Arbans

[clagar777]

If you play on a B-flat horn you should probably go with the trombone book and just play it in the lower octave. The tuba book is geared more toward tubas in CC.

[Chuck(G)]

good to know it is mostly for a CC cuz I play a BBb. Would the benifits of playing the trumpet part be worth it?

If you use trumpet fingerings, yes. It will also make playing brass band parts a lot easier. A side benefit is that since you use the same fingerings, the exercises always lie in the correct register, no matter what key horn you're playing.

You can also use trumpet and horn music (read the same way) to add to expand your playing library. Why be limited by a clef?

Bottom line: it's your call.

[tubaribonephone]

If you play on a B-flat horn you should probably go with the trombone book and just play it in the lower octave. The tuba book is geared more toward tubas in CC.

The tuba book isn't geared more towards the CC, it's geared towards both BBb and CC. That is like saying the trumpet book is geared more towards the C trumpet rather than the Bb trumpet.

[Chuck(G)]

The tuba book isn't geared more towards the CC, it's geared towards both BBb and CC. That is like saying the trumpet book is geared more towards the C trumpet rather than the Bb trumpet.

From the preface:

This volume was prepared with the CC tuba in mind. It may be used, of course, by tubists who use instruments in any key, but Arban’s original fingering patterns will be present for the CC tubist only. Perhaps future editions of this text will be possible that preserve the exact Arban patterns for tubas in other keys.

So, there is a bit of truth in the CC speculation.

While the tuba version is very useful for bass-clef readers, it's a shame that the quality of the typesetting isn't up tot he original. If you've got the trumpet version, compare the sample PDF for No. 53 in "The Art of Phrasing"on the Encore site at

http://www.encoremupub.com/images/9125.pdf

with the trumpet version on page 205. Note how the slurs cut through the note stems and accidentals on the tuba version and how clean the trumpet version looks in comparison. Computer music notation still has a way to go (yes, I know about Lilypond).

[MaryAnn]

As much of the Arban Method is pattern-based, I would recommend (price factor totally aside) the trumpet book.

The treble clef is "the" clef in which the majority of western music (particularly regarding melodies) is written, and it will prove quite useful to you to develop the ability to read this clef with ease.

But do you recommend he learn it in C or in Bb? I can read trumpet parts and violin parts in treble clef...but the notes don't sound the same due to the transposition.

MA, who does not read by fingering

[josh wagner]

I have the arbans trombone book and i love it. i can read the upper octaves and work on playing lower octaves plus from what i see in the pdf file it is a little more technical. that and it wasn't real expensive (but i plan to get the tuba arbans for college) i being able to play trumpet use the allen vizzuti books on my tuba and that helps alot with the technical things too. expecially the finger twisters. but taht is just from waht i see

[Chuck(G)]

But do you recommend he learn it in C or in Bb? I can read trumpet parts and violin parts in treble clef...but the notes don't sound the same due to the transposition.

MA, who does not read by fingering

MA, how did you ever manage those nasty transposed horn parts?

When I see people struggling wtih learning clefs, I wonder if we're teaching the stuff right. Allow me to think some crazy thoughts aloud.

A note can lie on a space or a line--the clef serves only to tie a given pitch to a certain line. Key signatures serve to denote the key a bit of music is in, but otherwise has nothing to do with the staff. One might just as easly print the name of the key at the start of a section.

Maybe we should teach drawing staves with varying numbers of lines and reference points (clefs). It might keep the thinking flexible enough so that clefs and transpositions are just part of the standard fare from day one.

I think when folks are taught to look at a staff as "bass clef", "alto clef", "French violin clef" or what have you, they're probably being done a disservice. Clefs are merely a notational convenience, nothing more.

But then, I'm a fan of moveable-do solfege, too.

Forgive the wild ramblings...

[windshieldbug]

Sorry to butt in-

I initiallly learned to play cornet, so I bought the treble book. Started learning Bb on a Bb horn. Then I migrated to Bb euphonium, but stayed in treble clef, so still no problem. Lastly I took up tuba my sophmore year in college, and learned CC tuba and base clef at the same time. Got the trombone book (I didn't even know there WAS a tuba book!) and my teacher told me to think, learn fingerings, and transpose on the fly. What I DID learn was to bless that man for his smarts.

The Arban method was written for Bb cornet. The patterns and keys support that instrument, and so does the piano accompaniment that one can buy for the solos, etc. Bass clef is by definition in C, so one does not have to worry about transposition, merely fingerings. The trombone book is, by definition, written an octave to high for tuba. I have never compared the cornet book and trombone book exercises, but I would suspect that there is some stuff that just won't work at tempo on a slide. I have no idea what the tuba book contains, but stereotypically they may leave out fast stuff, too.

If you go on, you'll end up learning Bb/F/EEb/CC/BBb fingerings AND transpositions. If I had to do it again, I do it the same; get a treble book, learn the Bb fingeringings, and do the Carnival Of Venice a'tempo the way it was intended.

[tubafour]

My experience with the tuba Arban's is that the exercises are indeed written in keys that utilize the open bugle of the horn for a CC tuba (trumpet as well). If you're tackling it with a BBb, I think a lot can be lost in translation, as a piece that was meant to exercise, say, articulation, is more of an exercise in fingerings, rather than articulation. If I would have known this, I would have bought the t-bone book.

For what it's worth, my band director transposed my part to match the trumpet part for "Bolero". We played a killer tuba-trumpet duet at solo and ensemble, and got a superior!

Josh "I don't like pages with plenty of black on them but an absolute lack of melody in the black, so I grabbed a Tyrell" Stanley

[gwwilk]

My first encounter with Arban's was in the late 1950's when my trombonist band director let me use his copy of Arban's (for trombone, of course). Naturally I learned it by reading down an octave. Remembering how helpful this book was to my playing prompted me to buy Arban's for Tuba when I began playing again a couple of years ago after a 35 year layoff. It has been so long since I used the Arban's for trombone I can't remember the differences between it and the Arban's for Tuba I've been using.

I'll buy an Arban's for Trombone, have a go at that again, and see if there is really any difference between playing it and the tuba book on a BBb, my flavor of tuba. My suspicion is that each book has its uses on BBb tuba, and the same would hold true for CC as well.

Jerry "hated sharps on the Trombone Arban's but dig 'em on the Tuba Arban's " Wilkins