Colby Norton Tuba Kentucky All-State 2020-2021 Blazhevich #24
A quick read of the 2020-2021 Kentucky All-StateTuba Excerpt Blazhevich #24 from 70 Studies for Bb Tuba Volume 1. I like to play the pieces that my students are working on allowing my natural tendencies (tone, tempo, rhythm, intonation problems, style, and so on) to exist. This gives me an idea of possible problems that may occur during a lesson so that I can have a game plan on how to fix said problem.
Tuba is the most recent addition to my arsenal of instruments. Particularly this CC tuba. I took quarantine to learn the fingering system, so occasionally I still have mental flubs and try to play Bb fingerings instead. Sitting down and practicing this one was the most important for me so that I can have a decent model for my students.
A quick scan shows RANGE is a big part of this excerpt. Highest note being a B natural above the staff while the lowest note is a low E. Most of the piece is slurred except the 16th note passages at the end that occasionally are slur two tongue two.
The first thing I would do to prepare for this excerpt is some classic lip flexibilities like this one from Dr. Micah Everett.
This will take you from the lowest note to well above the highest note you need. To me, playing low on tuba is our life, but playing high is where it gets scary both for accuracy and intonation. So over training the high stuff here will make the B natural seem easy.
Musically speaking you can do a lot with dynamics and phrasing. I would use a classic hairpin dynamic motion throughout and breathing after each dotted quarter note.
I would continue to follow this pattern until I reached the crescendo marking where I would crescendo as much as I could to the high B. Then I would slowly make my way down to mezzo piano until the poco a poco accellerando.
I also like giving this section. little character since we get some 16th note movements, let the higher line be more delicate and soft and the lower line a little louder and fuller, noting the articulation. Don’t tongue all of it, if it slurred then slur it, if it is articulated then articulate it! I tried to project a little weight on the first note of the four 16th notes in each bar to give it a little drama and forward movement.
At the accellerando I would pace it, but that might also be from my own limitations on the valves. I wouldn’t try to get crazy fast here. I also hear this like two different lines from earlier, a high line and a low line where the low line is louder than the higher.
By crescendoing this passage and giving it a slight accelerando, it will appear more intense and faster than you are actually playing. Combining the two gives an illusion of a really fast accelerando that you can play comfortably.
At the end, I used the least amount of valve changes I could, being on C tuba, it was a lot of lip slurring on 4th valve. For everyone using Bb tuba you can get away with 1-2 valve combo for most of it. This helps keep the line smooth as we lead into the last bar of leaps which by nature should feel rather disjointed and broken. Also, fight the urge to play the second 8th note of the slurred grouping short in the second to last bar. Think of phrasing like this
Finally, move the fermata to the last 8th note… check out the video if you don’t understand what I mean.
The purpose of this etude is to demonstrate your control over the range of the horn as well as your musicality, rhythmic strength, tone, and intonation.
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