Posted by Steve Inman [long-ish] on February 22, 2002 at 21:40:52:
In Reply to: 5 valve tuba fingerings posted by Tony on February 22, 2002 at 15:56:39:
Tony,
Bear with me here -- I'm going to try to "teach you to fish" instead of "handing you a fish" according to the old addage. Hopefully this info (if not too confusing) will let you find your own successful solution.
Compare a note you get from playing the 5th valve alone with a note (try for the same one) you get by playing the first valve alone. If the 5th valve note results in a slightly flat 1st valve note (what I would expect from the 5th valve on a BBb tuba), then refer to the first paragraph below. If, however (I think this scenario is unlikely) your 5th valve only note sounds about the same as a 2+3 combination note, then refer to the second paragraph below. Note: in general the 5th valve allows for alternate fingerings on lower notes in order to correct for "sharpness" that is inherent when you start combining lots of valves to play a note. So, typically, you will tune the 5th valve to be either a flat version of the 1st valve, or a flat version of the 3rd valve, and then substitute the 5th valve for 1st or 3rd (or for 1+2 in the latter case) to correct for a sharp lower note. Eventually, you will need to switch over to the fingering for the note that is 1/2 step lower than the note you want to play in order to correct for this "sharpness factor" which gets continually worse the lower you play (rather, the more valves you combine to play the lower notes). With a BBb tuba, you should be able to play well in tune using just 4 valves, down to the low F (4 ledger lines below the staff). You should also typically be able to play the low E natural as 2+4. Then:
5th valve = "flat 1st valve" or "long 1st valve" tuning:
[Remember, each valve simply lowers an open tone (the 2 ledger line BBb in this case) a certain amount. All you're doing here is adding half steps together to get to the right place. Also remember that the more valves pressed at the same time, the more "error" in the form of sharpness will result. This is why you need to correct by either substituting the 5th valve, or using the fingering for the note 1/2 step lower, or pulling a slide, or some combination of these approaches.]
Play the low Eb as 5+4 (substitute 5 for 1 to bring this note into proper tune)
Play the low D as 5,2,4 or 2,3,4 (either substitute 5 for 1, or if that's awkward to finger or is still too sharp, then use the "theoretical" fingering for low Db -- 2,3,4)
Play the low Db as 1,3,4 (the "theoretically correct" fingering for low C) or if that's sharp, use 5,3,4 (substitute 5 for 1, AND use the fingering 1/2 step lower). You can also use 1,3,4 and pull the 1st or 3rd valve slide.
Play the low C as 1,2,3,4 (using the low B natural fingering from the 4 valve BBb), OR maybe use 5,2,3,4 (substitute 5 for 1 AND use the fingering 1/2 step lower)
Play the low B natural 1,2,3,4,5
Play the low BBb open
Listen, and compare these fingerings with the intonation from the note an octave higher. You may need to choose something different than these. Just add the effects of the different valves and you can figure out a combination that will be 1/2 step higher or lower. You have options here. Also, I'm not sure if many (any) tuners will provide good information this low, so you'll have to rely on your ears, comparing these notes to the one an octave higher.
5th valve = "flat 3rd valve" or "2+3" tuning:
[I haven't used a tuba with this combination. Here, the 5th valve drops about 3 1/3 to 3 1/2 half steps depending on the slide setting. So I always need to add up the half steps as shown below. Consider these as merely my guesses based on the "math". Anyone else is welcome to make corrections based on your experiences here. Flame away!]
Play the low Eb [Eb is 7 half steps below BBb, and will be sharp, so we want to pull the 1st valve slide OR use the 5th valve] as 1+4 and pull the 1st valve slide, (1st valve drops 2 half steps and 4th valve drops 5 -- 2+5=7, but this will be sharp so pull 1st valve slide) OR finger this 2,3,5 I think (2v=1 half step, 3v=3 half steps, 5v=3.3 half steps, so 1+3+3.3=7.3 or Eb with the sharpness "fixed")
Play the low D [need 8 half steps here] as 2,3,4 probably (finger 1/2 step lower)
Play the low Db as 1,3,4 (with a slide pull) OR 1,2,3,5 [need 9+ half steps: 1v=2 half steps, 2v=1, 3v=3, 5v=3.3: 2+1+3+3.3=9.3, so that should be close.
etc. Count your own half steps! Good luck.
Steve Inman
Kokomo, IN