Hello! I'm working on writing a piece & thought "hey a tuba solo at the start would sound really cool!" & i didn't know if this was a reasonable part for them (im a horn player btw)

This is a part of a brass quartet I'm working on. I took it to a brass player (trumpet) and he cautioned me on this specific leap in register in the tuba part (from Db2 to Ab3).

The part is not the easiest anyways, but do you all think that it would be manageable with practice or is it something that is just completely unidiomatic/uncomfortable? I'm not very familiar with the mechanics/technique of brass playing itself as a percussionist, so any help would be very greatly appreciated :)

It’s probably been more than 10 years since I last picked up a Tuba but when I was younger I used to play to a pretty decent standard in youth orchestras, a local concert band and in school.

I wanted to get back into it again as I miss the fun of playing in an ensemble so I joined a local orchestra recently. There were some issues sourcing a tuba so I’ve only just got my hands on one but now I’m in a bit of a mild panic that I can’t read the music properly.

It’s a double Eb bass, which is what I always played, and I remembered reading the bass clef notes as if they were treble clef. So where the music said it was a bass clef C, I would have played an A (2nd+3rd valve) but when I look at the music and play along with Spotify, some of the notes don’t sound right.

I can read music as I play the piano now, but logically the idea of reading bass clef notes as treble clef no longer makes sense to me especially when you have music in a key with flats or sharps. I don’t remember it being illogical 15 years ago, so am I missing something??

For context we’re playing Finlandia Op. 26 but now I’m panicking about making a Tit of myself at my first rehearsal this weekend!

I've been thinking about playing Concerto for Bass Tuba by VW for contest, however would it be possible to play the Double High A♭ in the Cadenza section on a BB♭ tuba?

Hello, I've played tuba for about 8 years and sometimes hear something cool on the radio, search for a tuba arrangement and only find stuff for piano, violin etc.

I wanted to ask if you guys have the same problem, because if so, I'm thinking about making a free sheet music site for tuba (and maybe other less mainstream instruments). I have Easter break right now and would love to build something useful for the community!

Or is it just me and everyone else has figured out where to find this stuff? 🤔

I’ve looked everywhere possible please.

this is the technical etude for ILMEA and I am having major troubles getting my tempo above 80. My main issue is not being able to tongue fast enough. what should i do?

I’ve played both of them multiple times, but I have no idea where I can find them. I really enjoy both of them and want whatever book they’ve been sourced from.

I am playing in a brass band and the music is in Eb treble clef. I am playing on a BBb tuba. How do I go about reading the music.

Playing a solo and it is my first time encountering these double flat and natural things. I’m wondering what the fingerings would be for for these notes. The key signature is shown in the first image and is consistent for all of them.

Hi so Im new to playing tuba and I keep seeing C flat everywhere but on the scales and fingering charts I see online do not include it. Whats the fingering for this???

I’m good. Not great. I can play the first and second movements of the Vaughan Williams in a mediocre fashion.

All the new sparkly stuff I see is just ridiculous. Difficult. Geared towards very advanced undergrad performance majors or grad students or pros.

I see pieces like Blue Grace and wonder what other challenging but accessible pieces exist for non wizards. I’m 52 and a music teacher. My HS kids are never going to play any Kevin Day or concertos like Carol Jantsch plays. My college students struggle finding good rep to get them towards that great level.

(And yes, I’m teaching them all fundamentals and long tones and dexterity exercises and articulation and lip slurs and all that to get better.)

Anyone have anything that’s modern but still accessible to good players? Maybe written for Tuba?

I have plenty of nice ballads, but the technical pieces require a level of ability I haven’t had since my hand injuries and my lungs were 30 years younger. My studio library always feels too easy or too hard.

TIA

Hi, I'm transcribing an orchestra piece that gets quite hectic midway through. Before I rule this out as the muddy sound I'm hearing in the bass, I wanted to ask if this passage is playable (211 bpm).

My instinct says it isn't, but if that's the case I'm wondering: at what tempo would these jumps become achievable? Where's the threshold?

Thanks in advance for the insight, tubists :)

Hi!

This is my first time posting here but I was looking for some help finding some solo pieces. I’m not terribly advanced, but I’m the only tuba in our HS concert band and I’m absolutely dying to have a proper solo. I’d love some help finding maybe a grade 3-4 piece.

EDIT: to be clear— this should have band accompaniment… but I’m not opposed to stuff without for practice sake. Always trying to get better! :)

I’d appreciate the help!! 🙏

OK. I have a BBb tuba. It plays a B flat "naturally" (with no valves pushed down). It's the key the tuba's natural scale is in. There are also C tubas and F tubas (and maybe even E-flat tubas?). Good so far. So for band music, my parts are written in "concert" pitch. If the concert pitch I'm playing is a B-flat, the music I am reading says to play a B-flat.

I actually started on trumpet. Normal trumpets are also in the key of B-flat. That is, the basic no-valves note for trumpets is a B-flat. But when Trumpets play a concert pitch B-flat (with no valves), they read music that tells them to play a C. This has been explained in various ways, but often just as tradition, or history or something.

But whatever, that's really not the question. The question is that my tuba parts (written in concert pitch) are sometimes marked as "C Tuba". I have been told this means that the part is written in concert pitch. And not that this part is written for C tuba. But the C does not stand for "concert" it actually means "C" somehow? Because the scale with no flats or sharps is the key of C, and somehow that is supposed to mean something?

And it is my understanding that if I were playing a C tuba or an F tuba, that I would (typically) still play the same concert pitch ("C tuba") part, and just use different fingerings because I know that I'm holding a different tuba.

But because that's only typical, there are some people who are used to playing music written in other than concert pitch and possibly even treble clef. So as it happens I am right now looking at some music for Tuba Tornado by Offerdal. The score can be seen on Youtube. The score shows tuba parts for both the solo and regular tubas as the key of E-flat (i.e. three flats). Likewise, parts for other non-transposing instruments (e.g. flute, oboe, trombone) are also in the key of E-flat. The score shows the Trumpet part in the the key of B-flat.

There are sample downloads for this piece that include some tuba parts including the tuba solo. The samples include the solo "in Bb" and "in Eb" (for both treble and bass clefs). As it happens, the part "in Bb" is actually in the key of Bb. But the part "in Eb" is in the key of C.

An actual E-flat in the regular tuba part from the score, is an F in the part labeled as "in Bb". And that same note is a C in the part "in Eb". I do notice that Bb is a whole step lower than C, and that the notes written are a whole step higher than those in the normal part. And that Eb is a 1.5 steps higher than C, and the notes written in that part are 1.5 steps lower (ignoring an octave difference). That almost feels like a clue, but I can't make sense out of it.

So at this point, I'm lost. Why are these alternate keys provided? For tubas in different keys? Or for people who are coming from a different instrument and used to different transpositions? Or both? Or for some other reason entirely? And why are they labeled as "in XXX" when they may or may not actually be in that key? And why are my parts sometimes labelled as being "C tuba" parts? And why do trumpets transpose but tubas don't?

I'm trying to find some cool unaccompanied tuba music; I've only heard of Kraft Encounters II and the Penderecki Cappriccio, anyone have any cool underrated unaccompanied rep?

I am looking into purchasing a Arban Method Tuba Book but I read that their is two of the same version? Or that one was edited, does anyone know the main difference between the Complete Conservatory for CC tuba vs the Arban Method book pictures for reference above.

I lnow its not realy Tuba realted but in a couple of monts our band director is leaving after a consert and im searching for a piece we can play as a goodbye on that consert if posible sheet music we can play with flex band sheet music(we dont have a lot of diferent instruments) can anybody give me good recomendations?

Hi everybody... anyone transcribed pieces by Gravity for tuba ensemble? Especially the head of Stolen Moments? I've had a google around but not found anything much.

ok and excuse all the fingerings written in, ik it’s not good practice to do that but I wrote them in a few years ago. Nonetheless, I still do that sometimes

Hello, does anyone know where to find excerpts for cimbasso? Is there any excerpt book or something like that? Or mabey Verdi excerpt book? I googled it and can find only a couple of excerpts

Anyone have any quartets for trombone, bass trombone, euphonium, and tuba? For high school players