My new F

[Chen]

That looks like a HBS-288/HB-8, the smaller rotary F that Hirsbrunner makes (just thought I'd mention) and damn! that's a nice school F, a Hirsbrunner! Although the PT-15 that we had at school was nice, I was we had a Hirsbrunner instead!

[dwaskew]

Ok, I'm going out on a limb here, I know, but...

in response to:
"Any advice as to what I should be practicing in particular as far as etudes, excerpts, etc to help me get used to the low register ? "

well, since it's a school horn, there's obviously a teacher involved. Go to him/her first. Then, after a good bit of work on what that person
(your primary teacher) recommends, and you still feel like it's not happening the way you want, then, maybe, come back for help.

my opinion is just that--mine. but you asked for opinions.

D. AsKew

[MartyNeilan]

My advice would be to first play pieces you are very familiar with, but obviously with the new F tuba fingerings. Tha advantage to this: the "song in your head" is already there, so it may help you lock in your intonation and get used to the F tuba's quircks. YOU play the tuba; don't let the tuba play you.

[Alex Reeder]

When I was first starting on F, what I found was very helpful for just getting a feel for it was playing the Bordognis in the beginning of the book.

They are familiar, so you know if you play the wrong fingerings. The beginning ones are in pretty easy keys for F tuba, and the range is great- they don't go too low, but hit that low C area a lot. It was a great way for me to figure out the instrument.

My advice to you would be to take it easy for a little while. Just fool around and play easy stuff like Bordognis to get used to the feel of this new instrument.

[Tubaryan12]

Just curiosity.

Dude, that's a crime these days.

[Kevin Hendrick]

Just curiosity.

Dude, that's a crime these days.

Hmmm ... I wonder why?

[Alex Reeder]

Man, these people are really giving you a hard time! It is possible to learn something for yourself without a teacher holding your hand the whole time.

However, I understand and agree that it is important to talk to your teacher about this. I just don't think you are going to injure yourself or anything if you play it for a week or so without instruction. If anything, I think a lesson would be more valuable once you have played the F tuba a little bit.

I don't mean to start an argument or anything. I just am a little surprised at the tone TubeNet has taken lately. It seems that every question gets attacked, whether it's about teachers, practicing, or equipment. I almost feel like every question needs a disclaimer lately. OK, I'm done.

[iiipopes]

The disclaimers are not you, it is unfortunately endemic of society in general: the insurance policy that says it will pay, then has ten pages of exceptions where it won't, the warranty that will fix, but has another couple of pages of exceptions where it won't, etc.

It sounds like to me you're ready for some master classes in addition to your prof to get some "real world" on dealing with quirky F tubas. Maybe your prof can get you an appointment to talk to Carol?

[iiipopes]

Oh, bloke, he's just a young guy, young and foolish, don't come down on him too hard...

I was young and foolish once, also. Now I'm just not so young.

If I were twenty years younger and not married, I'd be trying to get an introduction to Carol myself!

[Barney]

Here's some "universally generic" information from Steve Ferguson:

http://www.hornguys.com/tuba.htm#newkey


Enjoy the F tuba!

[DavidJMills]

F ..ing rookie(couldn't resist), 1 tip from someone who plays mostly F AND still struggles with the "F"unk register, as you descend into this register try opening up the oral cavity, ala golf ball. Otherwise i think the tendency is to close up and get what i call the mert sound, which i think does effect pitch and tone. The C is to the f tuba as the low G is to the CC. Also start above this register play into it,down thru it and back out again(Mel Culbertson). Enjoy.That'll be $50.Send to Dave mills, Tubist Ordinaire.

[tubeast]

k-towntuba wrote:

get some more Ideas between now and next lesson, hear about what others may have done, etc. Just curiosity

Dealing with that low register on an F takes a while. Definitely your teacher WILL adress it once you start lessons on F.
Doing some work on it in advance won´t hurt, though.
Don´t forget to think while you do so.
You want to analyse what you are doing to produce sound, and what might enhance your low register.

In order to deal with Db and C on my MW46, I had to really drop the embouchure below what felt like the center of terribly sharp notes.
I had to relearn to play a centered note down there.
By the time I even had a teacher at all, (maybe 4 months after I got the F) I didn´t have to think about those notes any more.
It was only at the beginning when I thought I was doing something special to these notes.

Being the only tuba in community band and having to play 2nd tuba part all the time helped, too.

[MartyNeilan]

descend into this register try opening up the oral cavity, ala golf ball.

Good idea; a well known tuba player with the same initials as a well known lubricant used to talk about imagining a hot potato in the mouth.

Marty "who hasn't eaten too many golf balls"

[Alex Reeder]

It is interesting to hear people talk about opening up a lot in that low register on F tuba; my experiences have been almost the opposite. I found that i was opening up too much at first, as if I was playing in the low register of a C tuba, which produced an unfocused, fuzzy sound that didn't center well.

When I tried not dropping my jaw as I went down towards that C area, everything improved. Now I think about keeping the air flow focused and directed straight through the mouthpiece. Something else to try.

[Rick Denney]

When I tried not dropping my jaw as I went down towards that C area, everything improved. Now I think about keeping the air flow focused and directed straight through the mouthpiece. Something else to try.

I agree. I think blowing a clear low C on an F tuba is a little like blowing a low F on a bass trombone. Sharpening the point of the airstream seems to help, letting the resonance of the instrument do the work rather than trying to push air into it.

Rick "who thinks clarity is the point of an F tuba" Denney

[circusboy]

I agree with Rick Denney. I would just add relax, relax, relax into those notes. You know how they sound; you know how they feel in your mouth, throat, chest, and gut--let them be.

circus "not trying to be esoteric, but have recently found a spiritual connection to the low C on my F" boy

[Alex Reeder]

Glad the Bordognis were a help to you. 1 and 3 are a real workout for that low C, huh? Cello suites are also a great idea to get (depending on the transposition) a bit more of that higher range. The Bordognis are mostly fairly low.

[MaryAnn]

When I was first honking around on F tubas, I took a lesson from Cherry Beauregard, who was at the U of A for a year. He said that a typical time for a competent contra bass tubist to get an F tuba to work was three months.

I found that my C's worked a lot better at the beginning of my practice session before I played any high notes, and if I worked up to the C from the pedal range instead of down to the C from above it.

What Rick said about allowing the tuba to play the note instead of trying to force the tuba to play it, is right. Something you kind of have to stumble into, unless you're some kind of genius. And it's not similar to playing the G below C on a CC tuba either; the F tuba is a different beast than a CC, not a scaled-down CC in a different key.

MA