Originally Posted by
Acemorgan
I titled the thread as I did, hoping to stimulate some responses.
I have read many comments on the Internet to the effect of: “one cannot play the euphonium as one does the tuba.”
WHAT ???? It IS a tuba -- just a small one.
There are a number of things that this remark might mean (most of them, I think, confusing and misleading). But without wandering off into the weeds, let me offer some practical thoughts ...
First, I think it's the kind of remark most likely to be emitted by a euphonium player who isn't a particularly good tuba player and who doesn't understand tuba playing at a certain level. But aside from that sort of ad hominem observation (or in partial defense of it) ...
In switching from tuba to euphonium you can expect to immediately notice three things that ae pretty obviously different:
1. The range in which you'll be playing will be significantly higher than the range of your tuba playing. The instrument is, after all, an octave higher than a contra bass tuba, and about a fifth higher than a bass tuba. In addition, you'll probably discover that the range is broader (more pitches from the lowest required to the highest required). This is especially true if your tuba experience has been constrained to band parts that are relatively unchallenging in terms of range (as opposed, for example, to more advanced duets, trios, quartets, etc.). More about this below.
2. You will commonly encounter a lot more, and more lengthy, "fast passages" than you have with your tuba parts, and these need to be played at challenging tempos. Euphonium parts frequently require a higher degree of fingering technique than encountered in tuba band parts. Again, if you've played a wider variety of tuba music (e.g., in small groups such as quintets, duets, quartets, etc.), you'll have a leg up on this. But many tuba players with a school or community band background won't.
3. You will probably discover pretty quickly that the euphonium is much less forgiving in terms of embouchure than the tuba is. In large part (no pun intended) this is a "feature" of the difference in size of the mouthpieces. And in part it's a feature of the range of pitch involved, coupled with that mouthpiece. The tuba permits sloppiness with "acceptable" results (at least in the range that many tuba players never go beyond). The euphonium does not.
So, for example, if on the tuba you aren't perfectly comfortable playing in the octave above the staff (even on a BBb tuba), then you face a challenge to improve your embouchure and range so that it will be adequate on euphonium. The problem in getting that range will not be solved with just the smaller mouthpiece (as many people seem to hope), and you will likely be surprised to discover that you've been sloppy with your tuba embouchure for decades. If so, this will have an (at least initial) adverse effect on both your range on the euphonium, your intonation, and the quality of the sound in the range you have. But practice can fix that. And it will improve your tuba playing as well!
In terms of fingering technique and playing more complex passages at higher tempo, this again is a matter of practice.
So my take on the comment that "one cannot play the euphonium as one does the tuba" is that for the most part this is true only if you really weren't playing the tuba correctly in the first place.
Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)