Low notes

tubeast · Post by **tubeast** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:21 am

Generally speaking, there is no easy way to play low.
Breathe. Huge air column. If the sound still is not full enough: Breathe. BIGGER air column.

At some point there may be limits to the team of tuba and player. If that occurs, and you run across a horn which is easier to handle, switch teams.
Someone else may be happier with your current horn.

hbcrandy · Post by **hbcrandy** » Thu May 18, 2006 7:46 am

To play the low register of the tuba, having a great deal of air available is very important. However, remember that you are not trying to fill tuba with air. It comes full of air, just as does the room you are in. Your job, as a brass player is the fill the instrument with vibration to make the air in the tuba move. When playing the tuba's low register, the player must drop his/her lower jaw and, keeping the corner's of one's mouth firm, allow the lips that form the buzz in the center of the mouth to be as loose as possible. Think of your lips flappping in the mouthpiece rather than producing a buzzing sound. A slow-moving column of air is best. Spend much time practicing in the low register. Play any slow, melodious etudes you may have down one octave. My favorite low register etudes are the Marco Bordogni melodious etudes, as arranged by Johannes Rochut for the trombone, played down two octaves. As your low register develops, your high register will improve as an added bonus.

Best wishes.

Dean E · Post by **Dean E** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:09 am

abuttuba wrote:I have been playing tuba for quite a while now, and I still have much difficulty getting notes below a low Eflat to speak. . . .

Three technical items with which I'm personally familiar:

1. Worn valves can make even a small bore instrument difficult to play.

2. It's been suggested to me, by a respected tuba pro, a member of this forum whose name most would recognize, to lose my moustache, because it interferes with the upper lip flapping and contacting the MP. However, I'm not ready to follow that advice yet. I'm stubborn about my moustache.

3. When going to the lower depths, consciously shift the horn to get the right combination of lips and mouthpiece. I noticed Carol Jantsch adjusting her posture during a solo performance, so it can't hurt, and it has helped me too.

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:20 am

I once had Don Butterfield tell me not to worry about not puffing out my cheeks on the low range. Once I relaxed and stopped trying to keep my cheeks in, my low range became much easier.

Anterux · Post by **Anterux** » Thu May 18, 2006 12:22 pm

This may sound kind of silly, but after I shave, I can control the sound better. And definitely I can hit lower notes easier.

I think this may be due to three factors:

1- better seal of the lipps on the mouthpiece.
2- better sensibility of the skin allowing to feel the mouthpiece better therefore allowing more accurate and faster adjustments.
3- When we shave we massage the muscles of the face and I think that helps the good results.

Kind Regards

Antero

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:25 pm

Adam Peck wrote: You will get many tips about how to play well in the low register but the simple tip I give students is this.....when you are attempting very low notes make sure you have plenty of air stored up and form your face into a scowel as you play. Make your face look as if you are sad, mad , and disgusted all at the same time.Pout with your lower lip slightly out. Furrow your eyebrows when you do this. As you form this face your embouchure will automatically relax.

This may sound strange but try it the next time you are working on the low notes. It really does work.

This approach may work, however I would caution about contorting your face and thereby creating added tension. As we know, tension is a brass players enemy. Tension in the low register on tuba is a formidable enemy. That's my opinion, anyway.

circusboy · Post by **circusboy** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:34 pm

Yeah, you really can't be much of a player if you've got facial hair.

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:10 pm

Let's not be cynical, circusboy. Not one person stated(or even implied) that it is not possible to play well with facial hair. There are many standard wisdoms about brass playing in general. There are exceptions to most rules, however. So don't go off the deep end.

circusboy · Post by **circusboy** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:20 pm

No offense intended, TubaRay.

(How come Bloke doesn't get slammed for being a smartass?)

It's just that the talk of moustaches impeding performance reminded me of this recent thread:

viewtopic.php?t=9630

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:43 pm

circusboy wrote:No offense intended, TubaRay.

Look again Tuba Ray: did you let both pictures load? Perfect satire!

circusboy wrote:(How come Bloke doesn't get slammed for being a smartass?)

Truth from experience is the ultimate defense.

Dean E · Post by **Dean E** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:57 pm

circusboy wrote:No offense intended, TubaRay.

(How come Bloke doesn't get slammed for being a smartass?)

It's just that the talk of moustaches impeding performance reminded me of this recent thread:

viewtopic.php?t=9630

Who doubts that The Ride is performed much better with a moustache?

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:27 pm

circusboy wrote:(How come Bloke doesn't get slammed for being a smartass?)

The results aren't as fun.

Rick "observing that kids only poke sticks into ant beds" Denney

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:49 pm

Rick Denney wrote:
circusboy wrote:(How come Bloke doesn't get slammed for being a smartass?)
The results aren't as fun.

Rick "observing that kids only poke sticks into ant beds" Denney

Exactly!

TexTuba · Post by **TexTuba** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:55 pm

I ask this just for the sake of curiosity. Can having a smaller mouth(how far you can open up your oral cavity)make it harder to play lower then say a person with a large mouth? The reason I ask is because I've seen some tuba players play that just couldn't get down in that register and they had relatively small mouths. Maybe someone can answer this...

Ralph

Tubadork · Post by **Tubadork** » Thu May 18, 2006 5:30 pm

tuben wrote:I've been fortunate my whole life to not have struggled with low register playing after my 10th grade year.

I think the other commentators are correct, in what they said; air flow, pushing out the lower jaw, not worrying about tight corners....

Firm corners are important so no air leaks, but don't worry about pooched cheeks. I for one tend to roll my bottom lip out for low playing, and in extreme pedal range (AAAAb-EEEE), it's probably 95% bottom lip vibration.

Ultimately, don't be hung up in mechanics as we are all different machines. Just practice, every day, mf exercises. The low register study in the Hal Leonard book by A. Jacobs is wonderful, but once that feels good then play the whole exercise down a half step. Then go a whole step, etc.... Play scales (F down to F - E down to E - etc). Start in a comfortable range and slowly stretch your range. If you can practice with a piano then do, training the ear to low frequencies helps to produce them just as with the high range.

I worked and worked my freshman year in high school and was stuck on a low Eb, for almost a year! Then one day the bottom fell out and within a week I had pedal Bb's and beyond. Just be patient and It'll come.

Robert I. Coulter

and Robert has the most amazing low range of ANY tuba player I have heard. Hearing double pedal G's at ppp, has to be heard to be believed. I wish my low range could sound like his!
Bill

Bob Mosso · Post by **Bob Mosso** » Thu May 18, 2006 7:22 pm

[quote="Tubadork]double pedal G's[/quote]

My math could be off but isn't that 12.25 Hz? Or are you talking another octave down from there?

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Fri May 19, 2006 12:43 am

Quote: Rick Denney:
"Rick"Observing that kids only poke sticks into ant beds"Denney
Golly, Rick,
I am 64 and I still poke sticks into ant beds. I try to dig up the queen but I usually only find eggs. What the heck! My yard, my ants.

Tubadork · Post by **Tubadork** » Fri May 19, 2006 12:59 am

Bob Mosso wrote:[

The G below pedal C

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Fri May 19, 2006 2:06 am

Tubadork wrote:
Bob Mosso wrote:[

Which would be 49 Hz, according to this page, below the 3rd ledger line.

Before today, I had understood "pedal" to be relative to the instrument, being the tones of its 1st partial -- so, for a Bb tuba, the highest pedal note is the 6th ledger line. I would be happy to switch to an absolute convention where that's a "double pedal", though, if that's what everyone else is thinking.

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Fri May 19, 2006 9:13 am

abuttuba wrote:btw, I never knew what the frequency was of the low register (or the high for that matter) was of a tuba. What is the range in Hertz?

A pedal C (that is--first partial C--the fundamental of an open CC tuba), is 32 Hz. A double-pedal C is 16 Hz, and won't resonate in the insrument, though the upper harmonics of such a buzz might.

I found significant sound information all the way up to 1100 or 1200 Hz in a low Bb, which has a 58 Hz fundamental overtone.

Rick "thinking that tubas don't sound like tubas without the higher overtones" Denney

TubeNet

Low notes

Re: Low notes

Re: Low Notes

Low notes

Low notes