The tuba provides many challenges for our young tubists beyond its weight and height. And a section of tubas can provide a great many challenges for a band director. A great tuba section provides a beautiful lush bottom to the band’s sound.
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Evidently, integrating a clear and rhythmically decisive breath into a cue can be quite unnatural to many brass students. This is, most likely, simply a result of a lack of practice. When musicians are alone practicing their individual part…
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Ask any brass or woodwind student or band director what the most important aspect of playing a wind instrument is and most will respond that it is the ability to effectively use one's air. Ask them to estimate how much breathing and air…
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Change timpani heads when the tone starts to sound dry or dead or the pitch becomes "false" meaning it is impossible to fine-tune the head and obtain a clear pitch. Please refer to the Evans Timpani Head Sizing Chart to determine which head…
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The problems that a timpanist must solve or overcome are many, and I'm not covering problems or issues of sticking and mallet type changes such as wood, hard, medium, or soft to achieve the appropriate sound for the music. Determining which…
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The first and most important step in tuning timpani is knowing the pitch to which you are tuning the drum. Though this seems obvious, many beginning timpanists neglect the time necessary to establish the pitch in their head before striking…
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