About Tubas

The tuba is one of the more recently-invented musical instruments, first appearing in the 19th century. Until then, instruments such as the ophicleide or the serpent played a similar role. The predecessor of the modern tuba is said to be an instrument invented by Carl Moritz in Berlin, Germany , in 1835. Since then, various kinds of tubas have been created around the world, and the form has not yet been standardised. There are many types of tubas, with different tube lengths, bore diameters, bell directions, valve types, etc.

The tuba is huge, and the lowest pitched of all brass instruments. The diameter of some bells extends to 50 cm, and tuba players must get their arms around the instrument to play. You may feel a little overwhelmed at your first sight of it. Tubas usually have 3–4 valves to change the pitch, but special models may have 5–6 valves. There are two kinds of valves: 'piston' and 'rotary'. The former models are favoured by American manufactures, and the latter models are preferred by German and Austrian manufactures.

In order to play the tuba, it is important that you have a well-developed lung capacity. Since the tuba uses a big mouthpiece, it is easier to make a sound compared to other brass instruments. But in order to reach into the high register, you must be able to fully utilise the muscles around your lips. The most common tubas are in B-flat and C, but slightly smaller F and E-flat tubes are also available.

When the tuba is used in a musical composition, its parts are often composed by using simple rhythms like 'boom, bong', so even a novice player can learn to play the parts relatively quickly.

The musical instrument often seen in an open-air performance, which looks like a tube wrapping around the player's body, is called the 'Sousaphone'. Since the large tuba was hard to handle, the Sousaphone was designed to make the tube go below the player's arm and put the bell on the player's left shoulder. Sousa, the American 'March King', devised the Sousaphone, and it spread all over the world as a marching tuba. Although most tubas are made of brass, many Sousaphones are also made of lightweight reinforced plastic to keep the weight down. Therefore, even female players and people of small stature do not have much trouble handling the instrument.