Exploring the
ORCHESTRA
Tuba
Musical Section:
Brass (Instruments that make sound when the player buzzes their lips into a mouthpiece, causing the instrument to vibrate. Other instruments in this family: trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, euphonium.) . Other instruments in this family: French Horn, Trombone, Trumpet
About the Tuba
What it looks like
A tuba is a big, shiny instrument that makes a deep, low sound.
The tuba is the biggest instrument in a band or orchestra, and It plays the lowest notes in the brass section. If the song goes “oom, pah, pah,” chances are the tuba is playing the “oom”!
Sometimes it can sound rich and laid-back, other times it can sound like your crazy Uncle stomping around the dance floor at a wedding reception.
How to Play
Mini Maestro
A tuba is large, so most beginners sit down and rest it on their lap.
The tuba has a large, bowl-shaped mouthpiece where you buzz your lips to make sound. Tubas have 3-4 valves. Pressing the valves change the pitch.
Tubas are really big and need lots of air! So think like you’re blowing out birthday candles from far away.
Both Maestros
The tuba has a large, bowl-shaped mouthpiece where you buzz your lips to make sound. Like other brass instruments, the tuba has valves that help change the pitch.
The tuba also has a large, flared bell that points up and out. This helps project the sound and gives the tuba its deep, low tone.
A tuba is really big, so most beginners sit down and rest it on their lap. Then:
1. Put your lips together gently
2. Blow air so they buzz (That buzzing is what starts the sound on a tuba.)
3. Press the valves. Most tubas have 3 or 4 valves. Pressing them changes the tubing length, which changes the pitch.
Tubas need lots of air, so think like you’re blowing out birthday candles from far away!
The Tuba Has Many Faces
The tuba can be sometimes used in music to create cool effects. For example, in one of his operas, Strauss uses the tuba to represent a baron, who is a silly, rude man. The tuba represents his clumsy dancing and loud laughing!
In his piece, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Grieg uses the tuba and other low brass to sound like a troll king and his marching army. Maybe coolest of all,
In Pacific 231, Honegger uses the tuba to depict a giant steam train with its engine whirring and its wheels turning.
