Tuba versus the Sousaphone

Series Summary

The oompah sound of the tuba is probably one of the most distinctive things this low-register brass giant has going for it. Often found in orchestral settings, marching bands and Bavarian beer festivals, the tuba is a large valve instrument that produces deep, smooth notes and tones. Whether it’s creating a pulsing bass line for accompaniment, or actually playing the lead melody in a song, the tuba’s sound is hard to miss. And it takes a special kind of person to play this beast of an instrument. Tubas are not known to impart to their owners any abilities to look cool or “rock out.” Rather the opposite—tuba players are often stigmatized for choosing something less popular than, say, the mighty, ubiquitous three or four: guitar, drums, bass and keyboard.

Well, fret not, brassy valve disciples. In these free music lessons on video, learn how to tame that wild, valorous instrument that is the tuba. Our expert will guide you through some of the basic steps you have to take to get started, including how to identify the parts of the tuba, oil the valves, form a proper embouchure, play your first note, and change pitch. Once you think you’ve trained hard enough on the fundamentals, you’re in for a treat. The last lesson is how to play the Munster’s theme song, an essential tune for any tuba player’s repertoire. Blow hard and make ‘em proud.

Video Transcript

"I'm Eric Williams and I am here to tell you about the Tuba. Okay this is a Tuba and a lot of people over the years have seen Sousaphone's which are slightly different and I think we have a graphic to show you what a Sousaphone looks like but it is even bigger than this if you can believe it and wraps around your shoulder and has a big bell that faces out. So over the years so many people see Sousaphone's and mistakenly call them to this and when they actually see a real Tuba, they are confused. They'll say, that doesn't look like a Tuba. Well believe me it really, it is. This is the real deal, a Tuba. Anyway Tuba in this case has 3 valves which are over here 1, 2 and 3 and I am going to show you some rudiments of how to oil the valves and get ready to play and there is going to be numerous things coming up. But for right now I wanted to explain to you this is indeed a Tuba. This one is from 1939 and hopefully we will learn a lot more about it as we go."