Screwin the pooch...

dtemp · Post by **dtemp** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:55 am

So I totally sh*t the bed at orchestra rehearsal last night. It's been a while since I've been (a lot of non-tuba stuff has been programmed lately), but the summer season has some tuba-heavy stuff. I'm playing a new (to me) CC, haven't been practicing the big horn as much as I should, and apparently can't sight read myself out of a paper bag. I was fracking, chipping, foo-ing, and spleeah-ing all over the place. It was a little disheartening to say the least.

Besides the obvious practice that needs to be done, any suggestions on how to mentally prepare so as I have a better rehearsal tomorrow?

d(at least it was loud)temp

The Big Ben · Post by **The Big Ben** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:01 am

dtemp wrote:
Besides the obvious practice that needs to be done, any suggestions on how to mentally prepare so as I have a better rehearsal tomorrow?

d(at least it was loud)temp

Smoke a nice big joint?

Jeff "Helpfully" Benedict

Tom Holtz · Post by **Tom Holtz** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:03 am

Get over it quickly and move on. Purge it from the memory banks. Not worth fretting over, and that would make it worse tomorrow, anyway.

Take two of these

and have a great day.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:41 pm

The next time you clam a note, turn suddenly and stare slack-jawed at the bass trombone like you can't believe what just came out of his horn. Used to work for me all the time, and then the Music Director would yell at the trombonist.

Ah, the good old days...

Wyvern · Post by **Wyvern** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:06 pm

We all have bad days. Probably lack of concentration - mind wandering.

Practice the pieces, so you feel confident you can play them, then go in with a positive attitude and show how you can play!

It generally works for me.

Jonathan "who made a mess on his CC Monday, having played Eb all the weekend"

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:35 pm

Well, i guess we've all been un- or under- prepared at one time or another.Sometimes we get away with it,sometimes we get busted.It sounds like you know what to do.You just got a reality check,as we all do from time to time...

dtemp · Post by **dtemp** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:22 pm

Neptune wrote: Jonathan "who made a mess on his CC Monday, having played Eb all the weekend"

Exactly my problem (same model Eb even

).

Thanks for the tips guys.

Wyvern · Post by **Wyvern** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:28 pm

dtemp wrote:Exactly my problem (same model Eb even ).

What a coincidence!

Bob1062 wrote:Play the other horn then until you get the new one nailed down in your spare time.

Bob, I think this problem is not about having it "nailed down", but your mind being in the wrong mode. I heard one top professional screw up in a concert going from his Eb to BBb (he explained to me afterwards what had happened).

This is a down side of playing tubas in multiple keys, but I think worth it for the variety of tones provided. The secret, I believe, to minimize this happening, is to play the different tubas every day. The problem for me arises when concentrating playing in one key for a few days running.

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:50 pm

When I was at Lee U I owned CC and F tubas but had occassion to play on school's BBb Miraphones, especially when going overseas. Most of the time I had no trouble switching back and forth, but one day at a rehearsal I had a mental block about it and was screwing up repeatedly. I wrote in huge letters at the top of the sheet music "BBb TUBA" and stayed on track the rest of the day.
Sometimes you gotta do the obvious.

P.S. nice post title.

dtemp · Post by **dtemp** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:05 pm

Neptune wrote: The secret, I believe, to minimize this happening, is to play the different tubas every day. The problem for me arises when concentrating playing in one key for a few days running.

That's totally what's going on with me. Since I got my Eb about 4 months ago, I've been working extra hard trying to get that up to par. I didn't think my CC playing would be that affected. I still don't feel strong enough on Eb to bring it in, hopefully after the summer season.

cambrook · Post by **cambrook** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:27 pm

If I've been changing a lot with less than ideal preparation I've resorted to writing some fingerings in the part (and erasing them after the concert).

I'd prefer to avoid any uncertainty during a concert until I'm totally comfortable on that tuba.

Roger Lewis · Post by **Roger Lewis** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:26 pm

I tell all my students that there are days when your face feels like it belongs to a plumber from Cleveland (not that there is anything wrong with that) and nothing is working. This is your brain telling you that it's working on something else and can't split the concentration sufficiently to be efective on the horn.

Get yourself focused, and a little angry which also imprves the concentration. Realize that there isn't a note on the horn that you haven't played a million times. Allow yourself to go on auto pilot for the notes and spend more concentration on the rhythms. If this makes it worse then reverse this and relax a little.

We all know when we pick up the horn if our individual "suck meter" is running a little on the high side. Make sure you mentally gear up to give everything you've got mentaly. In your practice change things up frequently. Play The Ride on your F, Bydlo on your CC, Meistersinger on your Euph, etc.

Alan Baer spends a lot of time on what he calls "Cross Training", switching horns frequently in his practice sessions. Myself, I change horns, clefs and transpositions at random while practicing. I make sure I can pick up any horn absolutely cold and make it work on the softest, highest or lowest thing I can think of with the best sound I can manage at the time.

Be tough on yourself in your practicing, don't let yourself get away with anything that isn't our best. Train in your practicing to be focused. That way in your public sessions there won't be any surprises.

Just my $0.02
Roger

Steve Inman · Post by **Steve Inman** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:42 pm

Roger Lewis wrote:
[snip here and there]

Myself, I change horns, clefs and transpositions at random while practicing. I make sure I can pick up any horn absolutely cold and make it work on the softest, highest or lowest thing I can think of with the best sound I can manage at the time.

Ow, ow, ow! My head hurts .....

I ** NEED ** to do this myself, since I play one of my tubas or the other almost exclusively for long periods of time. I resolved to plunge in this past week, but with a gig this weekend, I wimped out and decided to wait until next week to start crashing and burning.

I heard an amusing anectdote from Sam Gnagey, who has the opportunity to play the Nutcracker multiple times every December. A few years ago, he decided to take a different tuba to each of 4 performances, just to make it more interesting (BBb, CC, Eb, F -- don't know what order) .....

Cheers,

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:00 am

I played it on f last year out of necessity, never again...small CC is the way to go in the cramped quarters i'm usually playing from...

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:59 am

dtemp wrote:That's totally what's going on with me. Since I got my Eb about 4 months ago, I've been working extra hard trying to get that up to par. I didn't think my CC playing would be that affected

And then when you get good enough to use either, you'll have memory lapses that will make it freaky on one or the other. Make it about the Music, NOT the horn you use, and you'll find the whole thing MUCH more natural!

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:07 am

It is not just different tubas, the same thing happens to me going back and forth from tuba to bass trombone. I set the embochure to play a note and the wrong fracking partial comes out. I think I tried about every solution posed here, but the key for me is working on both horns in practice. Like Roger said; play the same lick on tuba, then trombone, then euph. It sure makes a session go slowly though. There is enough of a fear factor to make me do it when in performance I have an exposed entrance after a long rest and I have no clue as to which partial will speak. My stomach has churning just now thinking about it.

rascaljim · Post by **rascaljim** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:36 am

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:58 pm

Been there, done all of that, from the initial switch from BBb to CC 25+ years ago, to getting back to BBb, to adding F, then adding Eb with only an F otherwise...now THAT is fun, having only Eb and F tubas. Now with no Eb but a BBb again, and still the F (although the Eb souzie needs to be pulled out and used sometime...)

Roger seems to have the right idea, even though I don't feel the need to do that kind of dilligent practice. I play whichever horn I feel like playing on any gig, excluding a quintet or German gig (F only for those).

It took me almost 2 years to feel comfortable enough on Eb to use it on a jazz gig, no charts. As was also mentioned by someone, I just let the music be the focus, and it all came out right.

It's funny that trumpet, horn, and clarinet players, as well as jazzers on whatever, do the change of key and change of horn sometimes at the same time--playing a D trumpet part on an Eb f'rinstance, or the same picc in either A or Bb. I guess it's a bit different in that they look at a specific part and learn it that way, while we tend to learn it on whatever or every horn we can. (I do know one trumpet player who only owns a C, a picc, and a Bb cornet. Plays the hell out of all of them, any key, any transposition, and sounds stylistically right on all. Amazing.)

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:23 pm

Events eventuate.

That's a politically correct way of saying $#!+ happens.

Then the sun rises on a new day. And you start all over the better and wiser for it. Hang in there! It's happened to all of us.

The basic fact that you are concerned enough to post about it indicates you are conscientious enough to work at what needs to be worked at so to minimize the chances of it happening again.

You'll be fine. Good luck on your playing. Cheers!

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:28 am

Our tuba buddy WSB pontificates "Some days you're the windshield and some days you're the bug."
Sounds like you had a "bug" day. Welcome to the human race.

We started a recording studio session at 11 A.M. I had been on a diet since January and was hungry and coffee was no help. My best buddy was paying $50 an hour to record me splitting notes and blowing clams.
When I told my wife, she said, You're not worth a sh#* when you're hungry." She was right of course.

They couldn't schedule me a second session and spent time cutting and pasting my lines until they cleaned me up. The result is O.K. but I am not lighting 'em up as I had hoped.
I did get back in to re-record two tuba solos and sing backup as well as a lead vocal in the duet for the tenth cut . Needless to say I was full of groceries on that day and things went speedily and well.
At my age I expected the hard, basic lessons to be learned by now.

TubeNet

Screwin the pooch...

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