Advice for a Graduating Ed. Major

[anotherjtm2]

I'm surprised at the comments to let the school buy a tuba for you, or to set aside the school's best tuba for your own use. Is that a common perk? If not, do schools really not notice?

[jperry1466]

I'm surprised at the comments to let the school buy a tuba for you, or to set aside the school's best tuba for your own use. Is that a common perk? If not, do schools really not notice?

It's not a common perk, sometimes schools don't notice the details. I have a friend teaching in a tiny school in Texas whose predecessor bought a silver Mack 410 CC with what school budget he had, played it himself and never let the kids touch it. Now my buddy has a CC he can't use and needs more BBb tubas but will have to wait. The predecessor was fired, and the school knows now... They chose not to pursue the matter any farther.

I was a band director for 33 years, and being a tuba player, our program always had good instruments for the students. If and when I needed a tuba I borrowed one of the students' horns. I sold my Meinl Weston 30 CC years ago (still wish I hadn't) when kids, house payments, etc. came along. After I retired, I bought my own laquer Mack 410 CC that fills my needs in community band, brass quintet, and tuba ensemble. If I had known what was going to happen with my buddy, I would have bought that horn from him, but my crystal ball was not working at the time.

[THE TUBA]

The instruments that work best to pursue a MM in Tuba Performance is completely different from what you'll need as a band director.

When I was teaching HS/MS band, I had a big shiny CC tuba that almost never left the case. It was heavy, hard to play standing up or while moving around. It was in almost new condition, so I was perpetually worried about kids scratching or denting it. It hurt my brain to try to play along with trumpet/clarinet transpositions on CC.

I instead almost exclusively would use my F tuba in band. Easier to carry around the classroom. Easier to model with. It was an older horn, so I didn't care as much about picking up a ding or a scratch. The higher pitch made it more accessible to students, too.

If I ever go back in the classroom, I would likely use another F tuba or just a euph for modeling.

[tbonesullivan]

For sure, I don't even want to touch financing until I have the stability of a salaried position, this purchase is straight cash; I've been lucky enough to be getting some income for digitizing/engraving (a.k.a inputting into finale) lots of music for some local directors. More for the horn fund!

well, that's good at least, but unless you are getting a killer deal, the law of diminishing returns really comes into play once you get over 10K with tubas. I would say if you've got a nice amount saved away, put it on a fixed term CD at a bank or something, and get some interest on it, while maybe taking more time to check out horns.

Unfortunately the ability to really try out and check out horns is severely diminished in the current situation. Less people are buying, less people are selling, and more and more horns are just kinda sitting there.

[timothy42b]

This will probably show my ignorance, but maybe I'll learn something.

You're a music ed major so you are going to teach band in a high school. There might be an orchestra but there is probably very little chance.

So your bandroom will be full of Bb and BBb instruments, your students will all play wind ensemble music oriented towards flat keys, and your gigging in local bands will be the same.

But your desire is for a C and F when it seems to me a BBb and EEb is what you are likely to have a use for.

Are you secretly still trying to get that symphony position?

[Rick Denney]

Music teachers do things outside of school. If those things are:

Category 1. Gigging professionally, sub in the local orchestra, A-list in the studios (as Tommy Johnson was, despite teaching band), quintet with a gig every week, getting paid to play in the Freeway Philharmonic.

Category 2. Playing in local community groups, because teaching band is too much work to pile all that other stuff on it.

For most, it might be a mix of the two. But if Category 1 dominates, then you are a pro who also teaches. Your pro gigs should bring in enough money to amortize whatever tuba you need to deliver those services most efficiently. If they don't, then you are in Category 2. (I would submit that most pros can deliver the required quality on any competent instrument, except for subbing in the orchestra, where having the right look and the right sound is part of how one gets the gig.)

If you are likely to be in Category 2 (honest is important), then you will be an amateur performer. We amateurs can buy whatever we want, as long as we have the money and can make the purchase without undermining our financial security or interfering with our other responsibilities. Hint: I did not buy a pro-quality tuba until a solid decade of a day job that pays better than teaching school. I did not spend more than $3000 for a tuba (let's say $5000 in current dollars, relative to what's available on the market) until a decade after that. And I did not have kids.

The mistake is justifying an expensive, pro-grade CC tuba using Category 1 justifications, when most music educators will end up in Category 2, without the gig income to pay for the instrument, or the resources to pay it off from their day-job income.

It's easier to buy a nice, preowned Bb tuba with summer earnings, and later sell it and get that pro tuba if needed with income from gigs, or upgrade to whatever you want with money you have saved.

Rick "principles to consider instead of advice" Denney

[Matt G]

This will probably show my ignorance, but maybe I'll learn something.

You're a music ed major so you are going to teach band in a high school. There might be an orchestra but there is probably very little chance.

So your bandroom will be full of Bb and BBb instruments, your students will all play wind ensemble music oriented towards flat keys, and your gigging in local bands will be the same.

But your desire is for a C and F when it seems to me a BBb and EEb is what you are likely to have a use for.

Are you secretly still trying to get that symphony position?

It's weird out in academia. Where I went for undergrad, we had a low brass professor. He told the education majors to buy BBb tubas if they wanted their own. I was the only ed major that was playing CC and F. I was one of the "fallback" morons. To this day, I'm kinda jealous of the dude that got a 5J. It was a sweet tuba.

I used to do lessons with kids on BBb tubas while I was on CC (or F or Eb) and got pretty proficient at on-the-fly transposition tricks. Took a good bit of effort.

[dopey]

When I was in college (10-12 years ago? man i'm getting old), I was a music ed major. Ultimately I went another path career wise.

I can't explain why exactly, but I remember having this impression that I *needed* to *advance* to using a CC tuba. As if, BBb tubas were meant for 'non-serious' tuba players and music majors move on to CC!!

I have no idea why I had that thought. Oddly I didn't want to do CC, but still felt I needed to. Even remember my band directors discouraging buying any horn, and to stick with BBb (Think my CC expectation started my senior year of highschool in anticipation for college).

Not sure if other music ed majors ever felt that internal 'expectation'.

After 10 year hiatus I went with an EEb(childhood dream). While I do really like my horn.. I do wonder sometimes if i'd play better staying on BBb.

What I play today, a CC tuba be the oddball/make-it-harder-than-it-needs-to-be.

[The Big Ben]

A comment based on my experience:

If you are going to teach a school band, ease of playing kid's parts for them is a really good idea. A used pro trumpet on a peg at the base of your music stand might be really helpful. "Just pick it up and play it and put it back. Might not even have to move from the conductor's position. Used pro" because it just might get kicked over because, well, it's a school band. A decent trumpet is fun to play but an Olds Ambassador might do the trick, too. I recall having the director show me a section of the music to be most helpful.