I just recently bought a (Cerveny Piggy) CC tuba and I was wondering if y'all can shoot me some ideas on good ways to learn and get used to CC fingerings. How do you think about it? What worked best for you?
Also, any other random thoughts on specifically CC tuba playing would be helpful.
Whole tone scales are a great way to learn new fingerings. There are only two scales but they include all natural notes and the common sharps and flats.
The great thing about these sawtooth whole tone scales is that you are not relying on muscle memory but must read the notes; however the intervals are familiar enough that your ears will tell you when you are wrong.
I agree with the previous posts that recommend playing familiar pieces, so these scales shouldn't replace that method but can be used in addition to it.
All of the aforementioned suggestions are great. I will add one more if you are a former trumpet player. Think about playing trumpet in bass clef.
Randy Harrison
Proprietor,
Harrison Brass
Baltimore, Maryland USA http://www.harrisonbrass.com
Instructor of Applied Brass Performance
Maryland Conservatory of Music
Bel Air and Havre de Grace, Maryland USA http://www.musicismagic.com
What helped me was thinking about it as a completely new instrument, and not a comparison to a Bb. When you learn how to play another instrument, like the woodwinds for all you educators, you wouldn't compare the fingerings to the tuba. Transposing on the fly is hard to do.
And no matter what way you go about it, after a short while, it becomes pretty natural. Good luck!
My primary instrument is euphonium and I have played tubas in all 4 keys and I actually find CC the easiest. Just think the C as the first partial as you would written C in treble clef. Think in C, and start slowly, fingering the written note as if it was the same note name in treble clef, Written low C(bass) = C in treble<open), Written low D(bass) = D in treble<13 or 4>, written low E(bass) = E in treble<12> etc..
2052sg Euphonium-
2110L BBb tuba
3/4 Conn Eb tuba
Southern Tier Concert Band(euph)]
Vestal(NY) Community Band(tuba)
Maine(NY) Community Band(conductor)
I'm currently transferring to a cc for college what has helped me the most is doing scales. also you should look into getting a good study book, I'm using this one its helped me. http://www.amazon.com/Tuba-Studies-Jaso ... PDKIKX0DER
Remember how you learned your first tuba. Start slowly and build. It might sound silly but those old elementary Rubank books were systematic and well organized. By going slowly, you may also have an opportunity to discover and work on some remedial issues along the way. Tuba players simply learn different keyed instruments as separate instruments with separate sets of fingerings, unlike trumpet and horn players who learn a transposition technique. You have already established various techniques as a tuba player. Your new job is teaching yourself to respond to the notation with a new set of fingerings. Teaching takes time and repetition (conditioning) when it comes to "stimulus response." At first it will seem as you are thinking before each new note. Pretty soon, the fingerings will seem natural and will begin to happen without thinking about them When you can do that, then you have arrived. I've had students who make the transition in several weeks, others took months. It depends on how you happen to learn and if you have the time to let it happen. Just remember, that if you can already play BBb you must be talented enough. So with that in mind, give yourself enough credit that you should be able to learn another tuba without any undue difficulty.
Wessex 5/4 CC "Wyvern"
Wessex 4/4 F "Berg"
Wessex Cimbasso F
Mack Euphonium
Mack Bass Trombone
Conn 5V Double Bell Euphonium (casually for sale to an interested party)
One other method is to take the Bordogni or Rochut and start by playing all the exercises in C Major. Then go to F major etc. Also run all the major scales but instead of just playing them by rote think of each note as you play it. These will help with the transition.
Scott M
Here is a PDF of the Special Studies for Tuba by Arnold Jacobs (from the Hal Leonard book) that he used with his students. Starting on page 6 is a scale study that goes through all of the major keys. The study on page 5 would be helpful as well, since it also goes through all of the major keys.
