Posted by Jim on December 14, 1999 at 15:12:03:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's wrong with BBb Tubas? posted by Chuck Jackson on December 14, 1999 at 12:32:50:
You the same guy asking about the st pete? remember my recommendation? CC for all around one horn. Most band music is easier fingering on CC. Yes, it really is! I asked you then, "what are your goals regarding tuba?" You will get a different sound and feel on the BBb. If your goal does not include professional performance with solo, quintet, sym orch, and other "elite playing," and you are going to play with small and medium community type bands, jazz, dixie, polka, etc. than BBb is probably your horn. I still play on an old 1923 BBb Conn for the "old Sousa type band," The sound fits. You are young and don't know what you want yet. Get a used, good quality CC horn. Get the best deal you can. If you don't like, sell it. But, by that time, you will begin to know what you want [your goals]. There are a few older guys who own one horn, but not many! As to learning the fingering, take your old beginning method and go through it with the BBb as if you had a CC horn. C is open, D is 13 and so on. If you have trouble with fingering at first, write them in. After a while, you will learn to just turn the "mental switch" and go! When you do get a CC, your ears and lips will make the adjustment. At some point,if you have not started yet, start a beginning trumpet book on your BBb tuba. Learn treble clef. You are going to need it for technical studies. Again depending you your goals, which you don't know yet. It takes a year or two of college with a good teacher and good perfoming groups to find out all of this. Get rid of your "locked in brain" as soon as you can. But, in the meantime get a good CC tuba as soon as you can afford it.You should be able to find one for under 3000 and may even find one for under 2. You have plenty of time to look and you are starting out at the right time. I wish I had asked the questions you are asking at your age, but there was no internet and NO TUBA TEACHERS. We all started with trombone teachers. My first pro teacher was John Coffey in Boston, Bass trombone with the BSO. All of my books duets, etc., were trombone book, as that was what he knew. You are so lucky! You have so many sources and you are using them.