Posts by Ethan Kind

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Tuba Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create the accurate tuba technique you want without sacrificing your body.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)

Why is playing the tuba consistently very softly through a passage difficult for many tuba players? Is playing the tuba pianissimo INHERENTLY difficult, and there is nothing you can do about it?

First, I’m going to describe what tuba players do that makes playing the tuba very softly for sustained periods hard. Second, I’m going to describe the remedy, so that playing the tuba pianissimo for long passages can be effortless. It should be effortless, shouldn’t it?

A prevalent belief among tuba players is that to play very softly, they need to KEEP themselves from playing too loudly. So, by definition, it is easier to play at a moderately loud volume than it is to play very softly. IT TAKES ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF MUSCULAR INVOLVEMENT TO PLAY THE TUBA SOFTLY AS IT DOES TO PLAY IT LOUDLY.

Many tuba players are used to playing moderately loud. So, why is playing pianissimo harder than playing mezzo forte? Because, many tuba players believe playing very softly is about pulling back on the reins with effort. They believe they have to muscle the diaphragm to keep from playing at whatever the tuba player’s most effortless volume is.

Think about it. If you believe you have to KEEP your diaphragm from playing the tuba too loud, then you are using muscle to keep yourself from using too much muscle. This is crazy. Is there a better solution? YES!

Why not use the least amount of muscle to play softer. You gain conscious control over the musculature of your diaphragm by not using more muscle when you play pianissimo. You do this by lovingly ordering your body to do the same work to play pianissimo, by not FORCING the external torso musculature to tense more to control the ascent of the diaphragm to play pianissimo.

This will only work truly effortlessly, if as you reduce the stream of air with your embouchure and blow a faster and faster stream of air, and you realize there is no direct connection between a thin stream of air to play pianissimo and tensing the external musculature of the torso to keep your support going in the very soft passages.

One last point: What determines how softly you can play? Is it your technique or the tuba? It is both. If you use the least amount of muscle, then it is the tuba, the embouchure, and the speed of the air stream that will determine how softly you can play. Simply, at a certain point the tuba will not produce a sound, with the small embouchure and when the high speed of the air stream gets to a certain speed on the tuba.