Re: Re: String Bass vs. Tuba


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Posted by Chuck(G) on October 31, 2002 at 15:02:46:

In Reply to: Re: String Bass vs. Tuba posted by js on October 31, 2002 at 11:41:41:

Maybe so, but maybe it's the nature of the beast.

String bass is right out there in front of you--your left hand stops the strings and your right hand bows or plucks. Easy enough concept to grasp that there are tons of quite competent self-taught bassists (and a whole ton of them who wouldn't know a german bow from a french one). Simple manual dexterity and the ability to keep time.

Brass is a bit different because there's the aspect of manual dexterity and there's also what goes on behind the face. Two normally unrelated actions being brought to produce a note. Playing brass is more complex, physiologically speaking.

There are seven trombone positions and seven violin positions (okay, I'm oversimplifying), yet there aren't very many trombonists who can competently play the body of violin lit.

I've wondered why some of the classical bass etudes aren't used on tuba (not all of these have range problems). If anyone's curious, drop me a line and I'll send you a PDF of one of the easier Dragonetti bass etudes. Let me know how you fare on it.

My very own subjective opinion, but I think there's more to this business of string vs. brass bass than meets the eye.



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