Performance Tips

Let me start by saying that you don't have to be a member of a church to benefit from the free lessons I discuss, although some of the lessons will have more impact on your music education with more exposure. In my case I had a gappy relationship with church. My parents, and later my older sister, took me to church regularly during my younger years. But around my 7th grade year that mostly stopped. My relationship with church started up again while I was in the early ...

NOTE: this article assumes your playing is already at a high enough level to be a soloist. I want to discuss other considerations. But even if your playing is not there yet, the tips below are good to keep in mind!

Many euphonium players hope to become a featured soloist with a wind/brass/military band, and there is a good reason for that. Euphoniumists have been soloing with bands since the 1800's, and our history is rich with accomplished soloists. A few very old recordings, and many ...

NOTE: this advice is good for "normal" times, too (but right now our choices have been unusually limited). If your available band/music opportunities have a long hole in the schedule for any reason, this is good ongoing maintenance. I think many of you have continued with a good practice schedule, but HOW you practice is just as important as how long...perhaps more so.

I think we're all trying to remain positive during the shut-down situation, as we assume bands will be back in our ...

If you are a member of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association (ITEA) you may have already seen this review. It covers my "Advanced Fingering Guide" very thoroughly (and positively!). ITEA allows me to reprint reviews of my content, so here it is! If you are not already an ITEA member, I strongly encourage you to join. There are great articles in the Journal and you are helping the organization support the instruments we love!

ITEA offers print or digital subscriptions, and they ...

I just finished recording the 2nd movement of Vaughan-Williams' tuba concerto, the "Romanza." That is the one movement from the original publication that is recommended for euphonium.

In two places, the melody goes down to a low concert B natural (just above pedal Bb). That is the one note that is unsatisfactory with the 4-valve compensating system. Even with a trigger it is not going to be in tune without lipping down, and I did not have a trigger for the recording. The publisher includes ...

As most readers already know, the Holst Second Suite in F for Military Band is a great piece for euphonium players. The first movement has a particularly nice solo - in my mind it is an example of ideal euphonium scoring. The melody is lyrical and singing, and the band is scored very lightly behind the solo. For those who want to play this solo, even when your band has not programmed it, I wrote it as part of a 2-movement suite for euphonium and piano. The sheet music is available here:
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In this video I go through some of the logic for using alternate fingerings. I'll show some specific examples and explain a bit about the advantages alternate fingerings can offer (technique or intonation). More information is available from my book Advanced Fingerings for Euphonium:
http://www.dwerden.com/eu-books-fingering.cfm

YouTube direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nklNJEj_Fk0

Or view it right here:

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Many previously-available items come back online now and then. Fortunately for us, three classic euphonium books are now available.

The first are the two volumes of Arthur Lehman's "The Art of Euphonium." These were originally distributed with an LP, but the printed books themselves are still quite useful. If you also want the recordings, there are high-quality MP3 files available in the links below. The recordings are with the U.S. Marine Band, Arthur's "home" for 20 years.
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