Posted by Joey Silva on December 19, 2000 at 21:03:04:
In Reply to: Re: ability posted by Aubrey Foard on December 19, 2000 at 00:47:11:
I'm a high school senior now, my range is pretty large. I can do pedal tones but I know they dont sound as good as they should. I started out on trumpet so I can do really high stuff without a problem (my Bb above the Bb above the staff is decent). Not that I ever use anything that high besides to bug the trombonists. My teacher and I have pretty much mutually agreed that attempting the RVW in high school is ridiculous-the hardest thing I'm doing for auditions is the Hindemith.
Not that you are out of your mind-there are plenty of college professors that suggest this as an audition piece. Rex Martin, for instance, basically lists all the hardest things in the orchestral tubists repitoire as things a tubist should have mastered by the end of high school. Somewhere Arnold Jacobs is laughing at all of us. Not only did he not want to hear difficult pieces from high school kids, he didn't even teach them to his undergrads. I believe Mr. Jacobs saw the path of a tubist more clearly. The Vaughan Williams, Prelude to Die Meistersinger, Ride of the Valkyries, (all suggestions from Northwestern U.) these pieces are at the end of the journey, reserved for the most advanced among us.