Note Issue

[TubaZac2012]

So I like to think I have a decent range for someone who has never really worked too hard at increasing it. It's gradually just kept getting larger since I started playing the tuba. My question is I'm having a lot of problems centering a series of notes. Before I go on let me tell you I'm playing all this on a BBb York 91, but the key of the tuba shouldn't matter. I am trying to get a nice full range stable again now that I'm working on going back to school for auditions. The note problem is from around G-C above the staff. So that would be G4 if I'm thinking correctly up to C5? Here's the kicker. I can hit up to the Bb above the C5 so around Bb5 would be the highest I can play everyday. So I'm working all this out on trial and error up in the stratosphere.

Now that I've thrown it out there I'm looking for suggestions. Exercises and all that jazz. Anything you do that works for you.

Thanks,
Zac

[pwhitaker]

Start with slow staccato scales on your middle Bb up and back. Go chromatically up to the next Bb. When these are clean and accurate try the same routine with legato slurring. That has always worked for me. I can usually hit the top line treble clef F and I'm 74 years old (no brag , just fact (Walter Brennan - "The Guns of Will Sonnett" -1967)).

Take any melody you know and try playing it in 3 or 4 different octaves - also good for the low range.

[TubaZac2012]

Start with slow staccato scales on your middle Bb up and back. Go chromatically up to the next Bb. When these are clean and accurate try the same routine with legato slurring. That has always worked for me. I can usually hit the top line treble clef F and I'm 74 years old (no brag , just fact (Walter Brennan - "The Guns of Will Sonnett" -1967)).

Take any melody you know and try playing it in 3 or 4 different octaves - also good for the low range.

Thank you sir!

[groovlow]

Zac, on a big horn sometimes you may encounter feedback from the room directing the wave back down the bell. Try playing outside, if that helps you might need to consider a different location to be in your practise room. I also find that big horns can sound so much nicer (color, pitch, facility, etc.) in that range with lower octave fingerings or other alternate fingerings. See how many alternates you can find for each note in the range. After you find all of your alternates, I recommend a tuner for this work, Peterson strobe for iphone is my favorite. It is invaluable to learn the alternates, as pitch moves in a performance it's easy to go alternate and stay in tune with differing voiceings.
all the Best + big ears
Joe

[happyroman]

Well, if a note is not centering, you are either not buzzing the pitch on center, OR, the tube is set to the wrong length (e.g., a tuning slide is set in the wrong position for the specific valve combination). So, because brass instruments act of the principle of sympathetic resonance, there is one place where a given note will be the most centered and resonant for the length of the tube. Therefore, the first thing you will need to do is make sure you are playing the note on the center of the pitch by buzzing it on the mouthpiece. It will be helpful to play it against a reference pitch on a tuner. Then, go back and forth between the mouthpiece alone and the tuba, transferring the pitch on the mouthpiece to the tuba. If the note still does not center, then you can play around with alternate fingerings and pushing/pulling slides to make sure the tube is set to the proper length to resonate that particular note.

Since you are talking about the extreme upper register, I feel the need to give you a few words of caution. Arnold Jacobs stated that we must treat our high register with kid gloves, especially in the developmental stages. As we go higher on the tuba, there is a tendency for the tongue to elevate inside the oral cavity, cutting off the air supply. Also, the physics of playing higher notes means that the air pressure inside the oral cavity is higher. Extended practice in the upper register can cause these two things to creep into our lower registers, causing poor results. In terms of the air stream, the tuba is basically a very low pressure and very high volume instrument. Compared to the trumpet, we use three times the volume of air at one-third the air pressure.

The bottom line is that you want to limit the amount of time you spend in the upper register (especially the extreme range you are discussing), and make sure to off set it by doing a lot of work in the cash register. Rex Martin told me that he recommends that 80% of a tuba players practice time should be spent between Bb1 and Bb3, with 50% from Bb1 to Bb2 and 30% from Bb2 to Bb3. The register from Bb3 and up should get approximately 10% and the range below Bb1 also 10%.

Finally, Jake recommended that we use long tones and legato playing for the development of the upper register. It is sustained playing that develops our tone in any register. Start on Arban Page 1, No. 1 and play it up an octave or P5 to start, holding each note for eight beats. He specifically said that articulated passages should be avoided during the developmental stages in upper register development because the act of tonguing can cause the tongue to elevate in the oral cavity and cut off the air supply to the lips. When you work on your tone, in any register, think about what a great singer with a voice like a tuba would sound like, if they were singing using the low vowel sounds, OH, OOH, or AHH, and imitate that while playing.