I play tuba and I need some ideas on how to practice better. I'm a first year tuba player, but I moved and ended up in a third year band, and I can't play all that well and I need improvment tricks.
2007-03-26 12:23:08 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Performing Arts
Team up with another player and practice together. Get two copies of all your parts. Mark one up all over the place and keep one clean for after you learn the notes and such. Carry a mouthpiece around and gently buzz into it whenever you are alone and bored. (It doesn't have to be a tuba mouthpiece. A trombone mouthpiece works just as well and is easier to carry around) Learn to play little tunes on it by increasing and decreasing the tightness of your lips when you buzz. Blow up balloons. Seriously. I take a balloon and blow two breaths full of air into it. Then I take the air back and forth into my lungs until I start to feel just the slightest bit dizzy. At first you should only do it three to five times - slowly. Work your way up to twenty or thirty times and you will notice your breath control vastly improving. You will also notice that you have no problem breathing when you go up to the mountains to ski. Your lungs only use about one percent of the air they take in so you can do this safely unless you have respiratory difficulties. In that case, check with your doctor first.
Learn new songs just for fun. Every song you learn is a clue to another song and most teach you techniques you can apply to other songs. When you get home, take the tuba out of the case. Let it stare you down until you play with it. LEt me know if you need more.
2007-03-26 13:54:28 · answer #1 · answered by MUDD 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sorry, there aren't really any short cuts. Most of the playing ability is gained by putting in the practice time. A couple tips that will help a little though. Practice lip slur exercises. That is when you slur from one note to the other but don't change valves. Start on Bb and slur up to F. Follow this fingering progression; 0, 2, 1, 12, 23, 13, 123 going chromatically down. Start by slurring half notes and work your way to quarters and eighths. The trick is to use your tongue to change air speed. Arch your tongue a little when you slur to the higher note. You can also do this starting on different open valve notes. Lip slurs do a lot for corner strength and helps you learn to adjust your air speed, which will help for higher notes. Good luck!
2007-03-27 10:42:44 · answer #2 · answered by Rick D 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
check out this tuba forum for advice
2007-03-26 22:35:03 · answer #3 · answered by lilpinay 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋