Playing string bass cues

[Dean E]

This is related somewhat to earlier discussions about playing in octaves.

Given that string bass music is written an octave higher than played, in band music, should tubists play string bass cues an octave lower than written? In band music for tuba, I rarely see string bass cues printed with octave signs (8ve, 8va, or 8) [edit] below the staff. That makes me wonder whether the arranger and publisher were in a hurry, and simply were not thinking about octave marks. Or are tuba players expected to know the convention and play an octave lower?

Another question is how safe is it to assume that string bass cues in orchestral music should be played as written? I ask because sometimes in orchestral music, other instruments' cues (for place-keeping but not for playing) are shown in treble clef in the tuba part, indicating to me that more thought and care has been taken in the published part. Printing without an octave sign would seem to be deliberate in such orchestral parts.

Thanks for sharing the benefit of your playing, writing, and publishing experience.

[Rick Denney]

To be on the safe side, play an octave lower than written.

Joe, I'm going to argue with you a little bit.

I've studied lots of orchestral parts, and I see lots of cues. But they are just that--cues, to tell the tuba player where he is in the music so he'll know when to play without having to count 425 measures. The cues are usually written for the instruments playing the melody, and with the appropriate, cue-sized clef marking. I'm sure there's some out there, but in all my practice-room pretending with the Torchinsky books, I don't recall having ever seen a string-bass cue in an orchestral tuba part.

In band literature, I've seen and played zillions of string-bass cues (our conductor often puts me on the string-bass part, which is, of course, written an octave above where it is played, so I get to compare). I don't think I can remember having seen one where the cues were not written in the sounding octave, or where they would have made any musical sense if played an octave down.

Of course, everything has an exception, but that's what I've seen.

You are right on the mark regarding how we imitate pizzicato, of course. I play them nearly slurred, using more air pulse than tounge to articulate them, and never really letting the air die away completely except to breathe. We have to imitate the ring of the instrument after the string is plucked, or it loses all its momentum (and that's one thing bass players are responsible for). In fact, I would extend that to orchestral transcriptions in general, which must be played with a much greater sense of resonant decay than band music.

Rick "who may play badly, but who has no shortage of experience playing badly" Denney

[Z-Tuba Dude]

I would say that string bass cues in any band part, are realistically put there, with the intention of the tubist actually having to play them, as many bands do not have bass players. My experience tells me that most of these cues are indeed written at concert pitch.

[Tabor]

I just play the octave that I think sounds the best for the ensemble unless specifically asked to do otherwise.