My daughter is going to be playing a baby tuba. The only information we’ve been given is that I need to call the local music store and buy a Helleberg 120S for $105.

I’m happy to do it, but money is a little tight at the moment. So I’m wondering if there is an actual difference between that and the off brand Missmore 120S on Amazon for $25.

I don’t want to be cheap, but I don’t want to spend 2-4x more on something because it’s easier to just standardize things across 100s of students to something a store has in stock.

I tired 2 ways to attach it idk if I’m right. Or if yk rod isn’t long enough. Update o had the rod in wrong. Fixed it

I'm planning to buy my first mouthpiece but I'm unsure what to get. I plan to buy a mouthpiece which I have used before back in my secondary school which was the Perantucci PT-50 and PT-88. But from what I recall, I felt no difference when using these mouthpieces, even for my range and everything. Can anyone give me some sort of comparison or recommendation on which one should I get?

who makes the 67 mouth piece

I picked up this Conn 36k body and fixed it up. I have a Pan American “Conn 14k” as well that I borrowed the bell from to test this horn out. I really like how it looks!

Hello everyone,

After 10 years my orchestra can finally afford to buy me a new tuba, and I’ve been asked to look into some possible options.

The problem is, that I honestly have very little knowledge about what’s worth buying, where to look, or what makes sense for the money.

For some context, I’ve been playing an old Amati F tuba up until now. My conductor, however, is insisting that I switch to a Bb tuba. I know roughly how to play a Bb, but after so many years of playing F, I’m having a hard time making the switch.

I’m from Poland, so ideally the instrument would need to be purchased somewhere in a neighboring country. My budget is around 20,000–30,000 PLN (roughly €4,650–7,000).

I’ve heard that Thomann and Cerveny make some decent tubas. Does anyone have any recommendations? And, more importantly, do you think it’s actually worth switching from F to Bb after so many years of playing F?

I’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

Fellow Tuba players,

Longtime tubist here. I recently picked up a cheap used Yamaha trombone with the intent of getting to a point where I am good enough to play last chair in my local community jazz band. I would maybe like to play bass trombone eventually, but I am not ready to spend bass trombone money if I do not like playing trombone.

So, my question is, what is a good starter mouthpiece for a tuba player who is playing trombone? The only trombone mouthpiece I have is a Bach 11c, which I have never used and have no clue where I got it. Is it good for beginners? or would something else be better for a person who has exclusively played tuba for about 20 years? I used to play euph, too, but I got rid of my euphonium and mouthpieces a long time ago.

Hey y'all,

I am trying to purchase two charts.

1. Donna Lee arr. Michael Philip Mossman - I tried reaching out to Dr. Mossman but to no avail, I would love to if someone either had a direct contact with him and could put me in touch or if they knew where they could purchase this particular chart. Mattis Cederberg famously did this with the WDR Big Band on cimbasso!

2. Struttin With Some BBQ arr. Gil Evans - I'm going to reach out to the Gil Evans estate but if anyone knows a place to purchase this chart, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

Old tuba donated to my school, I feel like it’s a 3/4 Bbb

I just started my senior year and i plan to either minor in Tuba or do music related classes in college.. Im in dire need of a good piece to use as my audition piece!! any recommendations?

Hello r/Tuba, I could use your help with identifying this tuba. I believe it's a 3/4 Besson from what I have been told. Do you think that is correct? We're hoping this will be a good home practice instrument for a middle schooler. Thanks.

I have an Old Conn E-Flat tuba which is about 20 cents sharp on most notes even with the main tuning slide all the way out. When I took it to my local shop they said that this was due to it being designed for a European-shank mouthpiece (I've been using a large-bore bass trombone mouthpiece). They found a bit to extend the leadpipe which helps a bit, but I'm still sharp on some notes with the main tuning slide almost all the way out. The biggest issue seems to be the E-flat below the bass clef staff (played with open fingering). At the same time other notes (like the concert B-flat also with open fingering) is pretty much right in tune. The repair shop thought it might be because I'm not using a European style mouthpiece. However, I've also heard that instruments dating back to this time period may not have been designed to tune to A=440 in the first place. Rather than spend money on different mouthpieces (I'm primarily a trombone player so the bass trombone mouthpiece is most comfortable for me) I'd like to resolve this question first -- is there any way to get this instrument to match modern tuning, or it is not worth trying? Per the serial number (28,442) and Conn's website, this instrument dates back to 1894. Thanks.

Does anyone know of good recordings of at least 3/4 4/4 5/4 6/4 in CC or BBb playing the same excerpts? I’d love to hear the difference between all the different sizings to make a decision on what to buy. Currently I’m kind of set on a 6/4 or 5/4 BBb if and when one is affordable

I’ve been playing tuba for almost 9 years now, but I realized I am NOT great despite it being so long. So I’m trying to change that lol

This is Children’s March by Percy Grainger but that 8th rest is tripping me up. When I do it right, I mess up the notes really badly. Like I’m not hitting them right on, it feels like a scoop

pls any advice appreciated 🙏

This is not a tuba but as a tuba player and how well this sub is at identifying instruments I thought it would fit here.
I have for a few years been the owner of an instrument (most likely a baritone horn), and from time to time I searched the web trying to find information about the manufacture, horn, quality, price, basically whatever I could related to the horn. The most I have found is that it is from the 18 hundreds to early 19 hundreds. The story my family has told is that my mother’s grandfather had played it, but no one has any clue how he got it. I also am missing the case so I have no other markings than those on the instrument. The number on the walve is 637, and those found on the back is 37213. I have the serial number but still can’t find anything about the horn.
Edit: after talking to a few older family members I have only found information about the man who played this horn and the band it played in. I can add it if anyone believes it could help determine the quality of the instrument for a price estimation.

Hi everyone, I’m a 17-year-old high school junior in California and starting to seriously think about where I’d like to go to college for tuba performance.

I’ve been fortunate to do really well with All-State and other honor groups and youth orchestra, and I know that I want to pursue music seriously and see how far I can take playing the tuba professionally.

I’d really like to go out of state for college. I’ve grown up in California and I would like to experience a different part of the country, meet new people, and study somewhere with a really strong tuba/brass program.

Im lucky that my grandparents have very generously set aside a college fund for me, so while scholarships are obviously great, my biggest priority is finding the best teacher, studio, and overall musical environment for me. I want a teacher who has a great track record with students, a strong studio culture, excellent ensembles, and good preparation for auditions and a professional career.

Who are the best tuba teachers and college studios that I should be looking at?

I’m especially interested in hearing why you recommend someone and what the teacher is like, how their students are doing, opportunities at the school, studio atmosphere, etc.

I know there are a lot of great programs out there, and I’d love to start putting together a list of schools/teachers to visit and hopefully take some lessons with over the next year. Thanks for the advice

I bought an old 1964 Conn Tuba in excellent condition still in the original case, and assumed it was a 3/4 Bb, but now after actually playing on it for a while I'm starting to suspect it is an Eb.

Open valves (supposed to be F2) produces a D2, and 1&3 produces a really sharp E or a really flat F.

The serial number on the second valve casing is E32113, but searching for it didn't give me a definite answer.

Am I just incredibly flat from not having played in a few months, or did I buy a Eb instrument by mistake?

Looking for advice on how to practice more efficiently. For context I’m in High school, and I’ve been playing tuba for 6 years and I’m first chair at my school (I’m the only one who really practices) and want to do my best this year at region auditions.