Re: Re: sousaphone playing position


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Posted by Rick Denney on August 08, 2001 at 15:59:11:

In Reply to: Re: sousaphone playing position posted by Tim Murphy on August 08, 2001 at 15:27:09:

Let me see if I can find new words that may create the proper image.

A sousaphone is coiled in a plane, or flat imaginary surface. The proper holding technique points that plane forward so that it reaches the horizon along the player's line of sight. This would indeed place the valves in front of, and perhaps a bit to the right of, the player's breastbone.

Another view: If the player supports the upper bow with his left hand (as I always did to avoid poking holes in my shoulder), that hand will be hold the horn the same way it would hold a 20-foot-long piece of straight pipe when carrying it down the Home Depot aisle without knocking things off the shelves.

And the curve of the bell (not the flare part, but the curved part) also lies in a plane and that plane should roughtly coincide with the plane of the coiled part. That will point the bell forward.

For engineers: The upper and lower bows of the body of the sousaphone is normal to the plane of the player's body. For you non-engineers, "normal" means at right angles.

Or, you could just look in the Bell method book--there's a picture of him holding a sousaphone properly.

Rick "trained explainer but not always good at it" Denney


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