Posted by steved on December 19, 1999 at 22:59:19:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Tuba for my grandson posted by Chuck on December 19, 1999 at 21:02:59:
Yes there are scads of stories about prodigies that could play at even younger ages. I think that the problem is that, after playing for several years, we start to take for granted the actual physical damands of our chosen instrument. Since we've been playing for awhile, we think in terms of "use lots of air". But do we think about how much air that REALLY is? Consider that your left lung alone is probably bigger that both of a 2-year old's lungs. Also, the diameter of even a small tuba mouthpiece would probably stretch from nose to chin. Then there's the problem of small hands negotiating large valves. I think that a 2-year old that could physically play a tuba would be spending so much time being examined by the medical community that he would never have time to learn the horn! If anybody can find such a 2-year old, I'll happily be corrected.