Re: why tuba?


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Posted by David Hamrick on January 07, 1999 at 19:01:28:

In Reply to: why tuba? posted by Dean Norman on January 06, 1999 at 15:56:56:

The reason I started tuba: I was a big thirteen-year-old and the high school marching band needed another tuba more than it needed a mediocre flutist. Within a couple of weeks of getting the horn, I was playing tuba better than I played the flute which I had worked on for two years.

The reason I stayed with tuba: I prefer the bass part. I sing bass at church, played bass guitar in jazz band, even played bass recorder in the recorder ensemble in grad school. I've sung tenor here and there, and played euphonium or even 4th horn now and then, but (no offense) I'd rather hold up the bottom than fill in the upper harmonies.

I think the tuba player in a band, more than anyone else, plays the part that ties in with everything else, and gets to see the whole picture of how the music fits together. (This may be the reason that I enjoy band playing so much, too; I've enjoyed orchestra playing--it's an entirely different kind of challenge--but all in all I didn't feel like I got enough playing time.

Thanks for an interesting question,
David Hamrick

P.S. I also suspect that tuba players simply enjoying tinkering with their instruments--witness the topics of discussion on this board!


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