I think a practical high school range is low E (two octaves below the staff) to B-flat on the space just above.

[adam0408]

I think I know the idea behind the original post: You want to know how you stack up against players in your age group.

Quite frankly, I don't think it really matters all that much. Just make sure you can play what you are required to play with the best possible tone. If you feel like working on high range, work on high range. Just remember, your sound comes first. If you can play a double g with crappy tone it won't be nearly as memorable as a note an octave below that with great tone.

I would definately reccommend working on the Vaughn Williams. however, I have not yet worked at all on the gregson so I am a little biased.

I definately give the credit for my control of my high range to playing the VW sooner than many people would have probably advised me to. When I started working on it back in HS I was reaching for almost all the notes. By the time I knew the piece, my useable range had extended itself by a fifth to an octave.

[tubeast]

I guess a nice approach to extending your range is not actively trying to.
Make sure you play scales every day covering your whole (comfortable) range. Every once in a while, check out if you can add a scale in a slightly lower or higher key. If it still feels comfortable, go for it and add it to your routine. If it doesn´t, don´t worry about it for another week.
I NEVER encountered notes above G4 (literature that I was expected to play in public, that is), but I WAS asked to go for F0s. I have to admit it takes a GREAT day for me to even fake that note, not to speak of making it a valuable contribution to any piece of music.
So I quit practising high range and just make sure I keep it above C4. To me, anything higher is just a waste of MY time.

(To all those "Peddel BBb", "Middle C" and "High G" people: the C in the staff will be C3 in that terminology. The notes of an octave are counted from a C on upwards. So the "0-octave" will be C0 and higher).

On your original question: That´ll be F1 through F3 for me. If you got those cold and solid, you will rarely get in trouble during HS. The higher stuff is what you got a buddy on baritone for.