Originally Posted by
John Morgan
I started on euphonium (actually baritone) in 8th grade with the typical 3 front valve, bell front baritone. I switched shortly after high school to the 3+1 upright bell type and have used that ever since which is about 55 years. There were some years in there when I didn't play much (officer part of my military career, but still played some). Since my military retirement in 1992, I have played pretty consistently to this day.
So I am 72 1/2 now. My right middle finger has some sort of condition, that is, particularly in the morning when I awake, if I make a fist with my right hand, then open my fingers back out, my middle finger sticks. I'm not sure this is trigger finger, but there is something going on there. Fortunately I can still play with good dexterity (the movement of my fingers on the valves is fine) but I do notice a small, dull pain there, nothing that really causes any real problem. So I don't know if that is the result of playing, but I think it is, because when I play a whole lot, the situation gets more exacerbated it seems.
I don't know that front valves would make any difference in this case. I have occasionally picked up a section mate's bell front, 3 valve front baritone and played it a bit. The valves in the front feel really odd after playing a 3+1 style for so long. I think I used to be pretty fast with the valves on the baritone, because I did play some of the old barn burner solos in high school on that that type of horn (Carnival of Venice, Napoli, etc.). So, I probably could get used to it again, but I think I still prefer the 3+1. Holding the 3+1 horn does not seem to present any problems for me.
Which horn is ergonomically better surely has something to do with your own physical makeup. I am 6 feet and 200 pounds (or so). Used to have those 200 pounds more or less in the proper places, it seems over time that the distribution of the 200 pounds has gone to different/wrong parts of my body, which in turn makes my belts too short! I also have gorilla arms (long) which is usually handy, especially for getting those rarely used wine glasses off of the top shelf in the kitchen cabinet. So with this current body configuration, the 3+1 is easy for me to hold and play.
I would say my bell leans at about a 30 degree angle (at most) from upright when playing, certainly not close to 50 which would have the bell directly in the ear of the fellow next to me.
I prefer the 12ish inch sized bell. I like a large sound that can fill a room.
Lastly, if you do have shoulder issues, then I would highly recommend at least trying to give both varieties a go to get a feel for how it would work for you. I don't know if you can do this on the spot, it might take longer to see if there are going to be any bad effects with one style of horn over the other. Would be nice if you could try both for a period of time.
I hope we will be welcoming you very soon to the world of the euphonium, "THE" best instrument ever, IMHO.