Marching Band Help D:

[NewSousa2010]

HI, i just picked up tuba last year as an emergency measure at my highschool. We had six but three quit and i played bari sax so i had to make the fourth. I am wondering if anyone has any tips for me, I am trying to learn fingers and do all the tone production stuff. I just cant get it to sound right on my sousa. Its a conn 30K i think?
(I also aspire to be a part of madison scouts some time in the future. Is the tuba music really that hard?)

[rodgeman]

Find a tuba player for lessons. They can help more by being with you when you are playing to see what is wrong or right. You can find one at the local university or community college.

Good luck!

[NewSousa2010]

Find a tuba player for lessons. They can help more by being with you when you are playing to see what is wrong or right. You can find one at the local university or community college.

Good luck!

Money is the issue. My dad is a guy that doesnt wanna spend money on lessons. he is a "do it yourself or learn it at school" type of dad.

[rodgeman]

Ok. Sometimes schools pay for lessons. Mine did. Also your band director should be helping. Going from Bari Sax to tuba is quite different. See if one of the other tuba players can help you with the sound. I am not trying to pawn you off it is just no easy to diagnose someone's playing on a forum.

What mouthpiece do you use?
Do you have a method book?
Have you checked youtube for tuba instructions?
Also check youtube for tuba players so you can hear how it sounds.
Do you record yourself?
How often do you practice?
Do you have a tuba now?

As much information as you can provide would help.

[NewSousa2010]

Ok. Sometimes schools pay for lessons. Mine did. Also your band director should be helping. Going from Bari Sax to tuba is quite different. See if one of the other tuba players can help you with the sound. I am not trying to pawn you off it is just no easy to diagnose someone's playing on a forum.

What mouthpiece do you use?
Do you have a method book?
Have you checked youtube for tuba instructions?
Also check youtube for tuba players so you can hear how it sounds.
Do you record yourself?
How often do you practice?
Do you have a tuba now?

As much information as you can provide would help.

Kellyburg, All i saw was expert village trash, Yes i record myself, I practice almost everyday or an hour. And my Conn 20K is downstairs

[rodgeman]

Here are some tips and fingering charts:

http://www.chisham.com/tips/index.html

Also one I use is:

http://bands.army.mil/masterclass/tusaf ... clinic.pdf

I also play in a community college band which helps by having others who can give live tips.

[BuzzedB]

I can't really give you advice on this topic other than practice a lot. I was in the same situation as you two years ago (except I volunteered cause Bari sax is boring for me). Another huge thing is trying to find a good lessons teacher and seriously check up on the school paying for it cause the school that I go to covers half of my lessons expenses.

[sousaphone68]

avoid expert village you will learn nothing. The other two players in your band where are they learning? I have to admit that I am amazed at how many youtube posts and forum posts are about self taught tuba players having their band directors leaving them to their own devices to learn an instrument that is essential to the overall sound of the band. A band with no bass line or a poor bass line is not a happy band.
Is this practice becoming the norm?

[arpthark]

Also check youtube for tuba players so you can hear how it sounds.

[NewSousa2010]

avoid expert village you will learn nothing. The other two players in your band where are they learning? I have to admit that I am amazed at how many youtube posts and forum posts are about self taught tuba players having their band directors leaving them to their own devices to learn an instrument that is essential to the overall sound of the band. A band with no bass line or a poor bass line is not a happy band.
Is this practice becoming the norm?

The other three players started tuba in 6th grade. I was a sophomore when i was thrown the tuba and told to play. That whole season i wrote in fingerings and stumbled through the show music. When i learned the music i was fine. I just dont wanna have to struggle preseason anymore. Our band is really good actually. We Place top five in state championships year after year.

[NewSousa2010]

I can't really give you advice on this topic other than practice a lot. I was in the same situation as you two years ago (except I volunteered cause Bari sax is boring for me). Another huge thing is trying to find a good lessons teacher and seriously check up on the school paying for it cause the school that I go to covers half of my lessons expenses.

I already asked my school is trying not to get our music program cut. So when i asked i got laughed at. But why practice if i dont know the right techniques. Ive been playing long tones for weeks.

[NewSousa2010]

I was in this situation back in HS (cello --> tuba between Sophomore and Junior year). I didn't have access to lessons x/c for a few short ones by my band director. I got through it by practicing my butt off all summer. Luckily I had a knack for the tuba and did okay, playing through HS and college, but I am only now (34 years later) able to make a sound I really like.

I would recommend trying to raise some cash through summer jobs and scare up some lessons, even if it's from a non-tuba brass player. Check local music stores, most have bulletin boards where local instructors post info on lessons. If you can't get paid lessons for some reason, ask to get some help from one of the other guys in your section, even if you have to mow his lawn or wax his car. While you're trying to get lessons from someone, get a good intro method book (i.e. Rubank's Elementary Tuba Method) and start plowing through it.

Good luck!

i have an Arban's method book for first and second year.

[toobagrowl]

That tuba is as big as the kid What's with all these school kids playing these big Yamaha top action BBb tubas? Band directors: those horns are too big for middle school use; they are better suited for high school.

[iiipopes]

I know you said "no money," and your dad is a "do it yourself or at school kind of guy," but, the Kellyberg is a huge mouthpiece for someone starting on tuba. The 20K has great resonance by itself. Will you dad consider popping @$50 for a Conn 7b Helleberg (the shallower one)? This is slightly smaller in diameter and slightly shallower than the Kellyberg, and should help you center pitches and get on with developing your technique better without overblowing or risking the "smile" instead of proper firming your embouchure at the corners and learning proper breath support. It's different on a tuba, as you have to do it yourself from your diaphram and intercostals, as there is less resistance, as you've found out, than with a bari sax mouthpiece. Then as you progress in your technique, you can consider going back to a mouthpiece the size of the Kellyberg after a year or so if you want to.

[TMurphy]

the Kellyberg is a huge mouthpiece for someone starting on tuba.

Maybe, but not necessarily. A Kellyberg is only slightly larger than a Bach 18, and I've successfully started several students on a Bach 18. We don't know how tall/short the OP is, nor how large his lips are. The Kellyberg could be too large, like you said, or it could be just fine for him. I don't believe there's any way to make that judgement without first seeing/hearing him in person.

A teacher is your best option. If your father is a "do it yourself" kind of guy, I'm sure he will appreciate you "doing it yourself" by doing odd jobs during the summer (cutting grass, skimming pools, whatever) to earn enough money to take a few lessons, and get yourself started off right, if you're willing to make the effort to do so.

[imperialbari]

Teaching you sound must be done locally.

There is a logic behing the fingerings. Making the intuitive partially is about getting that logic.

The great jazz tubist Howard Johnson plays baritone saxophone well enough to have made a living of it while employed in a German radio big band (you may discuss the jazz style of these bands, but their players have no shortcomings in technical abilities or in reading). And I have heard HoJo live with Jack deJohnette’s Second edition band, where he played contralto clarinet and tuba. The reason HoJo masters several instruments is about his getting their inner logic. He once told DownBeat that he gave up on bassoon because its fingerings are not intuitive.

On the baritone sax you, within the first octave, go up by lifting fingers and down by pressing keys. The sousaphone works with fingerings within a fifth max. But pressing lowers and lifting raises pitches within each interval. The lips determine from which starting note the fingering logic starts.

Try these fingering sequences from low Bb, F, and middle Bb respectively:

0 (= open) - 2 - 12 - 13

&

0 - 1 - 12 - 13

You soon will lear that 13 played down from middle Bb is he same as open F.

With the right permutations of the above fingering sequences you are up and running in the Bb, F, and Eb major keys.

Klaus

[Mike Finn]

Tuba Rachel's latest blog entry may be relevant, although geared towards younger beginners. It's well worth a read:
http://tubarachel.blogspot.com/

[NewSousa2010]

I know you said "no money," and your dad is a "do it yourself or at school kind of guy," but, the Kellyberg is a huge mouthpiece for someone starting on tuba. The 20K has great resonance by itself. Will you dad consider popping @$50 for a Conn 7b Helleberg (the shallower one)? This is slightly smaller in diameter and slightly shallower than the Kellyberg, and should help you center pitches and get on with developing your technique better without overblowing or risking the "smile" instead of proper firming your embouchure at the corners and learning proper breath support. It's different on a tuba, as you have to do it yourself from your diaphram and intercostals, as there is less resistance, as you've found out, than with a bari sax mouthpiece. Then as you progress in your technique, you can consider going back to a mouthpiece the size of the Kellyberg after a year or so if you want to.

We have to use kellyburg for marching because we play lots of high notes and the bits on our tubas arent strong enough to hold metal. I understand the basics of partials and embouchure, i just dont like the blatty harsh sound i get when playing low tones.

[istandalone]

I might have missed this, but If you tell where you are, someone might be near and could give you more guidance.

I'm just a Tuba dad, so I have nothing.

[NewSousa2010]

I might have missed this, but If you tell where you are, someone might be near and could give you more guidance.

I'm just a Tuba dad, so I have nothing.

I live in Columbia, SC