Selecting a Student Tuba
by Jerry A. Young
T
he purpose of this article is to
provide considerations and
guidelines for teachers and
students of the tuba at the beginning,
intermediate (high school), and advanced
(college) levels. In communicating with
tuba artist/teachers around the world on
this topic before beginning to compose
this article, it was very interesting to me
how sim ilar the concerns regarding
instrument choice at the various levels
were. Comments were largely directed to
certain desirable qualities rather than to
particular m akers. Special thanks to
Kazuhisa Nishida of the Osaka University
of Fine Arts (Japan), Heiko Treibener of
the Bamberg Philharmonic Orchestra
(Germany), and Stuart Bimie of the City
of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and
British Tuba Quartet (England) for their
assistance.
I should state at the outset that our
friends and colleagues in the instrument
industry have, over many years, listened
to us and often, at no small risk of time
and financial means, gone to extraordinary
lengths either to develop new instruments
or to revise the design of existing
instruments to meet the needs of players at
all levels. The industry is certainly in large
part responsible for the progress that we
have achieved in the past half century as
artists and educators by working with us
to meet our equipment needs. All of our
friends in the instrument industry deserve
our continued advice, thanks and support.
We will begin with some general
suggestions that would apply to any
instrument purchased, and then provide a
few considerations for various levels.
Note that the com m ents made for
beginning and intermediate players are
made with the thought in mind that most
42 Spring, 1998
instruments purchased for students at good instrum ent, and conversely, an
those levels are made by institutions who instrum ent that has a booming low
will then loan or rent the instruments to register, but doesn’t speak well above D in
students enrolled in a course of study. the staff is a poor choice.
4. At least four valves. It is difficult to
General Thoughts and Ideas find quality beginning-level instruments
The following factors were suggested with four valves—hopefully our industry
by the various professional artist/teachers friends will address this issue in the near
who were consulted during the preparation future. No serious tubist should consider
of this article, and are absolutely essential purchasing an instrument with fewer than
considerations for any tuba, regardless of four valves unless there is a special need
the age or goals of the person who will be for that instmment. F tubas should have at
playing it. If the reader is a non-tuba least five valves in order to be easily
playing teacher or a young player, get a functional in all musical situations.
professional tubist to help you determine
if the instrument you’re interested in Following are some specific suggestions
purchasing meets these standards. for consideration at various levels of
1. Good intonation. The reader should accomplishment.
not infer the word “perfect” here. Such an
instrument simply does not exist. Only the For Beginners
player can provide perfect intonation, but In selecting an instrum ent for a
the instrum ent should not be an beginning student, it is first and foremost
impediment to that goal. If open partials critical that the instrument be of the best
are terribly out-of-tune to begin with, possible quality. All too often, low brass
intonation is going to be a struggle. First beginners are found with instmments that
and fourth valve slides should be easily are cast-offs from the interm ediate
reachable and should move freely. program to which the beginner wishes to
2. Good efficiency. This simply means progress—everyone interviewed noted
that the instrument should provide enough that this is often the case in their
resistance to allow for easy tone experience. As if any time existed to
production. This means different things to ignore quality, the beginning instruction
players of differing physical size and air period would be the least desirable time. It
capacity. A beginning player of small is enough of a challenge to produce a
stature needs an instrum ent with a beautiful sound on a fine instrument. A
reasonable amount of resistance, whereas leaky instrument with a third valve that
a professional orchestral or military band repeatedly sticks will never do. For the
player with considerable breath control/air purposes of this presentation, comments
capacity may wish to have an instrument will be directed to the traditional beginner,
that is more free-blowing. between 10 and 12 years of age, and the
3. Even response throughout all assumption is made that any instrument
registers. An instrument that has a terrific selected is going to be in excellent repair.
upper register that speaks clearly, but 1. Match the instrument size to that of
possesses a “stuffy” lower register is not a the player. When holding the instrument
 in a seated position, the leadpipe should
easily come to the student’s mouth. The
student should not have to stretch the neck
or torso to reach the instrument. As a
former teacher of beginning students in an
American public school setting, I fully
realize that this “perfect fit” simply
doesn’t exist for many students. Teachers
should be prepared to make reasonable
adjustments to the student’s seating
situation to accommodate the instrument
better. A small platform that can be placed
on the chair to raise the student a bit,
perhaps used in com bination with a
product like the Stewart Stand to lend
stability can achieve this goal well. If
problems still exist, it may be advisable to
have the student begin playing on
euphonium, but using etude and method
books for the tuba. For the student in this
situation whose morale needs a little
boost, I have described the euphonium as
a “tenor tuba,” taking care to clear up the
nomenclature at a later date.
2. Although this is almost a given factor
if a small instrument is chosen for the
beginner, it bears mentioning that the bore
size should be on the small side;
something under the .750-inch bore that is
a sort of minimum expectation for many
advanced/professional players. The
smaller bore increases efficiency of air
and makes sound production a bit easier
for the young player. (See the discussion
of efficiency in the general points above).
3. Be very careful to choose instruments
that have a valve group that is friendly to
small arms and hands. Awkward
placement of the valves wherein the right
arm has to strain to reach the valves can
place stress on the rest of the body,
making production of a relaxed tone very
difficult. Likewise, the valves should be
arranged so that small hands can reach and
depress them easily. Failure to consider
the latter factor in particular can lead to
hand injuries for dedicated young students
over time.
For Intermediates
For our purposes here, we will define
intermediate players as being students in
the 14- to 17-year-old age range. This is
certainly a key point in development, as it
is during this three-year period that many
students determine the future of their
relationship with the tuba and whether
their continuance with the instrument will
be avocational or professional.
1. For most players, a standard 4/4 size
instrument with a minimum bore size of
.750 is desirable. Because most students
are approaching their adult height in this
age range, the specific concerns
mentioned for beginners are not of as
much concern, h o w e v e r , because of
individual differences, they should not be
ignored. Students who are experiencing
rapid growth in height should be watched
closely. Although it would be next to
im possible to address the resultant
possible problems through instrument
design, it bears mention that tall students
may tend to slump to reach the leadpipe.
Once again, devices such as the Stewart
Stand can be of great assistance in
adjusting the instrument to the player.
2. As previously mentioned, four valves
are very desirable at all points in the
student’s development, but four valves are
particularly important at this point in time.
The valves should ideally be arranged so
that the left hand can reach and manipulate
at least the first valve slide easily.
Preferably, the fourth valve slide should
also be very accessible. Having the fourth
valve and accessible slides for first and
fourth valves greatly facilitates control of
intonation and assists in development and
control of the lower register.
For the Advanced Student
Here we go under the assumptions that
persons studying at this level are
considering professional careers, that the
majority of serious students who have a
music career in mind are not overly
burdened with money and that for most
students this is the level where the first
artist-quality instrument will necessarily
be purchased. Ideally, the serious
advanced student will be planning to own
both a bass tuba and a contrabass tuba,
regardless of where they live. However,
financial means may not immediately
allow for the ideal. In some settings (for
instance, in Germany), the bass tuba may
be the priority, while in other places (like
the United States or Japan), the contrabass
tuba may be the most necessary first tuba.
1. Choose an instrument that allows you
to do as many different things well as
possible. If your intention is to play
principally chamber music and solos, then
perhaps one of the 3/4-size contrabass
tubas or one of the larger bass tubas would
be the best choice. If the intention is to
prepare for professional orchestral or band
auditions, then a 4/4 contrabass tuba
might be most advisable. Again, assuming
that the student can afford only one
instrument and assuming that he or she
will likely need to perform solos and
chamber music as part of their training (as
well as to make money to make the loan
payments), the 4/4 instrument will likely
be more versatile and practical than the
5/4 or 6/4 instruments one might wish to
have after winning that first orchestra
position. (Note: adjunct to the one
instrument idea is the necessity that the
student become thoroughly familiar with
the broad range of mouthpieces available.
One can meet a variety of color and sound
character needs simply by having a variety
of mouthpieces.)
2. D o be aware of any national or
regional traditions with regard to choice of
instrum ent key. In some countries
organizations have certain expectations
that can affect one’s status at auditions or
in final consideration for employment. In
Germany, for instance, the BB-flat tuba is
the standard contrabass tuba used in most
bands and orchestras, although
instruments in other keys are beginning to
gain some acceptance. In the United States
and Japan, as well as most of the
European countries other than Germany,
the CC tuba is prevalent among
professional tubists in both bands and
orchestras. In England, fluency on both
EE-flat and BB-flat tubas is a must. In
most instances, h o w you play is much
more important than w h a t you play—
circum stances vary, but in your
professional planning you should consult
with teachers and with potential
employers before making this large and
important investment in your future.
A n o te ab ou t p u rchase and
financing for young students:
Several years ago I co-authored an
article (applying most practically to U.S.
citizens) with bank manager Barton Rowe
regarding purchase of instruments, and
most of the information in the article
TUBA Journal 43

remains pertinent (see The Tubist an d the
B a n k e r , o r You W a n t a L o a n f o r
WHAT??? TUBA J o u rn a l, Vol. 10, no. 1,
Fall, 1982, pp. 3-5.) Recently, some of the
U.S. distributors have created plans to
allow tubists to pay off instruments over
time, eliminating the need to deal with
banks. In my conversation with Stuart
B irnie, I learned that various local
education authorities in England have, in
cooperation with music industry, devised
a plan for instrument purchases (not only
for tubas, but certainly sig n ifica n tly for
tubas) w herein the school authority
purchases instruments at school price and
then re-sells the instruments at the same
prices to students, but allow ing the
student’s family to pay for the instrument
over a two-year period. This practice, of
course, cuts back on the school-owned
instrument inventory, saving tax dollars
not only for investment in instruments, but
also for maintenance costs. Generally, the
student who owns his or her own
instrument also tends to take a keener
interest in practice and progress, as well
as in care and m aintenance of the
instrument. Perhaps this is not a practical
idea in every country or for every
situation, but it is indeed an approach that
may be workable in more places.
It would be impossible to put all the an
swers to all the questions about choosing
instruments into a single article. Even if an
entire issue of this publication were dedi
cated to this topic, all the questions and
situations possible could not be addressed.
Hopefully, these ideas and comments will
serve as food for thought and as a starting
place. Please contact and consult with the
professional artist/teacher nearest you for
assistance when making this important
investment in your musical future or in the
education of your students. ■ . # 1, 2 , 3,4
Jerry Young is Pro
fessor of Tuba and
Euphonium and Co
ordinator of the Wind
and Percussion Area
at The University of
Wi s c o n s i n - E a u
Claire. He has been a
member of the music
faculty at UWEC
since 1983 and was
on the faculty of the
44 Spring, 1998
Interlochen Arts Camp from 1983 to 1993. He
The Endsley
currently is a member of the Board of
Directors of TUBA and served as the editor-in-
Component
chief of the TUBA Journal from 1985 to 1988
and as Publications Coordinator from 1985 to
Mouthpiece
1990. Dr. Young is also a member of
Symphonia, the professional euphonium and
mba ensemble. He has appeared throughout the
U. S., Europe, and Japan as soloist, chamber
musician, clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator.
Dr. Young was an associate editor of The Tuba
Source Book and, with Wesley Jacobs, recently
completed an edition of the Arban Complete
Method fo r Tuba for Encore Music Publishers.
In 1998 Dr. Young will be undertaking a smdy
of euphonium and tuba audition repertoire and
audition procedures for the premier U. S.
military bands and professional orchestras in
m__________________________ I
the U. S.
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