Some people have been asking me why I don't offer an advice column on my website. Here it is!
Signed,
Ron
Dear Ron,
There's a lot you're not telling me. Actually, you sound a lot
like me when I was your age. You see, I quit my high school band
between fall and spring semesters. Of all the stupid decisions I
made in my life, that one was probably the worst! I bet you take
private lessons, don't you. So did I, from the time I was 14.
You see, I thought I was better than everyone else. That's selfish
pride. And that's the kind of pride that goes before a fall.
You need to stay right where you are. You need to ask people what
they think of you as a person. Be prepared for a rude awakening.
People probably don't like your personality. Music is supposed to
be fun, even for professionals! If you and your goody-two-shoes personality
are the ones in charge, it's not going to be that much fun. Your
band director made the right decision.
Ron, you're young still. Don't take it so seriously. Remember, band grades not only involve your musicianship but how well you work with other people. Starting right now, change your attitude. Stay in band and let those guys who think that a middle line D in the staff is "screech range" take over. If you do turn out to be an A-1 bass player the experience will be worth it! A good leader learns by being a good follower. Also, don't go around calling yourself a professional tubist unless your life depends upon (not revolves around) tuba playing.
The dumbest thing I ever did in my whole life was quit high school band a few months before my senior year. I thought I was too good for the band. I too played in my local symphony orchestra (and, at 16, I wasn't the youngest, either). During my senior year I was bumped by another young tubist and, luckily with the U.S. Bicentennial at the time, I was able to play with a professional band (in which I was the youngest) but it wasn't the same as staying with the same group of kids I played with for the previous eight years. My mistake wasn't realized until after I finished high school. A proud attitude is a very dangerous thing!
Bill, the LoyalTubist
Dear Bill,
Maybe this is a silly question but I've been wondering why there
are sometimes two parts on tuba parts for band. Which part should
be heard louder? Should they be equal? Maybe it's not really
that important, but I'm really curious.
Signed,
Eugene
Dear Eugene,
There are people reading this in the United Kingdom who are politely
smiling at your question, because they know. The lower parts are
for BBb tuba while the Eb tuba plays the upper parts. In America,
we've pretty much done away with the Eb tuba. Some school students
have the idea that the upper parts are more important because, that's true
for trumpet players. Well, on tuba parts, theoretically, the lower
part is more important. Some younger players aren't able to sustain
a good loud dynamic level down there, so you do what you must. In
most cases, when you have 3-6 tubas, only one of the players should play
the upper octave.
Much of the time it really doesn't matter but I can think of a couple of pieces I played in high school which do matter. One is the American military march British Eighth by Zo Elliot. In the eighth measure of the trio, the lower part has a sustained E-flat, while the upper part has descending quarter notes. Both parts must be heard equally. The other is the band transcription of Aaron Copland's An Outdoor Overture. In one of the sections, the upper part is playing the melody while the lower part is playing extremely important afterbeats in low register. Both these parts must be heard equally.
Your question, Eugene, is not trivial. And my friends in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland are not laughing at you. They're laughing at the American manufacturers who think it's trivial to build an Eb tuba!
Bill, the LoyalTubist
Dear LoyalTubist,
I'm a first chair tuba player in a California high school band which
marches 220 for band reviews. We have 12 players, so we should be
heard above everyone else. But we can't be heard. Last year,
we played Purple Carnival by Harry L. Alford as our competional
march and the only way we could be heard was to take most of the parts
after the introduction and before the trio an octave higher. This
year we're playing Barnum and Bailey's Favorite by K.L. King and
nothing works. What do you suggest?
Ginger
Dear Ginger,
I wish that you would have asked me first about the Purple Carnival
thing. Oh, but I wasn't online last year. Sorry! What
you should have done was have everybody think projection.
Projection
is not the same thing as being loud. You can be loud and still
not be heard in a street parade band. Projection is an attitude.
Use all the support you have to make the best sound possible, to be heard
above everyone else, yet controlled.
Let me give you a preliminary support exercise: Have all the tuba players sit in chairs, the proper chairs for playing tuba! Have your feet flat on the floor. Spread out your knees, bend over, grab your ankles, placing your shoulders on the inside of your knees. Take a deep breath. If you are breathing correctly, I can't begin to describe where you feel the pressure (this is a family website). So if you feel it there you should not have any problems being heard.
This exercise works for players of all wind instruments.
And don't ever change the part the composer wrote. Anything else is disrespectful.
Bill, the LoyalTubist
Dear Bill,
I play sousaphone in a California high school band. My problem
is my band wears those tall fuzzy hats the bands wore back in the old days,
the 1970s. The band director say I must wear the hat, that berets
are for wimps and bands that don't get high scores on their appearance.
It just doesn't work.
Signed,
Joe
Dear Joe,
Thanks for putting me in my place! I went to high school in the
1970s and I wore the hat you're talking about (only it's called a shako
or a busby). To get it ready, first put the busby on your
head at the right angle. Next have two people help you put the sousaphone
over your shoulder and play around with it until you get to a place where
you can play comfortably. What I had to do was hook my right elbow
under the tuning slides to force the sousaphone bell to move to the left,
giving me much more head room. Remember, you can't do it without
two people helping you!
Editorial comments: I went for a couple of years to a major university in Tennessee. The tuba players in their marching band didn't wear anything on their heads. I always felt like I was out of uniform!
Bill, the LoyalTubist
Dear Mr. Long,
I am a high school band director in his first year. The tubas
and sousaphones in the band hall are awful. We'll try to make them
work with band-aids and chewing gum for now, but we really do need to buy
new tubas; they're first priority. If I can only afford to buy one
set of tubas, should I buy uprights, sousaphones, or convertibles?
Henry
Dear Henry,
Economically and practically, your best bet is to buy upright
tubas. You can march with them (people get the impression
the band has money if you do; use drum straps to keep them up). Sousaphones
are OK but really are a bad idea for solos and chamber music (if you get
a serious player, he or she will get interested in that kind of thing.)
And I'm totally against the idea of taking an upright tuba placing it on
the side and resting it on the tubist's shoulder with the bell aimed at
anyone in front of it (the idea of a covertible tuba). Don't
worry about the direction of the uprights' bells. If you have a good
tuba section, they'll be heard.
Brand-wise, for budget basses, I suggest either Amati or Cerveny (both made by the same factory in the Czech Republic; Amati is the student line). You can get a pretty decent Cerveny for about half of what any comparable tuba costs. It has rotary valves and it's huge! I have no real brand loyalties: I own cars built by both Ford and General Motors. For me the right tuba is the one that works. Many firms make many wonderful instruments.
Bill Long, the LoyalTubist
Last updated July 7, 2001
