subversive reactions to all of these “tips“ for tuba players on FB
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:28 pm
OK… I’m reacting to all of the “tips” for tuba players that I’ve been seeing. Here are my ANTI-tips:
- Listen. Listen to the sounds being made, and compare them to the mind’s concepts of ideal sounds. If no concepts, form some.
- that person up there in front of the ensemble: Listen to what they have to say, but probably don’t spend much energy/attention on watching them wave their arms and neither focus on those black dots on those pieces of paper very much. Listen, and think ahead.
- Sadly, some of our colleagues (stick waivers and other instrumentalists) don’t expect much of us. Really good time and really good tuning raise eyebrows - and in a good way. Most of us overestimate our abilities regarding both of these things. It’s OK to spend what seem like inordinate amounts of time on these two things during practicing. Weaknesses in these two areas – nearly always – are what disqualify applicants (early on, in the filtering of applicants) for jobs.
- Time and tuning are the language of music, but music itself is the expression of emotions. Written parts (for tubas in large ensembles) are often not particularly emotional and tend to be more rudimentary. However, we should (often) follow/mimic/shadow whichever part or parts are doing the singing, and do much more with our written parts than is typically indicated on a piece of orchestra/band/quintet/etc. tuba sheet music.
- Tuba solos – as much as we would like to think otherwise - are not sought out by the public, and this becomes all too obvious when local recitals are offered, and one glances around and counts the attendees. That having been said, they offer us a way to teach ourselves how to phrase (ie. actually play music, instead of just notes). Listening to popular ballad singers is a pretty good way to learn how to phrase, if one doesn’t want to learn the mechanical Tabuteau phrasing method (which also works). A couple of different types of ballad singers are
- the ones that I might refer to as the “Italian“ type – who were popular in the 1960s. This type overdoes all of the emotions indicated in the songs…and the public buys it.
- Another type is the “Sinatra” type. This type phrases in a much more matter-of-fact way, and this type of phrasing also works and the public also buys it. The point being this: Doing something - rather than nothing – works, whereas doing nothing never works, and doing nothing means that no music is being created.
- Put that F tuba down and work with that “money” (contrabass) tuba, and work on making a really nice sound in its middle and lower ranges. Again, almost no one is ever going to ask anyone to play a tuba solo, and – if they do – they’re probably going to want a tuba player to play it for very little money or no money. If there is a love for playing solos - and a hopeful musician would like to play solo lines often and maybe for money, maybe switch to the guitar, saxophone, keyboard, oboe, violin, or to the trumpet.
nerves: Completely consistent results eliminate a whole bunch of concerns. I believe most of us know the path towards consistency.
- Listen. Listen to the sounds being made, and compare them to the mind’s concepts of ideal sounds. If no concepts, form some.
- that person up there in front of the ensemble: Listen to what they have to say, but probably don’t spend much energy/attention on watching them wave their arms and neither focus on those black dots on those pieces of paper very much. Listen, and think ahead.
- Sadly, some of our colleagues (stick waivers and other instrumentalists) don’t expect much of us. Really good time and really good tuning raise eyebrows - and in a good way. Most of us overestimate our abilities regarding both of these things. It’s OK to spend what seem like inordinate amounts of time on these two things during practicing. Weaknesses in these two areas – nearly always – are what disqualify applicants (early on, in the filtering of applicants) for jobs.
- Time and tuning are the language of music, but music itself is the expression of emotions. Written parts (for tubas in large ensembles) are often not particularly emotional and tend to be more rudimentary. However, we should (often) follow/mimic/shadow whichever part or parts are doing the singing, and do much more with our written parts than is typically indicated on a piece of orchestra/band/quintet/etc. tuba sheet music.
- Tuba solos – as much as we would like to think otherwise - are not sought out by the public, and this becomes all too obvious when local recitals are offered, and one glances around and counts the attendees. That having been said, they offer us a way to teach ourselves how to phrase (ie. actually play music, instead of just notes). Listening to popular ballad singers is a pretty good way to learn how to phrase, if one doesn’t want to learn the mechanical Tabuteau phrasing method (which also works). A couple of different types of ballad singers are
- the ones that I might refer to as the “Italian“ type – who were popular in the 1960s. This type overdoes all of the emotions indicated in the songs…and the public buys it.
- Another type is the “Sinatra” type. This type phrases in a much more matter-of-fact way, and this type of phrasing also works and the public also buys it. The point being this: Doing something - rather than nothing – works, whereas doing nothing never works, and doing nothing means that no music is being created.
- Put that F tuba down and work with that “money” (contrabass) tuba, and work on making a really nice sound in its middle and lower ranges. Again, almost no one is ever going to ask anyone to play a tuba solo, and – if they do – they’re probably going to want a tuba player to play it for very little money or no money. If there is a love for playing solos - and a hopeful musician would like to play solo lines often and maybe for money, maybe switch to the guitar, saxophone, keyboard, oboe, violin, or to the trumpet.
nerves: Completely consistent results eliminate a whole bunch of concerns. I believe most of us know the path towards consistency.
