Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem

[Trevor Bjorklund]

I was just asked to play this wonderful piece with an all-pro pick up orchestra and a (very good) semi-professional choir. I had known this work before entering the world of tuba and cannot wait to play it in concert, except...

I don't own a good high F above the staff! I mean, I can hit it and make it sound when doing scales/arpeggios but it is not my favorite note and is in a VERY important place in the 6th movement. My one and only tuba is my 188, the only mouthpiece I feel good on is my Laskey 30h, and the gig is in mid-May.

What to do?

- Take the ascending scalar passage down an octave to continue to support the bass trombone in octaves as before?
- Attempt to extend my high range and pray?

(I'm going from the part on IMSLP, http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usi ... wBrass.pdf)

Advice?

[eupho]

I have played Brahms on a small BBb quite successfully.(with kudos from the bass trombone player) Practice the arpeggio that leads to the F.

[UDELBR]

Make sure you have that particular part absolutely hard wired into your brain: over-preparation is the key to reliability! Make yourself a recording that starts c. 30 seconds before that passage and listen to it as many times a day as you can stand; then you know the context intimately. And of course practice the passage!

[Jay Bertolet]

The above suggestions are really great and you should avail yourself of all of them! I can offer one other suggestion:

Having played this work myself, one thing I can warn you about is that you really need to be able to play lightly. This work has scoring that isn't great for today's tradition tuba sound. In addition to the above suggestions, you may consider helping yourself a little by considering other mouthpieces. Since you're using a 30H, that leaves you with really good options. You could try a 30F or even a 30C. Both have exactly the same rim you have now but also have shallower cups. These could help you to lighten up your sound. The shallower cup could also help ease your high range. I would guess the 30C could help you a lot.

Good luck, that piece is a great ride!

[MikeMason]

An f tuba really works well with this piece.maybe a good time to borrow one and experiment?

[Ace]

I have played this both on bass trombone and on tuba. For bass trombone I used my Cerveny 4 valve bass in F. For tuba I used my Meinl Weston 2145 CC, with a Rudy Meinl 9 mouthpiece I got from Lee Stofer. I feel strongly that an F tuba would be desirable, but the part is certainly playable on a CC tuba. Don't let that top F intimidate you. Do a few gentle expansion and scale exercises everyday until it comes more easily.

Ace

[ScottM]

I just played this last weekend and all the comments are spot on. I bet you will be able to nail this part by May. I played it on my Mirafone 184 as the orchestra was pretty small and thought the balance worked fine. Good luck.
ScottM

[eupho]

Yes, F is ideal and from the varied posts it is doable on other tubas.

[Mark E. Chachich]

I would practice from the bar before the f through the bar afrer down the octave to get the pitches firmly in your mind and also to get the feeling of not forcing notes. I would then practice as written (remember to relax in the upper range). Of course in rehearsal and in the concert it is as written.

best,
Mark

[ursatz]

True story:

I once asked my teacher: "I'm having trouble with the high notes. How can I get better?"
Teacher replies: "How often to you practice in the high register?"
Me: "Not too much... it's hard."
Teacher: "There is your problem."

There are some darned good exercises out there to improve the high register. Wesley Jacobs has a nice one (get vol.1 -- vol. 2 and 3 are not worth the money) and there are lots more.

If your show is in mid May, you can do it. Just put in the time in the woodshed. And I'll second all of the advise above.

Hey, no sweat!

[Trevor Bjorklund]

Thank you all for the tips and advice - so many great thoughts here!

- Probably not going to be able to swing a different horn - the only other one I could get my hands on is our old Miraphone Eb that needs some repairs and, frankly, I just don't have the mental energy to learn a new horn, not to mention a new set of fingerings, at this juncture.

- Trying a smaller cup mouthpiece may be worth a try, even if it doesn't help with high notes it might lighten up the sound (and it's gonna definitely need to be light as the orchestra is smallish).

I guess it's less a worry about "it's too high" and more of a "it doesn't sound good."
So... yup, definitely going to have to just work the high range steadily. Funny thing is I've been concentrating exclusively on the middle-low and low range since picking up the tuba a few years ago, working on trying to sound like a tuba player playing a tuba and not a trombonist playing bass trombone on a tuba.

I can buzz the note just fine, it just feels weird on the actual instrument, like the sound is too big to fit in there or something. On trombone, even my bass with a large mouthpiece, F an octave even higher is no problem so it's gotta be more brain than lips.

Oh to take lessons again...

[Trevor Bjorklund]

Grab a book called Rhythmical Articulation, by Bona/Fitch.

Got it. Thank you much for the suggestion - you nailed it on the range... exactly where I need to work. Will woodshed on it on the tuba. I see what you are suggesting about face falling off... there're like two rests in the entire book.

And some of this book will work really nicely as a (yet another, and not quite so brutal) source for sight reading material for my trombone students, who universally dread that part of the lesson!