Duets Anyone?

[Steve Marcus]

Micky Wrobleski has written some fine tuba duets and has arranged J.S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions for...guess what...

[TubaRay]

Send a recording of you playing your line ...

Or keep the recording, and play along with yourself!
(Just try not to argue about which one of you is out of tune )
MF

Now that's funny!

[Sean Greene]

These are currently out of print as well, but I am working on it! ALong with Nelhybel's "Suite for Tuba".

http://www.cimarronmusic.com

I have always enjoyed the Ken Singleton duets. Not too hard, but very musical pieces!!

Bravo, Bryan! The Nelhybel Suite is a great piece! It's been unavailable for too long. Also, how could I have forgotten the HUGE volume of great stuff that Maestro Singleton has put out? I especially like his Baroque flute duets for tubas.

sg

[Chuck(G)]

Hmmm, no one mentioned the "68 Duets for Two Cornets" in Arban (much less the duets in Saint-Jacome). Don't any of you teachers out there think they're an important part of the picture?

Just curious. (I'm a bit partial to bassoon duets played on euph or tuba, such as the 33 Satzenhofer tunes).

[Sean Greene]

Hmmm, no one mentioned the "68 Duets for Two Cornets" in Arban (much less the duets in Saint-Jacome). Don't any of you teachers out there think they're an important part of the picture?

For the most part, I think duets written specifically for tubas are better to play because they tend to take into consideration the fact that harmonies in thirds written towards the middle or bottom of the bass staff are much muddier than they are in a higher tessitura. My experience with the Arban duets has been that they're great for phrasing, but not as exciting to play rhythmically. Most of the harmonies are unison rhythms in thirds and seconds, too- These would be great tools to get students to branch out and try playing something other than unisons...

[greatk82]

I am a fan of Eric Henry's "Jazz Duets for Tuba." They are fun to play and pretty challenging. I think they are available through Tuba-Euphonium Press.

[Chuck(G)]

I have played these many times. They are not all that good, IMO. The second part is usually like a second part in a trumpet section, which is not a very strong part. Frequently there are no roots, but only 3, 5, or 7. This causes the harmonic "pull" to be weak.

In general, I agree that they're not wonderful. But as a teaching aid to get the student to imitate the teacher, they're not bad. My question was more along the line of "How do duets figure in tuba pedagogy?"

[MaryAnn]

http://www.pelicanmusicpublishing.com/M ... _Code=Tuba

Come on, guys. How about trying some NEW duets for once? Everyone loves these. And they are not even expensive.

MA

[ubertuba]

Singleton. Both books. Excellent stuff. And currently out of print.

Actually I just got one of these, right after I started this thread! I really like them so far.

Now if I could only find someone to play them with besides my teacher...

[TubaRay]

Now if I could only find someone to play them with besides my teacher...

This is often exactly the problem when it comes to playing duets--finding someone who is able to play the other part. From my experience, the better quality duets(and more interesting ones) are usually more difficult. This often eliminates a lot of potential playing partners.

Also in my opinion, playing duets is a very valuable tool to an aspiring player. Actually, it is a very valuable tool for any player. If the player isn't able to play most duets, they should find very easy duets. These may not be especially satisfying musical, but you have to walk before you can run. If you have trouble finding easy enough duets, write some yourself, or get someone else to write them. They are usually a fun way to work on you reading and ensemble skills.

[ubertuba]

These Sear duets sound like a worthy choice, but I can't find them online. Where can I buy these books?

[MikeMilnarik]

I like the "Goodies for Two Tubas - Book 1" by Sanae Kanda.

They are a lot of fun, some can be played on recitals, they're in different styles, and some are really good for working on intonation and general listening skills. It's a mixed bag of 10 duets for fun AND educational experience.

These are definitely my favorites.

I like many others that people here have listed as well.

Mike Milnarik
--
Innovata Brass
Brass Sect
TubaStudio.com

[SplatterTone]

I hesitated to say anything about the book from Patrick Sheridan because it isn't up to the level of the advanced player. But, with the included CD, you get the most high Patrick hisself as your duet partner.

[ubertuba]

So you got an old copy or are they back in print again? Do tell! My copies are pretty ragged after lots of use since 1988. New ones ought to make me smile.

I'm pretty sure we're both talking about 25 Baroque and Classical Duets fot two tubas, right? If so, yes they are in print; I purchased book 1 online from JW Pepper for 20$. My teacher and I didn't know that they were divided into two books at the time, so now that price seems a little steep for half of the book! They're still pretty cool though.

I've been trying to figure out how I can record two tracks of myself playing a duet so I can listen to it afterwards. Short of buying some kind of multi-track recorder outright, does anybody know a (preferably) free way to do this? Maybe free software?

[ubertuba]

Man Mr. the elephant sir, your little animated typist guy is kind of gross.

Thanks for your help everybody!