Posted by Jim Andrada on May 22, 2003 at 12:04:24:
In Reply to: Ok, I've got an F, what do I do now?? posted by JW on May 22, 2003 at 09:54:34:
Some thoughts from a rank (really rank!) amateur:
I bought an F a little over a year ago and sort of fooled around with it to no great advantage.
Then I got sick for 3 months with pneumonia and couldn't play ANYTHING. Heck, it was two months before I could even drive a car.
When I started to feel better I thought "What a great opportunity to learn F" because I had stopped playing totally and had no band, no ensemble, no nothing.
So I ignored ny BBb and played F only for a week or two. That seemd to do it. I still needed to work on the fingerings but at least I was comfortable that I sort of knew them
I started with slow pieces like the "Isis and Osiris" etc. I started by sort of trying to figure out the fingerings relative to BBb and can't say that it hurt to do so for the first couple of days. After that I just filled in the blanks by pretending I was starting over, and playing slow stuff with the fingering chart open on the stand.
Then after the 2 or 3 week period I picked up the BBb again - maybe it felt funny for a day or two, then no problem.
I'm still a rank amateur but I don't have much problem playing a piece on the BBb and then picking up the F for a piece and then switching back.
I'd say it took a couple of months to really feel comfortable on the F once I got serious about it. Ican't say I'm any better as a tuba player than before, but maybe I've reached the same level of incompetence on both horns.
No real problem picking up the BBb again
I have to say though that I miss the fifth valve when I play BBb - alternate fingerings are neat even if they do cause "brain farts" from time to time. Maybe some day I'll try a six valve horn!
Re the low C - welcome to F-land, at least Alexander F-land. My teacher tells me it doesn't sound bad at all, but it sure feels funny, so as someone suggested, ask your teacher or a friend or record yourself.