How high can you play on tuba?

smurphius · Post by **smurphius** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 4:52 pm

After reading a post earlier about someone having a hard time playing to a high D above middle C, I began wondering how high everyone out there can go.

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 4:58 pm

That is a very difficult question to answer accurately. I can play all of those notes consistently, however not so in every situation. I play all of those notes in my daily routine and seldom miss them, however if I have them in a soft passage and have to "pick off" the note, my success ratio drops dramatically.

So I guess my answer is: It depends on your definition...Oh, no! Now I'm beginning to sound like one of our former presidents. Oh, no! We no longer have a politics section on TubeNet. What should I do?

brianf · Post by **brianf** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 4:59 pm

Is this a trumpet list? Thought it was a tuba list!

Dylan King · Post by **Dylan King** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:07 pm

Now that I have my G&W Churada mouthpiece, the sky's the limit!

dopey · Post by **dopey** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:13 pm

Well, one time I played up north, I assume I was a little higher up there.

Never played ontop a mountain tho...

Carroll · Post by **Carroll** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:54 pm

My "D" is about 30 cents sharp... is that high enough?

Roger Lewis · Post by **Roger Lewis** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:27 pm

As I've said before - high range is a trick, a gimmick. Once you see how easy the "gimmick" is everything becomes easier.

I played the world premier of a piano concerto in Southern France at the LaRoque D'Antheron Piano Festival a number of years ago that required me to play a rather wicked sixteenth note run from E flat ABOVE double high C. I nailed it in the rehearsals but asked the composer when he showed up if he truly wanted the sound of a blue jay farting in an empty silo as an effect in the piece. His reply was "I told the arranger AMERICAN tuba! Take it down an octave." It made it much more musical, for what it was. By the way, this was on a CC tuba.

There are no limits - if you think there are you're already crippled. IT AIN'T HARD. You just have to figure out the trick.

Happy New Year to All.

Shockwave · Post by **Shockwave** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:40 pm

The highest note I can produce on the tuba without the lips breaking up into noise is F, 2.5 octaves above middle C, but half the time I play screech trumpet so is that cheating? If you really want to make people notice your high tuba playing, use a trumpet mouthpiece!

-Eric

Adam C. · Post by **Adam C.** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:56 pm

Do trumpet players discuss how low they can play?

And besides, I don't think anyone really wants to hear a tuba playing 2 octaves above middle C. It resembles a castrated baboon no matter who's doing it.

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:17 pm

mandrake wrote:Does anybody know what the highest written note for tuba is?

Kansas City Dances by Holsinger goes up to the C above middle C (double high C in trumpet-speak) in the first and last movement. I have worked to where I can run up to that note, on any normal sized mouthpiece, but it took a lot of time. I still can't consistently pick it out of the air.
IMHO, the highest feasable note on the tuba (IE still sounds like a tuba note) is three octaves above the fundamental (four above the pedal). This would respectively be the Bb or C above Middle C for contrabass tubas.
IMHO, while a few skilled (or cheating?) tubists can go much higher, anything above that note (again, double high C in trumpet-speak) just is for effect and sounds more like a whistle or thin or fuzzy timbre; the length and diameter of a tuba just isn;t designed to amplify and resonate those tones.

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:28 pm

When we formed our trio of tuba guitar and harmonica,John Reno told me that most lead would be tuba lead.I first tried to get my E-flat up over the vocal line by an octave but I was not impressing anybody.
I asked John if I could play my lead in a lower range because when I jumped up the bottom went out of the band.He listened and agreed that as long as I wouldn't play in the same octave as the vocal,low lead sounded fine.Been honking low solos ever since.
tubatooter1940
www.johnreno.com/

tubaman5150 · Post by **tubaman5150** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 1:22 am

This topic is related to all the Bydlo debates that occur on the board.

I'd like to give an award for the most boasting done about playing higher/faster/louder/ by a tuba player.
It would be called the "Lead Piccolo" award. It would be a piccolo, made of lead of course, with a tuba mouthpiece jammed in the headjoint.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:13 am

Anyone play the Richard Price Christmas arrangements for quintet this year?

When my wife was listening to the group play the "What Child is This" chart that starts off with the tuba leading off with the melody on D above middle C, she said "That's just not right. That's not what a tuba should sound like." She (and the rest of the quintet) liked it much better an octave down. Sigh. I should have played it two octaves down--they would have loved it.

Roger's got it right--no one ever paid good money to hear a tuba play high.

tubathig · Post by **tubathig** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:56 am

Worry about something else other than range. Technique and musicality would be much more beneficial.

Anterux · Post by **Anterux** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:26 am

Worry about something else other than range. Technique and musicality would be much more beneficial.

Why are we discussing things that we normally DON'T play?

I find this topic intresting yet from another point of view:

As I can see from the Poll, everybody can reach realy high notes.
notes that we dont use everyday. but, that proves that tubas are realy flexible instruments, and there will be more and more composers willing to use the particularities of tubas in their compositions.
particularyties of sound, range (low and high), dynamics, velocity/agility, multifonics, articulations, and, the most important, all this with good musicallity.

in short:
if we can play it, there will be music to play it. composers have attention to what we can do.

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:04 am

Uli wrote:What means middle C? The c in the middle of the bass- cleef?
Uli

This is written as the C one ledger line above the bass clef staff.

ThomasP · Post by **ThomasP** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:00 pm

To respond to several posts. As far as I know, every part of Symphonie Fantastique does not have a high Bb in the part, this note is just simply part of performance practice. There is an Ab, a whole step lower, in Corsair, by Berlioz. That's what I have to say concerning the highest note written, in orchestral lit., standard lit. at least.

And for those who say we don't play up there much, they should play either Concerto Del Garda, or the Pershing's Concerto by Elizabeth Raum. And those who think a tuba doesn't sound good up there listen to John Griffiths play one or all of the above concerti. Concerto Del Garda, which I am more familiar with because I'm playing it, stays in the middle to high registers or the tuba, and it only goes below the staff like 3-5 times, I can't remember, but I counted it a while ago.

My range as well as other player's ranges are exspansive, but the usable portion of our total range isn't as exspansive. Like what some people said earlier, if they had a piece requiring a really high note, they were always able to play it, but unable to play it in the context in which it was needed.

I would have quoted, but I haven't figured that out yet.....

UDELBR · Post by **UDELBR** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:59 pm

cc_tuba_guy wrote:Why are we discussing things that we normally DON'T play?

Because we CAN play 'em. As someone else wrote, composers and arrangers listen to what we CAN do, and if they were to use only the standard arranging texts to write for us, it'd be pretty boring.

No shame in advancing the instrument, right?

LOTP · Post by **LOTP** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 1:18 pm

What's this about tubists playing "high" ? I never heard of such a thing! I'm sure that nobody on this list would show up for a gig in such a state. Maybe a beer or two to "lubricate the valves"...........

ThomasP · Post by **ThomasP** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:32 pm

I was not aware of that change in the Berlioz which explains a lot. I understand the delimma with the high notes being in certain context clearly. I am tackling the same notion in Concerto Del Garda, which has several notes that just aren't easy to hit the way they're written, but that's what the practice room is for.
As far as the tickets I would enjoy it, but right now I'm in Atlanta, GA home for the holidays and returning this weekend, I might have to take you up on a similar offer in the future.

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