A good, fun duet needed


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Rick Denney on July 10, 2000 at 13:18:13:

Several months ago I asked for suggestions for a good short piece of music to be performed at my wedding in September. I was looking for that obvious, formal, familiar, and complimentary (to tubas) work that nevertheless was eluding me, and the suggestion of Bach's Air on the G String solved the problem.

I'm back with another, similar request. My friend and fellow tuba player who will be playing the Bach in the ceremony is a much better player than myself, and plays a C. I'm looking for a duet that we can play together at the reception, during one of the band breaks. Here are the requirements:

There are two options for instrumentation, him on C and me on BBb, in which case the upper part can be as hard as you want (within reason) but the lower part needs to be in the Grade 4 or 5 category so I can play it without having to be fully conscious at the time. If we go with this instrumentation, he'll play a Miraphone 186 and I'll play the new (to me) York, just to get two distinct voices. His chops are up to professional standards, so he can handle a part on C that I would need an F to reach.

The preferable instrumentation is perhaps harder to match, with him on C and me on F. That means that the lower part can be harder than the upper part, which seems uncommon. But my facility is a bit better on the smaller horn, so anything up through a solid Grade 5 should present no problem.

Generally, the two of us can play most of the Sear duets without me screwing it up, to give you an idea of where we are. But the Sear duets are a bit too intellectual for what I'm thinking.

Mainly, I'm looking for something that will be fun to play and fun to listen to. I'm trying to avoid Bach, in favor of a good rag or something jazzy or with a beat that will get the crowd going. Definitely not long-hair stuff.

I've perused the Robert King database, but the titles give no clue as to concept of the work.

Any ideas?

Rick "Grateful for suggestions--even those that ultimately won't work" Denney


Follow Ups: