Making the switch from BBb to CC

[dparcher]

I am currently playing on a BBb and I'm getting my first CC in a few days. I am in need of some advice on making the switch. What worked for you? What didn't work? What approach did you take? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[fairweathertuba]

There are some things you can do to help prepare even before you get your mitts on the new horn. I remember way back in ancient history when I learned CC fingerings I took some old method books that I didn't care if they got marked up. I went through and wrote in the fingerings and then I practiced just doing the fingerings and humming along to the parts I had marked up and then I would put face to horn and play. I also totally ditched even touching a BBb tuba for a few years except for marching band where it was mandatory to play a sousaphone.

[Michael Bush]

An angry teacher moralizing about it doesn't work.

Playing music you know well (so you know what it's supposed to sound like and you can therefore tell when you mashed the wrong button) works.

...in my experience, at least.

I wish I knew a way to make the mental leap of just treating it as no big deal: everything is just a step up. But I found Eb fingerings easier to master, perhaps because it wasn't theoretically so simple as just raising everything a step.

[Walter Webb]

Last year, I ditched Eb fingerings for BBb, and I found the Robert Getchell book, First Book of Practical Studies to be a great tool for making the transition. Oh, and what Bloke said.

[GC]

Try warming up in BBb with CC fingerings. I found that the feel and sound of BBb and CC were almost exactly the same, but I got used to fingerings that were a step lower than I expected.

Considering that I was a BBb player for decades, CC felt alien to me until I found a trick that worked for me. After switching full-time to Eb, I can now pick up a CC and it doesn't feel too strange, but BBb now takes more adjustment. It's mental.

[SousaWarrior9]

I made the switch just last year. Basically, I'd just like to reinforce what everyone's already said: Play stuff you know well, because you know what it's supposed to sound like, so you can tell if you're playing a wrong note.
And remember, it's exactly the same, just a whole step higher. The fingerings themselves don't change, they just correspond to different notes now, so it's not TOTALLY new. You already know all of them, you just need to re-wire your brain to say: a Bb is 1st not open, play it like an Ab on a BBb tuba. After you play for a while, you'll get used to it.
Also, I know you probably don't want to hear this but scales really do help (I HATE scales but they never fail to improve you)
Run through scales slowly, it'll help you subconsciously memorize all of the fingerings (on the bright side, the C scale is now easy because it's played exactly like the Bb scale on a BBb tuba!)
Also, something that helped for me (but may not be for everyone) is playing stuff using BBb tuba fingerings on the C tuba to get used to sound coming out a step higher than I was used to, but don't do this to often, you'll forget to 're-wire' your brain and become dependent on BBb fingerings.
and finally, don't forget about the BBb tuba. pick it up and play it once in a while to refresh your memory. I'ts really not that hard once you get into it. Just start slow, it'll come to you. Just get used to the same notes you've always played just with a different fingering. Welcome to the CC world!
Good Luck!

[hup_d_dup]

Whole tone scales are a great way to quickly learn new fingerings (I know this from my trumpet transposition days). In addition to learning the fingerings they are also good ear training.



Hup

[MackBrass]

Get a book that focuses on scales and play them slowly. Also, ply scales from memory. And associate the new finderings with the notes. Don't be affraid to get some elementary books and start from the begining as you did when you first started on BBb. When starting the transition it is slaow at first so be patient, in a month or so you will be playing at a much higher level. For me, it took about two months then I was as good as I was when I left BBb.

Playing chords helps very well but don't try to do too much too soon, take your time. If you have the Bododgni or Conconi etudes, start with the easiest ones firts. There is a common theme here from all the above posts and that is take it slow at first.

Good luck and sorry for any splelling or grammer errors as I am writing this without glasses on my BB

[Karl H.]

What worked for me:

1. Take 4-5 lines of a simple etude you don't know.

2. Write in the fingerings.

3. Prepare to your current performance level.

4. Move on to the next etude without writing in fingerings.

5. Never look back.

6. Realize it will be easier to learn F/Eb fingerings if/when you get to that point.

Have fun!

Karl "the brain is a magnificent tool" H.

[jeopardymaster]

Did you start on trumpet? Playing trumpet music - Arban Method, for instance - helped me a lot. C is open, yada yada - it's just in a different clef.

[Wu299]

When I was learning F, I was playing long notes and very slow etudes and then went straight into music.
The key for me was to watch the notes, even though it´s like 2 of them on page, because that way I can build a new reflex (C-open, Bb-1, Ab-23, ...). Long notes helped me to find my way to the instrument and how it plays.

Im not saying this is the most effective method, but it worked for me. I learnt fingerings in two octaves in three weeks.

[TubadudeCA]

When I decided to start playing CC after playing BBb, I went to my local College, told them I was a CC player, and was handed a CC Tuba for the Semester that couldn't leave campus. I learned how to play CC in one rehearsal (Though it would take me a few rehearsal to get completely comfortable with it) with a fingering chart on my phone. For me it helped to think of it as a completely different instrument than a Tuba.

[Roger Lewis]

Put the BBb away and just start at page one of the Arban's book. Just keep at it and you will do fine. Takes about 30 days or so to become fluent.

Roger

[luke_hollis]

Just do it. It's not that hard. After a short while, it will become second nature. Like riding a bike only it doesn't have wheels and sounds like a subwoofer.

[jeopardymaster]

Roger's advice is good, but at some point you may want or need to go back to BBb - and that should not be a problem. Just lay off it for a while. I had to march with a sousaphone the fall of my sophomore year to keep my scholarship; fretted about it for maybe 45 minutes, but it was a simple matter - BBb for sousaphone, CC for tuba. Once you have CC down and fully settled in, you'll be able to go back and forth. And then learn F and Eb!

[przxqgl]

i have the same problem: i'm used to playing a B♭ tuba, but, for the past 12 years i've been playing an E♭ tuba, and now i have a C tuba.

to make matters worse, i experienced a brain injury a few years ago. prior to my injury, playing the E♭ wasn't a problem, because i could transpose "on the fly". after my injury, that capability went away and i had to have all of my parts transposed, so that i could play the B♭ fingerings... much to the chagrin of those who were responsible for supplying me with said parts...

i maintain that the information is still in my brain, but i just lost the "connections" that gave me access to it. that has been affirmed by the fact that i have recently picked up a C tuba, and i'm playing concert-pitch parts with only minor mishaps now and then. i'm fairly confident that, given time, i will be able to return to my E♭ tuba, and even my B♭ tuba, without major confusion.

the brain is amazingly adaptable. i agree with the previous posts: start out with music you already know, so that you will know when you "mash the wrong button" and you'll be fine.

[Slamson]

I like Roger's suggestion, but I use a slightly modified version.

If you've had a lot of playing experience on BBflat, you probably have an etude book (Blazevich Kopprasch, Gallay, whatever) that you've played through and know every etude. Using your CC, start on page one, no matter how mundane it might be (a la Blazevich) and play everything slow enough so that you can make sure you're going to play the correct note (w. the correct fingering, of course). Only play it once - then move on to the next one. Same routine. Do this until you get to the last etude in the book. Turn the book back and start at page one again, repeat the method. Repeat the method. Repeat the method. Repeat the method. Repeat the method. Repeat the method.

Each time you go back there will be less of a tendency to play open F's and B-flats, etc. and each time you will be so bored that you will force yourself to pick up the tempo. Avoid going back to BBflat unless necessary. Sooner or later those automatic fingerings will be CC fingerings.

A month? Well, you should be pretty good by then, but you may still have some "BBflat-flashbacks.

[sloan]

Put the BBb away and just start at page one of the Arban's book. Just keep at it and you will do fine. Takes about 30 days or so to become fluent.

Roger

+1

think: how did you learn BBb fingerings?

don't transpose. don't use shortcuts. don't think.

Find the most basic method book on your shelves and play through it.

[MartyNeilan]

By far, the EASIEST thing about playing the tuba is the fingerings. If tuba was only about pushing 3,4, or 5 buttons, everyone would be a virtuoso in two years.

Don't worry too much about it; just take your time to work through them at the beginning, and they will become second nature in no time.

[GC]

Learning the fingerings is easy. The hard part is developing a different set of conditioned reflexes that allow you to play the correct fingerings fluently and without conscious thought. The hard part for me was (and still is) not flip-flopping back and forth between sets of reflexes. I still have BBb moments while playing Eb and occasional Eb moments when playing BBb. The most irritating part of playing CC for me was when I'd glitch back and forth between treble clef fingerings (mostly in brass band) and bass clef CC fingerings. Being severely distractible didn't help either.

The more you immerse yourself right off the bat and the more you practice to built your CC conditioned reflexes, the better off you are.