Posted by in the river on July 25, 2001 at 22:18:10:
I have been playing the tuba for about 12 years, 5 of it on CC. In all of that time, my upper range has been limited. I decided to do something about it, and the nearby pro suggested adding chromatic arpeggios (pedal C, low E, low G, low C...low Db, low F, low Ab, Db, etc. all the way up to the top of my range) to my daily routine, which I have tried to do. I am able to get to high Bb above middle c in this exercise, but there are some embouchure gyrations involved (which I don't like-more on that in a bit). But when I am playing something like the second mvmt of V-W, the Eb's become a strain, no matter how much air I am using. The problem seems to be that I cannot get the center of my embouchure to produce a consistent, good buzz at a pitch higher than about D or Eb above middle c. I wind up mashing my chops into the mpc., and I know that's bad. The thing is, I can buzz all the way up to c above middle c WITH VERY LITTLE PRESSURE on a trombone mpc., but not on a tuba mpc. Is buzzing on a tbn (or even tpt) mpc a good idea to strengthen the center of my embouchure? Is this what I need to focus on to get those high pitches - the strength of the center of my embouchure?
What happens when I go for the high stuff in the chromatic arpeggio exercise is that the only way to get those high pitches is to pull my bottom lip WAY in - like under my front teeth so that the point where the red of the lip meets the white of the chin is what is actually vibrating. I use a lot of pivot, so on the high notes I am blowing almost straight down my chin into the bottom of the mpc. But there is a break there at about Bb just below middle c where that buzz is not effective, so I have to switch back to my "normal" embouchure - difficult to keep a line going that way. And pitches are very difficult to control using this method.
My cash register is in good shape; I get compliments on my sound. But I want to expand to the standard solo literature, and that means getting a high register.
What to do?