Brass Clinic

Low Brass Sections

In Tone and In Tune
by Thomas Bough

he ideal tuba and euphonium

sound is dark and resonant
with stable intonation, but
most bands do not have enough tuba
and euphonium players for good balance. Young players may not have a
characteristic tone or reliable intonation. Composer Francis McBeth
observes in Effective Performance of
Band Music that often a band sounds
"out of tune because it is out of balance." He adds that properly adjusted
instruments may sound miserably out
of pitch. "There is one factor that
looms above all others and this is:
Pitch is a direct result of balance."
The other major component is tone
quality. The inescapable truth is that a
bad sound cannot be tuned properly.
Because a poor tone lacks the overtones that integrate the upper and
lower voices of an ensemble, an ensemble with poor tone will be out of tune.
When the tuba section of the U.S.

Marine Band plays a B^with purity and

clarity, it is the quality of sound coupled with accurate intonation that produces the frequency of the note and
also B^s, Fs, and Ds in several octaves
above. The result is that within a single
note there is an entire chord that provides a stable foundation and reference
point for the ensemble. I heard Les
Linn of the Palo Verde Brass Quintet
in Phoenix expertly convey this concept during a masterclass when he told
the students "You have to play in tone,
as well as in tune."
To improve the tone and intonation
of virtually any player, the first step is
a clean mouthpiece. Most student
mouthpieces are encrusted with gunk,
especially in the shank, but a mouthpiece brush will return the shank to its
original diameter and produce instant
improvement. If the shank of the
mouthpiece is dented, a mouthpiece
truing tool and a rawhide mallet will
correct the problem. This tool, a
tapered metal shaft with a handle, is
shaped to fit a variety of brass mouthpieces and costs about $25. To fix a
mouthpiece, insert the truing tool into
the shank and use a rawhide mallet to

carefully hammer the mouthpiece

back to its original shape; take care not
to jam the tool into the mouthpiece.
The size of a mouthpiece should
match the size of the student using it.
A very large mouthpiece is seldom
good for a young player who cannot
precisely control the airstream for a
good tone. Tuba mouthpieces are often
handed down for years from player to
player, without regard to the size and
dental features of students, the size of
the horn, or the desired sound. If custom mouthpiece fittings are not possible, a Bach 24AW or similar mouthpiece generally works with tuba students. A Bach 61/2AL mouthpiece
works well for most euphonium/trombone players.
For correct posture and playing positions the tuba and the euphonium
should be played with the bell upright;
holding the horn parallel to the floor
looks slovenly and muffles the sound.
The spinal column should be comfortably upright but not ramrod straight;
the mouthpiece should be at a level
where it evenly covers both lips, centered under the nose and meeting the
lips at an angle no greater than horizontal or even a few degrees lower. No
student can generate a characteristic
tone while craning the neck or slouching to reach a mouthpiece. While
some students can place the horn on

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their leg or chair to get the mouthpiece in the optimum position, most
should make other adjustments.
Euphonium players can place a rolledup towel or a block of foam covered in
black cloth on their leg or chair to
raise the instrument to a good position; a commercial euphonium stand
also works well.
I strongly recommend using stands
for tuba players at every level. These
range from large devices that completely support the instrument to small
pedestals that bear the weight of the
horn but require the player to balance
it. Stands reduce muscular tension and
improve concentration by alleviating
worries about dropping an instrument
that is precariously perched on the corner of a chair. I scoffed at the use of
tuba stands for many years until Dave
Ihlenfeld of Flagstaff, Arizona challenged me to try his stand for ten minutes. As he predicted I was more comfortable and relaxed, and the tone
improved instantly. 1 now use a DEC
tuba stand that costs less than $50.
Tuba players can also try a rolled-up
towel, foam, or even hockey pucks.
While it will take time and effort for
students to establish a new habit of
good posture, teachers can help by
reminding them to sit tall and by praising improvements in their tone, intonation, volume, and range.
Regularly maintained school tubas
and euphoniums produce better tone
and intonation. A chemical bath at a
repair shop will open clogged leadpipes
and do wonders for the tone and intonation. Tuning slides should move easily to allow adjustments, water keys
should seal completely, and the bore of
the instrument should be smooth.
Dents are common in school instruments, but a qualified repair technician can distinguish between cosmetic
damage and dents that affect the tone
or pitch. If any slides or bows are badly
dented, it will be impossible to produce a characteristic sound. Regular
maintenance is an extra incentive for
students to practice and to take care of
the instrument.
Beyond these mechanical aspects,
better tone results from a good concept
of a professional tuba or euphonium
sound. Without this ideal sound in
mind, students will accept whatever
tone happens to emerge rather than
shaping the sound to imitate the tone,
range, and intonation of professionals.
Fine tuba and euphonium recordings
are available, including those from
Summit Records in Tempe, Arizona.
With these recordings students can

model their sound to match that of

tubists Sam Pilafian, Dan Perantoni,
Patrick Sheridan, or Mark Nelson or
such euphonium players as Brian
Bowman, Steven Mead, and the
Childs Brothers. The Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association maintains
a list of recordings, books, and instructional materials on tubaonline.org.
This worldwide community of tuba
and euphonium players seeks to educate and motivate students.
After students have listened to a
professional recording, talk with them
about which aspects of the tone they
want to incorporate in their playing.
Encourage students to describe the
sound in their own words, and offer
leading questions about whether the
sound is focused or fuzzy, whether it
has a core or center, and whether it is
consistent in all registers. Point out
extremes of range, tempos, and
dynamics that are worthy of imitation.
Because few students are trained to
evaluate tone, they should refer back
to the recording frequently with these
questions in mind.
Students should begin to imitate the
professional sound on a single note in
the low register, such as Bt, practicing
this note until a more open, relaxed,
and resonant sound develops. They
should frequently refer back to the
ideal sound on the recording. The next
stage is to repeat the process a half step

Thomas Bough joined the Southern

Illinois University - Cafbondale music
faculty in 1999 as assistant director of
bands and professor of tuba and euphonium. Bough received master and doctorate degrees in tuba performance from
Arizona State University where he studied
with Sam Pilafian and Dan Perantoni.
From 1991 to 1999 Bough was director of
bands at Westwood High School in Mesa,
Arizona.

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lower and work chromatically down to

the low register while focusing on tones
without technical challenges. Daily
work in the low tuba or euphonium
register will produce the most immediate improvement in tone quality.
..

Euph.

60 inhale deeply in each rest

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THE INSTRUMENTALIST/JULY 2000

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Encourage students to breathe

deeply and to expel a lot of air in a
relaxed fashion because the conical
design of the tuba and euphonium
responds best to a large volume of air
moving at a relatively slow rate.
Students who switch to the tuba or
euphonium from other instruments are
often unaware of the amount of air it
takes for the instrument to function
properly. To replicate the professional
sound heard on the recordings, students should use a great deal of air coupled with relaxed muscles in the head,
neck, and shoulders, which is facilitated by correct posture and mouthpiece placement. Because the air that
creates the sound passes through the
neck and shoulders, strained muscles
restrict the airstream and thus the
sound as well.
When students can play a characteristic sound even on a single note, this
tone will begin to be heard on other
notes and may become a consistently
better tone over a two-octave range in
several months. Praise all signs of
progress and remind students of the
goal of a professional sound on every
note. I have had good results with this
method in my studio with students
from age twelve to age seventy, and no
student is too young to produce a characteristic tone on any instrument, as
seen each year at the Midwest Band
and Orchestra Clinic, where even very
young bands demonstrate outstanding
intonation and tone.
As tone improves, so will intonation. As players start to listen to and
evaluate tone, they learn to evaluate
pitch as well. Sam Pilafian, professor of
tuba and euphonium at Arizona State
University, explains that "our goal is to
become ear-driven, rather than notation-driven or finger-driven players."
This co-founder of the Empire Brass
Quintet reminds us that music is about

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sound, not pushing the right valve at

the right time; while pushing valves is
an important element of making music
it is only the beginning of the process.
All brass instruments have inherent
intonation deficiencies due to compromises made in design and construction. On even the finest professional
instruments, the notes derived from
the fifth partial of the overtone series
are typically flat and the notes derived
from the sixth partial are typically
sharp. To solve these problems, a
player can use an alternate fingering or
adjust the embouchure. The following
example shows the notes in question
for both tuba and euphonium. To
improve intonation for pitches derived
from the fifth partial, use the alternate
fingerings printed in larger type.
Pitches derived from the sixth partial
are typically played using standard fingerings, so players should lower the
pitch by altering the embouchure,
guided by the ear.

1,2 (open)
Tuba

2,3 <'> 1,3 <

1,2(1.2)

Sixth Partial (standard fingerings shown)

hown)

Open

Any note played using a combination of first and second valves may also
have poor intonation. The solution is
to use an alternate fingering, in this
case third valve, or to make appropriate adjustments to the embouchure.
Even worse are intonation errors in
notes that require a combination of
first and third valves, or worst of all, all
three valves.

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42

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THE INSTRUMENTALIST / ]ULY 2000

These fingerings produce notes that

are as much as a half step sharp. If
an elementary band plays a C major
chord with tuba and euphonium
players on the root of the chord, it is
likely that they will produce the pitch
D^ rather than C, with profound consequences for the band's intonation.
On a three-valve instrument, there are

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no alternate fingerings for these notes,

and players should adjust the embouchure to achieve the proper pitch.
This simple drill helps to practice this
technique.
Adjust embouchure rather than using valves.
, Euph.
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THE INSTRUMENTALIST / IULY 2000

Players can also adjust the first or third

valve slide to bring these notes down to
pitch. If a player can reach one of these
slides while playing, he can pull it out
to adjust for these notes then return it
to the normal position. Professional
tuba players use this technique to
adjust a variety of notes; one of my criteria for selecting a tuba is the accessibility of the tuning slides. To use this
technique the slides should be within
reach and easily moved. Players should
practice incorporating the left hand
without disrupting the performance.
Consistent application of these solutions will alleviate the problems inherent in a three-valve instrument, but a
better solution is to use a tuba or euphonium with four valves. Because the
fourth valve is typically only used as a
substitute for first and third or all three
valves on low notes, one can adjust the
length of the fourth valve slide to accurately tune these notes. However, students at most of the schools I visit forget
to use the fourth valve because they
spend the fall semester on a three-valve
marching instrument. To help students
shift to four valve fingerings when they
pick up their concert instruments, directors should monitor the fingerings being
used in the tuba and euphonium section,
praise players for being able to remember
two sets of fingerings, and compliment
them in front of the band when they use
the fourth valve appropriately.
If students take on these challenges
and encourage one another to improve,
the results can be dramatic. At Dobson
High School and Corona del Sol High

School in Arizona, students challenge

and support each other so intently that
each school claimed more than half of
the chairs in the tuba section of the
All-State Band in separate years.
Healthy displays of tuba/euphonium
pride reflect self motivation and a
group spirit that will reduce recruiting
problems for low brass players.
Even better than the four-valve
euphonium is a compensating euphonium, with a fourth valve on the side
of the instrument that is operated with
the left hand. It also adds to the first
three valves a second set of slides that
activate when any two valves are used
together. Although more expensive,
this system corrects many of the intonation deficiencies described above. In
the last few years compensating tubas
have arrived on the market, but these
instruments are available only as
expensive professional models.
Intonation can also improve in the
tuba and euphonium section with
effective procedures to set the length of
the main tuning slide and then the
other slides. Keep in mind that choosing the length of tuning slides involves
compromises and the goal is to minimize the number of embouchure and
fingering adjustments. Also remember
that without adequate tone quality, a
consistent embouchure, and consistent
breath support, tuning can be little
more than an unpredictable exercise in
pushing and pulling slides. Getting a
horn perfectly in tune is impossible,
although a good musician can certainly
make a horn play perfectly in tune.
As with any brass instrument the
player and instrument should be
warmed up before tuning. Set the
length of the main slide by sounding a
BP on an electronic tuner and asking
students to match the low and high B^s
to that pitch. Students who cannot tell
whether they are sharp or flat can be
taught to pull the slide out until the
error is obvious, then incrementally
move the other direction until reaching the desired pitch. The rationale for
this is that most people can recognize a
pitch that is too low more quickly than
one that is too high and most players
tune to the sharp side of the pitch anyway. Make sure students adjust the
proper slide because tuba players often
have difficulty tracing the path of the
lead pipe through the instrument and
do not know which is the main tuning
slide. Verify slide placement with an
electronic tuner, but remember not to
use the third partial, in this case the F
between the octave B^s, as a tuning'
pitch because it tends to be sharp.

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Repeat this process for the second

valve slide using the reference pitch A
in both octaves. Then check the first
valve slide using the note At in both
octaves as a reference pitch; if one of
these valve slides is pushed in all the
way but the pitch is still flat, consider
compromising by adjusting the main
slide accordingly. After main, second,
and first slides are adjusted, check both
octaves on the note G using first and
second valves. If this note is sharp a
player can decide whether to adjust
the first valve slide while playing; pull
the first valve slide out slightly to bring
the G down to pitch, if this does not
distort the Ah or use the alternate
third valve fingering. Because inexperienced players tend to play sharp in
the low register, use caution when
adjusting slides to correct problems
rooted in poor embouchure, lack of
breath support, or tension in the neck
and body. Instead, invest time and
effort to develop a characteristic tone.
2.

Tuba

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ti

4.

Next, tune the second and third

valve combinations using the octave
G<>. Because adjustments to the second valve slide may distort a number
of other pitches, adjusting the length
of the third valve slide is the best I
solution at this point. If the alternate
third-valve fingering will be used for
the note G, then a compromise must J
be made in adjusting the slide. On all
three-valve instrument, the final .1
adjustment is to manipulate the third *
valve slide using both C and B^ as I
reference pitches. On a four-valve jj
instrument, once the third valve slide I
is properly adjusted, set the length of f
the fourth valve using C and B^ as
reference pitches. Although the F j
and E below these two pitches use the j
same fingerings, C and B occur more
often and are not as affected by the
tendency to play sharp in the low
register.
Because tone and pitch are inextricably linked, any effort to improve
one without the other will be futile.
These procedures will help any tuba
and euphonium section to become
the tonal and pitch center of the
band.
0