Posted by Rick Denney on August 27, 2001 at 09:08:35:
In Reply to: Does weight matter? posted by Will on August 26, 2001 at 22:40:47:
I'd like to weigh in here.
(Okay, okay--I couldn't resist.)
Like some others, my weight has varied a lot over the years that I've played tuba, from the low of about 195 to a high of about 270. When I was heavier, I had more difficulties holding the horn in an effective position. When I put the bottom bow of the Miraphone far enough out on my lap so that I could inhale without pushing it to the floor, the mouthpiece was angled down a bit, which forced me to extend my lower jaw. This became painful after a while. As I lost weight, I could pull the instrument in higher on my lap, and it was much more comfortably to play. But it's still not as comfortable as the York Master.
When I was heavy, my waist was in the Texan position--below the large belly and just high enough to avoid pants falling to the floor with only the assistance of gravity. As I lost weight, my waist moved vertically upward about two inches. But this was a problem, because a tight belt at the official waist restricts breathing. So, now I still wear jeans and the like a bit lower, and of course no belt for concert dress. You MUST leave room for the belly to move out of the way as you inhale.
As to whether the extra weight restricts breathing or not, my suspicion is that it depends on what we do to hide that weight. If we just, um, let it all hang out, then I doubt it is that much of a problem. Patrick Sheridan's words: "I'm not overweight--I just loose." We all laughed on cue. But if we suck in our belly to impress that pretty young flute player (and I know how tuba players go for flute players), then we will restrict our breathing. If we wear a tight belt in the middle of our belly, then we will force that fatty tissue into the space needed by expanding lungs. Large people often play better standing than sitting, just because it gets their belly out of the way.
There is another, mostly separate issue of general fitness. Playing the tuba is a physical activity, and the more fit we are, the more we can concentrate on making music and the less we have to devote to holding up the horn and sucking in air. I've seen tuba players (often in the mirror) who were extremely tired from playing a long gig, just from the physical demands of handling the instrument. This is, of course, especially true if we play standing or marching, which I have done in many gigs (TubaMeisters and Heritage Brass to name two examples). Also, while the breathing apparatus is completely natural, it still requires muscular activity, and the more practice (or should I say training?) we have breathing deeply, the easier it is. Aerobic conditioning helps here to some extent.
But it is easy to go overboard with the fitness thing, just from the standpoint of playing the tuba. I don't really play any better as a result of being fit now than I did when I was overweight, though my tone concept continues to improve even as my technique (because of limited practice time) diminishes. Being an endurance athlete has trained me to listen carefully to what my body is telling me, and I feel sure that being generally fit is plenty good for tuba playing (and for living), rather than going for a level of athletic fitness beyond just being healthy. I've paid attention to the sorts of breathing that I do when I'm on, say, a long run (long for me is dozen miles or more), and it tends to be shallow and fast. This is completely different from the sort of breathing we do as tuba players, where we want a deep breath and a controlled exhale.
If I was still overweight and unfit, and if I wanted an exercise that would improve my health and still promote the sort of breathing we do as tuba players, I would swim. Swimming, unlike most aerobic activities, requires deep breaths and a controlled exhale. It's also a skill activity, which develops coordination and balance. These are also useful to a musician up to a point.
But no exercise is more useful to playing the tuba than playing the tuba. So, when someone asks me, I say exercise for basic fitness, but practice the tuba to improve as a tuba player. Notice that I never tell people to exercise (or diet) merely to lose weight--it often doesn't work that way. Exercise to be fit, eat to be healthy, and you'll weigh what you are supposed to weigh. I'm currently halfway through a buildup for a fall marathon, and running 25-30 miles a week, and I weigh about 210. That's about ten pounds heavier than when I completed an Ironman triathlon, but I'm not worried about it. My resting heart rate is sill a little over half of "normal", with low blood pressure, so I figure that extra jiggly stuff around my middle is doing me no harm.
Rick "who wonders if some larger players of history might have played to a later age had they stayed fit" Denney