Originally Posted by
davewerden
Euphonium is my main instrument. In high school I taught myself trombone, and played it in some brass ensembles in college. Then in the CG Band I played trombone in the jazz ensemble, and also with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony.
In the 1980's I had a chance to get a Sovereign Eb as a Besson artist - they sent me the horn but I had to work off the value in clinics and so on. Couldn't pass it up. Part of my motive was to improve my air/sound on euphonium. I enjoyed it! I Finally I really understood why tuba players seem to have so much fun. Later I played in a CT brass band, and after moving to MN I played in our church group and in a brass band here briefly.
I find the Eb side valve configuration makes it feel like a big euphonium, which is slightly convenient. Also, the playing characteristics are quite similar to euphonium. Techniques used to play it are nearly identical: fingers, chop operation, warm-air concept, and tonguing. It does require more air quantity if you go low, but it is pretty well proven that a given note in a given octave takes about as much wind on tuba or euphonium. I think it's a great double for a euphonium player.
Peculiar to me, perhaps, is that my brain is always thinking in Bb treble clef. So I can just read bass clef tuba music as treble clef, modifying accidentals as needed, and I had a big head start on learning. The big drawback is when I encounter wide intervals - my pitch memory comes into play and messes up my target!