Where do you get your scores?

[Novicekiddo]

Hi,

I am curious where do everyone here find their Orchestra Excerpts, Tuba transcriptions( such as Flute,horn,etc concerto/sonata ) I manage to find some Orchestra Excerpts on imslp.org but I couldnt find every tuba excerpt i wanted on that site. Do you guys buy this pieces?

Also, for Tuba studies such as Kopprasch 60 selected studies or Bordogni 43 bel canto studies which were written for Bb Tuba. You guys transpose the notes when playing on C or F tuba?

Thank you!

[hbcrandy]

Hickey's Music and Robert King Music Company are two good sources.

[Novicekiddo]

Thanks alot! I think I will order the One Hundred Essential Works for the Orchestral book soon.

[Michael Bush]

No need to transpose, all tubas play in concert pitch. The differences are in range and tone. You can play any tuba part with your usual BBb, CC, Eb, or F fingerings, as long as your chops will reach the notes.

[Steve Marcus]

Although not carrying exclusively tuba/euph music, there are three (count 'em) retail sheet music showrooms within a few feet of the store where I work (PianoForte Chicago, Inc., whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Avenue, 2 blocks south of Symphony Center) where you can still browse through actual hard-copy print-on-paper scores and music.

On the 9th floor of the FAB (you travel in the last human-operated elevator in Chicago) contains Performers Music, which actually has a browser of tuba solo, euph solo, tuba and ensemble music, etc. The staff is helpful and the shop's owner is usually on hand, so they'll order for you what you can't find there. Most if not all of the staff are indeed performing musicians (a trumpeter who subbed in an ensemble with me is an excellent player). It's reminiscent of the old Carl Fischer Music in that there are manila folders for music that they might not have had in stock for some time but obviously did at one time. Of course, it's a fraction of the size of the legendary, late lamented Carl Fischer retail store in Chicago.

On the 2nd floor of FAB is a used book store called Selected Works which offers a multitude of used music for sale. Tuba/euph music is more of a "pig in a poke" there, but you might find a gem or two for a fraction of the cost of a new copy--not to mention OUP music.

Around the corner on Van Buren Street is Coulson's Music, which is similar to Performers Music but seems to have a slightly smaller selection.

None of this is to claim that a dedicated online source of tuba and euph music wouldn't be more likely to have what you're looking for and/or be able to download a PDF to you virtually instantly. But if you would enjoy the experience of physically browsing through some titles for your instrument that you may not have ever seen before (plus more familiar titles), this block in downtown Chicago is a good source.

When you come to browse through the music or to visit the historic Fine Arts Building for any reason (yes, Arnold Jacobs and many other past and current pedagogues have had teaching studios here), please visit PianoForte and say hi.

[Novicekiddo]

Thank you very much! Sadly, I do not live in America.But, I would dropped by if I do vist. Anyway, I am still having troubles finding transcriptions for tuba

[Alex F]

I have always loved my visits to the Fine Arts Building and have spent many hours there over the years taking lessons, rehearsing, buying, or having instruments repaired. Just about every nook and cranny of that old building evokes some memory for me. The FAB was built in the late 1880s as the showroom for the Studebaker Carriage Company. At one time, there were ramps running from ground level to the second floor that were used to drive carrriages up and down and vestiges can still be seen on the building. As Steve mentioned, it is about the only building in Chicago that has manual elevators and the operators are quite some characters.I'm glad Performer's is alive and well. It is a great place, as is Coulson's, which is around the corner.

I have fond memories of Carl Fischer and still remember the signs they had posted all over "No Returns on Music due to the Invention of the Xerox Machine". The old Lyon & Healy store on Jackson and Wabash (now the DePaul Admin. Building)was also a great source of music back in the day.