Tuba job

[tubaguy321]

Where could I get a paying job for tuba? Churches, playhouses, etc? How would I go about getting one?

[PMeuph]

You play a CC tuba right?
That's the only way you can get a full-time tuba job in the USA.

BBb is fine for some parts in Europe, but you need a CC to get a job.

Ian, if you check his posts you'll realize that he bought a Dillon Miraclone in CC....

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Honest answer: All the paying work I have ever gotten on Tuba/Trombone (none really on the euphonium that wasn't army related) has been because a local pro knew I was good enough, reliable and easy to work with. And, I own a black suit.

So the key word is contacts: if no one is willing to vouch for you, then tough luck getting a gig.

More advice: If you really want to play, and play for money, here are your options. 1. Get in shape and join the Military (whether full time or part-time) 2. Get a group together, learn a lot of different music, record demos and make programs and then try to get gigs. You'll find it tricky, Churches often don't want to pay much(around here at least) most music in theaters is computer recorded (do you know Protools?) Schools don't have too much money for educational shows, retirement homes love music but will often only give you stale cookies and prune juice.

True personal anecdote: I've found that playing music for money, for a director that I don't like and don't agree with, and playing music that I don't care for, to be less rewarding than cleaning out the trash compactor of a grocery store. When a job is suppose to be blue collar dirty work, nobody expects you to love it or be passionate about it, only to do a good job. OTOH, when you play music for money, people expect a great level of perfection. You may not feel the same way, but it's food for thought.

[PMeuph]

You play a CC tuba right?
That's the only way you can get a full-time tuba job in the USA.

BBb is fine for some parts in Europe, but you need a CC to get a job.

Ian, if you check his posts you'll realize that he bought a Dillon Miraclone in CC....

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.

In none of his posts does he mention owning a CC tuba. Sure, he mentions one, but never buying it or owning it.

...Seems clear to me in the first 3 posts: (Sure you have to cross reference what he's saying with the other post, but that's not too complicated, is it?)

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=63706&p=528186#p528186" target="_blank" target="_blank

[Donn]

OTOH, when you play music for money, people expect a great level of perfection.

Ha! I'll show THEM!

[Dan Schultz]

Go to an antique store and purchase an old kettle. Paint it red... get a TubaChristmas music book... and post yourself outside a Walmart. Of course... if the Salvation Army discovers you then at least half your bucks will have to go to them. If your local community has an ordinance against panhandling, you might want to save back some bail money.

[Three Valves]

Go to an antique store and purchase an old kettle. Paint it red... get a TubaChristmas music book... and post yourself outside a Walmart. Of course... if the Salvation Army discovers you then at least half your bucks will have to go to them. If your local community has an ordinance against panhandling, you might want to save back some bail money.

The Lemon Drop Kid Lives!!

[MartyNeilan]

OTOH, when you play music for money, people expect a great level of perfection.

And they have every right to.
If I hired a plumber, I would expect my pipes not to leak, and if I hired an electrician I would expect to not get shocked plugging something in. Musicians should not be held to a lesser standard.

[PMeuph]

OTOH, when you play music for money, people expect a great level of perfection.

And they have every right to.
If I hired a plumber, I would expect my pipes not to leak, and if I hired an electrician I would expect to not get shocked plugging something in. Musicians should not be held to a lesser standard.

Absolutely, my point was that somebody who wants a "tuba job" presumably imagines that it is much in the same vein as "playing tuba in a band." I've found the differences to be quite remarkable between certain paid gigs and unpaid bands.

That said, I feel you missed the point of what I said, Marty. By saying "Expect a great level of perfection" I was inferring a standard much higher than basic functionality. The work a plumber or electrician does only has to satisfy one question: Does it work properly? If the answer is yes, then he's done his job.

Are you gonna complain that your electrical box doesn't look like this? Are you gonna call another electrician next time?


OTOH, going back to my first post: The strict minimum, that is: Playing the right note, at the correct time, in tune, with good dynamics, and good rhythm, good character and ensemble and blend, is sometimes not enough. Sometimes, conductors expect more. Plus, since music is instantaneous, if you screw up for a second you can't undo what you just did. (An electrician can always cut and splice a second wire or start over if he cuts the wrong length. If a musician plays a note the wrong length or plays the wrong note, there are no do-overs, he's screwed up. Depending on how bad the screw up, he might never get called again. If a plumber or electrician screws up as he's installing something, he can fix it before completing the job. Or, if something doesn't work he can be called in again to fix this error. (That will probably lead to you not hiring him again, but unless your house burned down, he'll still get calls from other people)

[Three Valves]

Somebody has an impressive Christmas light display.

[MartyNeilan]

Absolutely, my point was that somebody who wants a "tuba job" presumably imagines that it is much in the same vein as "playing tuba in a band." I've found the differences to be quite remarkable between certain paid gigs and unpaid bands.

I would certainly hope so. Most "bands" outside of the military and a literal handful of others do not have regular paid openings. Every other type of ensemble requires a very different approach, there is no one-size-fits-all playing even among similar sized groups.
For example, just because somebody plays ahead of the beat as 1st chair tubist in their community band (to "lead the band"), does not mean that will be appreciated in a regional orchestra where there is a lack of ictus and nobody wants to be the first one to come in. Conversely, the Tchaikovsky FFF tuba hero may not go over as well in Brahms - or a brass quintet. And the guy who plays everything dee dee dee on the Bach cello suites may be buried in the back of an orchestra next to a bass trombonist who eats raw meat for breakfast.

Marty "who has been too busy to play in a "band" for several years and doesn't particularly miss it"

[Donn]

True personal anecdote: I've found that playing music for money, for a director that I don't like and don't agree with, and playing music that I don't care for, to be less rewarding than cleaning out the trash compactor of a grocery store. When a job is suppose to be blue collar dirty work, nobody expects you to love it or be passionate about it, only to do a good job. OTOH, when you play music for money, people expect a great level of perfection. You may not feel the same way, but it's food for thought.

That was well said, so seems like it's worth a quote of the whole paragraph, after all the attention we've given to the one sentence out of context.

[Donn]

In the US, a blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labour. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled manufacturing, mining, sanitation, custodian work, oil field, construction, mechanical, maintenance, warehousing, firefighting, technical installation and many other types of physical work. Often something is physically being built or maintained.

I guess we could say a person might be paid to operate a tuba during a period of ambient noise maintenance.

[PMeuph]

What about "playing music for money" is *not* "blue collar"?

They even have a union...and no, they don't even refer to it as a "guild".

In a certain sense, you might be right. But, in the real world, musicians either identify as "no-collar" (ie. pop music) or "white-collar."(Classical musicians)

Maybe it's because of the outfits they wear??

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As for the unions, I have no idea what to say, almost every sector around here is unionized, from the grocery workers to the high level managers of the power company and everything in between.

[Donn]

working for a salary negotiated by a union, wearing a uniform, doing precisely what instructed to do at precisely the time instructed to do it...sounds really "blue collar" to me.

If you make up your own definition of "blue collar", it could work. Take a dictionary definition - "of or relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry." Playing the tuba is manual labor? OK, suit yourself - admirably proletariat anyway.

[Three Valves]

If you make up your own definition of "blue collar", it could work. Take a dictionary definition - "of or relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry." Playing the tuba is manual labor?

Playing it, hauling it around and maintaining it??

YES!!

[windshieldbug]

Take a dictionary definition - "of or relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry." Playing the tuba is manual labor?

Clearly, you have never been to a conservatory!

[Donn]

Further, does electrical, plumbing, steam-fitting, dock-working, and construction work *not* involve using one's mind?

They certainly do involve using one's mind. If we're going all out to rigorously define these terms, I wouldn't say the trades you list are all "manual labor" as commonly understood - the last two maybe, the first three certainly not. All are "blue collar." Manual labor does not exclude mental requirements; it does express physical requirements, or maybe more precisely that the balance between mental and physical requirements leans towards the latter. As I understand common usage, manual labor also suggests lower education/skill requirements, and the dock workers and construction workers you mention probably wouldn't care to have their occupations described as "manual labor." They are however "blue collar", which does as proposed above mean some degree of manual labor. These are informal terms with enough grey areas and overlap that someone who's severely encumbered with political issues could confuse himself a bit, but I think most people understand them without any trouble.

[PMeuph]

Ok, how about this?

Did Mike Rowe do a segment on Tuba Players?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Jobs" target="_blank

[tubatooter1940]

Do like I did. Find a pro guitar player you like. Sit in with him and show how you can add rhythm, bass lines and solos to his act. Record him at his or her gig. Take the recordings home and take your time working up bass lines and solos to his or her act. Show up to rehearse and knock everybody's socks off.
I did this with a guitar vocalist named John Reno. He was from New Orleans and was a high school trumpet player who appreciated a lively tuba.
We played together for 10 years and made two C.D.'s together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzL6057AIB4" target="_blank

[UNMTUBADUDE]

I believe that you can take much from the blue collar work ethic and apply it to any tuba job. At least that was my experience being in a college pep band. We had to be there 45 minutes before the games started. I always made it a point to be earlier than that. I looked at it as a job. I would show up to every game even if I wasn't scheduled to play. When you get $20 a game and the possibility to travel, you make the most of every opportunity. I like to tell people that playing the tuba has afforded me the chance to go to some really nice places and work with some pretty good musicians who were students. I went to Las Vegas 3 times and San Jose, CA, Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City. I also got to play a couple of extra games when the University of Kentucky's pep band needed tubas for a couple of games their women played in the NCAA Tournament when it was here in Albuquerque. And I was in my late 30s when I started doing that. If you have any colleges nearby, you may want to go talk to them. I'm sure that they could use some tubas and maybe even let you use one their sousaphones for games. There were a couple of people older than me who played with us. Check around later this month and throughout March. It would be a good way to pick up an extra $20 or more. And it would also be a good way to pass along any knowledge that you may have to the next generation of musicians.