TUBA

WENDY LAFFERTY & RILEY GIRTON

WHY THE TUBA?

THERE HAD BEEN A DEMAND FOR THE RANGE AND SOUND OF THE TUBA
LONG BEFORE IT WAS ACTUALLY INVENTED

AS ORCHESTRAS BEGAN TO GROW IN SIZE, COMPOSERS BEGAN WANTING

MORE DEPTH AND BODY IN THEIR COMPOSITIONS WHICH MADE INVENTORS
TRY HARDER AND HARDER TO FULFILL THESE NEEDS.

THE SERPENT
THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE TRUMPET FAMILY
FIRST INVENTED IN FRANCE BY EDME GUILLAUME IN 1950
THE ORIGINAL SERPENT WAS MADE FROM WOOD AND LEATHER
METAL VERSIONS DID EXIST, BUT NOT USED AS OFTEN.

THE MOUTHPIECE WAS MADE OUT OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS, DEPENDING ON

THE SOUND WHICH WAS NEEDED.
WOOD, BONE, IVORY, OXHORN, CERAMIC, AND VARIOUS METAL ALLOYS SUCH AS
BRASS, BRONZE AND PEWTER

THE SERPENT CONT.

THE ORIGINAL SERPENT WAS COILED BACK
LIKE A SNAKE, AND WAS PLAYED WITH 6
KEYS.
MORE KEYS WERE ADDED LATER TO ADD
GREATER FACILITY TO THE INSTRUMENT.

THIS WAS MOST COMMONLY USED AS AN

ACCOMPANIMENT TO RELIGIOUS CHANTS.
THE THE FIRST KNOWN COMPOSERS WERE
LEONINUS AND PEROTINUS, OR LEONIN AND
PEROTIN WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE 12TH
CENTURY.
THESE WERE THE FIRST KNOWN COMPOSERS
OF WESTERN MUSIC.

THE OPHICLEIDE
IN 1821 A BUGLE MAKER IN DUBLIN IRELAND NAMED JOSEPH HALLIDAY CREATED THE
OPHICLEIDE. HIS DESIGN WAS BASED ON THE KEYED TRUMPET WHICH HAD BEEN AROUND
SINCE THE LATE 18TH CENTURY
OPHIS GREEK FOR SERPENT
CLEIS STOPPER OR COVER

THIS INSTRUMENT LOOKS NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THE ONE THAT CAME BEFORE IT IT IS MADE
OF BRASS, IT HAS KEYS AND PADS LIKE A SAXOPHONE, IT STANDS UPRIGHT.
THIS, HOWEVER, IS NOT WHAT MATTERS WHEN CLASSIFYING IT. THE INTERNAL DESIGN OF
THIS INSTRUMENT IS WHAT REALLY PROVES ITS RELEVANCE TO THE SERPENT.
IT IS A BRASSWIND OF CONICAL BORE UTILIZING HOLES WHICH WHEN COVERED OR UNCOVERED
CHANGE THE PITCH OF THE INSTRUMENT.

DOESNT IT LOOK MORE LIKE A

SAXOPHONE?
IT DOES, IN FACT!
THE SAXOPHONE WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO FUSE THE
OPHICLEIDE AND WOODWIND DESIGN.
ADOLPHE SAXS FIRST SAXOPHONE WAS ACTUALLY NAMED AFTER THE OPHICLEIDE.
THE LARGEST VERSION OF THE OPHICLEIDE IS THE CONTRABASSMONSTRE
OPHICLEIDE, BUILT BYROBB STEWART, AN EXPERT AT MAKING REPLICAS OF 19TH
CENTURY BRASSWINDS.

OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY

THE BASS HORN

ANOTHER VARIATION OF THE SERPENT

MANUFACTURED AROUND 1800
CAME ABOUT 20 YEARS BEFORE THE OPHICLEIDE
THE ORIGIN IS UNCERTAIN, BUT THE EARLIEST DATES BACK TO ENGLAND

THE RUSSIAN BASSOON

BELGIAN-MADE INSTRUMENT FROM SERPENT DESIGN CONSISTING OF TWO
WOODEN TUBES JOINED AT THE BOTTOM
MADE ABOUT 1820

THE HELICON

DESIGNED TO BE A MARCHING HORN CARRIED ON THE SHOULDER

THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN INVENTED IN RUSSIA AROUND 1845
THE FORERUNNER OF THE SOUSAPHONE
VERY POPULAR IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES.

The Bass horn

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Ru n
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The
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TYPES OF TUBAS AND EUPHONIUMS

TUBAS
BBB/BB TUBA
OCTAVE BELOW TROMBONE
18 FEET LONG

CC/C TUBA
M2 ABOVE THAN BBB/BB TUBA
16 FEET LONG
USED MORE BY ADVANCED/PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS

EB TUBA
P5 BELOW TROMBONE
13 FEET LONG

TYPES OF TUBAS CONT.

F TUBA
P4 BELOW TROMBONE
12 FEET LONG

SOUSAPHONES
JOHN PHILLIP SOUSA
CARRIAGE
BBB OR EB
CAN BE BRASS OR FIBERGLASS

EUPHONIUMS (TENOR TUBAS)

MOST COMMONLY PITCHED IN BB
OCTAVE ABOVE TUBA; SAME AS TROMBONE

SOME PITCHED IN C
CAN HAVE 3 OR 4 VALVES
CONICAL BORE LIKE TUBAS
CAN BE FRONT FACING FOR
MARCHING BAND

BARITONES
SMALL BORE UNLIKE EUPHONIUM
PITCHED IN BB
BRIGHTER SOUND THAN EUPHONIUM
CYLINDRICAL BORE LIKE TRUMPET OR TROMBONE
TYPICALLY 3 VALVES
SAXHORN IS OLDER VERSION OF BARITONE

FLUGELHORN AND ALTO HORN

FLUGELHORN
SOPRANO TUBA
SAME RANGE AS BB TRUMPET

ALTO HORN
PITCHED IN EB
LOOKS LIKE A SMALL EUPHONIUM
USES CORENT-LIKE MOUTHPIECE

MARCHING BAND VERSIONS

TUBA/EUPHONIUM FUNDAMENTALS
Posture
Instrument comes
to person
Tuba placed in
between legs
Left arm wraps
around
Instrument at an
angle
Euphonium

FUNDAMENTALS CONT.
PLAYING TECHNIQUE

EMBOUCHURE IS RELAXED
WIDE AND OPEN ORAL CAVITY
LARGE APERTURE
MOUTHPIECE CENTERED ON LIPS
LOTS OF AIR
EUPHONIUM = TROMBONE

FUNDAMENTALS CONT.
OTHER ASPECTS
ARTICULATION
CRAZY RANGE
D1-F4 AND BEYOND!

FOUR VALVES = ALTERNATE FINGERINGS