Posted by Rick Denney on March 14, 2003 at 01:06:09:
In Reply to: Different tuba fingerings -- a survey posted by AW on March 13, 2003 at 21:08:53:
You'll get a wide variety of responses. Some people naturally take to new fingerings, and others have the mental connections needed to do the math on the fly.
I have neither. When I learned F tuba, it was three months before I no longer had to write fingerings on even moderately complicated parts, and a year before I was truly comfortable. Of course, I work for a living and have a life, so my practice was a bit limited.
Now, I'm more comfortable in some keys on F and in other keys on BBb. I can transpose down the octave for string-bass parts on BBb without a thought, but for some reason it's much more difficult on the F (I'm more accustomed to playing the F in the string bass's written octave, perhaps).
Those who find a given thing easy think stupid others who find it difficult, if they don't try to transcend their own talents and see the world through the eyes of the other. Everyone has their favorite formula for how they learn things, but those formulas are often not transferable. Insistence that one's formula must be easy for everyone because it was easy for him is arrogance. Thus, I always advise newbies to start with what they know and work from there, especially if doing so implies low risk.
I found that the only ultimately effective means of learning a new instrument was to treat it as a completely new instrument. The more I tried to relate what I know of the BBb to the F (other than the basic meanings of the valves), the more I got in my own way. Finally, I learned F using the same procedure I used to learn BBb originally, though it went much faster, of course, because I already know about tone production and had some chops to work with.
The fifth valve of my F tuba came naturally, because it was part of learning the "new" isntrument. I had already mostly learned F on a four-valve instrument, though.
Adding the fourth valve took me several months before it was less natural to play three-valve patterns than four-valve patterns, though both seem now to come as second nature.
I have no clue as to how anybody can transpose, and I'm in awe of those who can. That said, I can read treble clef, but only on a piano. Again, if I decided to learn treble clef (as for BBB parts), I'd learn it as a new instrument rather than attempt the arithmetic in real time.
Rick "who is good at math but slow at arithmetic" Denney