I think my tuba playing is improving. I can now fairly comfortably play from a Bb below the bass clef to the one at the top of it and it isn’t unfeasible to go lower or higher. I’m also able to play faster, hold notes longer and produce a better tone than I was doing a few months ago. I think one of the things that still trips me up, though, is when I don’t manage to get all my ducks in a row.
I thinking about three things in particular. The first is having enough breath left to produce and sustain the notes. There are points at which you need to snatch at least a strategic top up. Next is hitting the right combination of valves for the target note and, thirdly (and related), is forming the appropriate embouchure to produce the note with a good tone.
What I think is most often throwing me off is failing to co-ordinate the second and third. With the bass or guitar, if I put my fingers in the wrong place, I’ll get a wrong note, which can often be slid into place so quickly that it is barely noticeable. On tuba, getting the wrong combination tends to throw me off for several notes. Maybe it is the fact that I’ve got to get my face and my fingers back in sync instead of just moving the fingers to the right place?
Something to keep working on, remembering to make time to practise precision. Good technique, including working up drills to nail down awkward changes, is going to be the way to work past this.
