Appropriate Student Mouthpiece ??

[jamsav]

I' ve taken on a middle school student who is off to a good start. He plays well and is an honest devotee to practice and improvement . He uses a school horn ( Yamaha 103 ) and will for some time longer . He also uses the school supplied Kelly lexan mp- nothing really wrong their, but I'm thinking he deserves better. Something more resonant and colorful. He is responsible enough to care for something of value . What might be a suitable mouthpiece for a 12 year old committed player ? 7B ? Bach 18 ? He plans on soloing this spring with a grade 4 piece that will qualify him for the regional all state band ...jamsav

[TubaHeavy]

I'd go with a Schilke 66.

[USStuba04]

I'll bite as I have been working on this since the school started.

I would go with one of the following: 7b or Bach 25.

Some of the other standards are just flat out to big

[iiipopes]

+1 on the 7B.

[Paul Scott]

I've had good luck using the Denis Wick series of mouthpieces with young players. The #4 can be used with very small, young students and the mouthpieces get larger as the numbers go down, (#3, #2, #1 is the largest). With a 12 year-old I would try a #3.

[USStuba04]

The ONLY problem I see with the Schilke or DW is that they are just too expensive FE young students. $50 is about the limit of what a beginner should spend on a mouthpiece.

[ScottM]

I agree with the Bach 25. Easy to get and a good playing mouthpiece
ScottM

[tclements]

Anything EXCEPT a 24AW!!!!

[tubahero300]

in middle school when i started, i played on a conn helleberg

[cjk]

24aw

[cjk]

24aw

[Dutchtown Sousa]

I'm a fifth year player and started with and still use a Conn Heleberg. It's a great concert style mouthpiece but what you really need is a $400 titanium mouthpiece or you are just being cheap

[Doug Elliott]

Depends on the size and contour of his face. In my opinion there is no such thing as a valid recommendation for "a 12 year old" without a lot more information.

[ralphbsz]

I'd go with a Schilke 66.

Warning: I know nothing about tubas, brass, or in general wind instruments. But I have a son who plays tuba, of about the same age (7th grader). He moved to the tuba from being a combination trombone / bass clarinet player in his school band.

When he started tuba (about 3/4 year ago), he had two tubas to practice on: A Jupiter 378 and a really old 3-valve 3/4 Conn of unknown model number. Both had mouthpieces that were large for him (a 24AW and a Conn 2, whatever that might be), and he had serious trouble going into higher registers; initially, his range was about an octave and a half, and when he started to even be able to go higher, he had very little control of pitch and sound. This was clearly not productive, nor much fun for him.

At that point, I only knew of one instrument store nearby that had more than 1 or 2 tuba mouthpieces in stock (namely Peninsula Music in Palo Alto, a.k.a. BrassGurus.com), and we took his tuba up there. Then he spent a few hours in a quiet practice room, trying out all the mouthpieces they could find (they had maybe a half dozen). At the very end, they discovered a box of Schilke, and at first we didn't even want to try them, because they thought the tuba mouthpiece in the box was going to the Schilke Helleberg, which is supposedly huge. But it turns out the mouthpiece was a 66, not the Helleberg (which has model number SH). We tried it anyway, and it worked great: he suddenly could hit higher notes, and they were stable even at larger volume. For the really low stuff, the Schilke 66 sounded a bit thin and weak, but even there he had better control of the pitch and sound.

Now it is half a year later. At school in the band he plays a Yamaha 321, using either the Schilke 66 (if he has to go higher), or a Conn 18 (when he wants a big volume of low notes). For another week he practices on the Jupiter 378 at home, with the Schilke 66. He now has a teacher who really knows tubas, so in the future I'll simply follow the instructions from the teacher (for now they are: stick to the one mouthpiece you like and don't use any others).

Again, please don't consider this to be advice; I'm not qualified to give advice on tuba playing. I'm just reporting that one particular student of similar age had really good luck with a Schilke 66.

P.S. In the experience of my son and his classmates, a 7th grader (12 years old) can be mostly trusted to take a fragile and/or expensive instrument or mouthpiece and get it to and from school safely. In the 1.5 years of middle school band, we haven't heard of serious problems with transportation, including the school bus. There are more problems with damage in the band room, when the instruments are out of their cases. One of the few benefits of playing the tuba is that a student is not expected to transport their instrument themselves, and a mouthpiece in a small case takes less room than even a piccolo.

[swillafew]

Kelly makes a ''25" as one person recommended. I keep one in the car, it won't break the bank.

[TubaRay]

hmm...

...Parents send their kids on lavish band trips to places they themselves have never been and to which they will probably never go (Italy, Japan, Australia, etc...)

Why not come out with a "student" line of blokepieces that (since "the children" are - after all - THE MOST IMPORTANT THING) cost about twice as much as the (less important) "pro" models.

COMING SOON !!!

Indeed, you should, however you will have to sell the band director on this being a recruitment tool.

[TubaRay]

Depends on the size and contour of his face. In my opinion there is no such thing as a valid recommendation for "a 12 year old" without a lot more information.

In no possible way would I attempt to present myself as knowledgeable as Doug. His knowledge dwarfs mine. However...I completely agree with him. This just makes sense. And, from my experience, is completely true.

[basspiper]

hmm...
...

Why not come out with a "student" line of blokepieces that (since "the children" are - after all - THE MOST IMPORTANT THING) cost about twice as much as the (less important) "pro" models.

These should probably be offered with an optional (extra cost) shank-weighting system that players can adjust for exactly the right resonance dampening properties.

Dave

[Elbee]

+1 on the Bach 25. I'm playing it now after losing a lot of weight including my cherubic lips etc.

[tclements]

I know I was a bit flip with my "anything but a 24AW" answer. Seriously, any mouthpiece, unless it is HUGE, is fine to start with. For a person with a small mouth, I'd go with a Bach 18-SIZED mouthpiece. I think the 25 is way too small and is kind of a specialized mouthiece, like for a high part on a bass tuba. If the player has larger facial features, a Bach 12- or 7-sized mouthpiece will be fine. My general rule of thumb is: use the largest mouthpiece you can.. But at all costs, avoid the 24AW. There are many mouthpiece comparison charts on the internet. Use one of these to find a similar sized mouthpiece. The best advice is, ask a local tuba pro. There are plenty in your area, I'm sure.