Re: Re: Re: Tuba Tyrant


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Posted by Rick Denney on March 22, 2003 at 19:55:35:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Tuba Tyrant posted by LV on March 22, 2003 at 18:16:00:

Now it's my turn to say, I hear you, brother. I played in a community band in the Dallas area for a while, including a couple of concerts. It was a long commute to the band, and it was everything I could do to get there at the start time, but I usually made it with a couple of minutes to spare. In every case, there was no chair, no folder, and no stand in the section. (As a section leader myself, I consider that part of my responsibility, up to a point.) and then it was just as you say--the section leader would hack his way through the solos during rehearsal, or leave them unplayed with no direction to the rest of us, and then ask me to play them while we were walking onto the stage.

As a section leader now, I know that my responsibility is mostly administrative rather than musical. I don't instruct the my section-mate how to play, unless I catch something (like a dynamic) that he seemed to miss, and I expect him to cover for me, too, when I miss something. Now that I'm playing the Holton, he plays the upper octave on his King for a well-matched section sound. I play some solos, and I ask him to play others. I usually play the cues (when necessary--I hate when tuba players play cues marked for an instrument that is present in the ensemble), which is a reasonable balance for him playing the upper octave most of the time. But we try to work it out early so we know who needs to woodshed what.

That's not to say we don't have our competitive moments, of course, but too much of that makes it not fun any more.

Our conductor would be on my case all over the place if I ever called myself a principle or a first chair. We don't do that, though it has caused us to lose one or two players who insist on directing a section where they feel superior. If we assigned section leaders on the basis of skill alone, I'd have given up my position for sure. On the other hand, I've been sitting in that band for three years now while many others have come and gone.

Yes, I have offended the occasional younger player who was technically much better than I when I asked the section to observe a marked piano or to try to tune it up.

Rick "who tries, sometimes unsuccessfully, not to feel threatened" Denney


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