You Picked The Tuba? Here's How To Play Tuba on DAY ONE!

Tuba is the coolest instrument. It's the largest and lowest member of the brass family. But where do you even start? Let's open up this new tuba for the first time and I'll show you some simple tips for getting set up and playing your first notes today. Grab your instrument, get ready to follow along. Hi, I'm Staff Sergeant Chase Garner and welcome to the Virtual Music Classroom presented by the U.S. Army Field Band. We connect and inspire people throughout the country and around the world and we're here to give you the tools you need to play your best, share your passion, and change lives. Let's get started. Look at that. So beautiful. There are just two parts to worry about. The tuba and the mouthpiece. So go and pick up the tuba and put the mouthpiece in the lead pipe, giving it a small, gentle twist. So the two things that you'll probably need on day one are the slide grease and the valve oil. If your slides feel scratchy or dry or are getting stuck, it might need some slide grease. When you're removing a slide, always push down the corresponding valve when you insert or remove a slide to avoid creating an airlock with the slide. To apply the slide grease, just squeeze a small amount on the slide or you might have a container like this where you just use your finger. Put a little bit all around both the slides. I like to just insert one at a time to make sure it's nice and even all the way down the slide, kind of wiggling it back and forth. Same thing with the other side. Once again, hold down the valve as you put in the slide. It moves smooth like butter. For now, leave all the slides pulled out just a little bit. They might need to be further adjusted at a later time. The last thing you need to do to get to playing is to apply some valve oil. This gets your valves working super fast. So go and unscrew the top part of the valve right here and lift up the valve all the way out of the valve casing. You want to put just a few drops of oil on the valve. Put it in gently. Never want to force it. And then you'll notice that you turn the valve once it's all the way down until you feel the valve guide just kind of slide into its groove. This part is really important because if you're putting them backwards or if you try to force it, you could break the valve guide and you won't be able to blow air through the valve and sound won't come out. Then repeat this process for all your valves, making sure to never take out more than one valve at a time. Now they should feel super fast and ready to play. Very important is to make sure that your right hand is always on the valves and your left hand needs to be somewhere that's comfortable. Your fingers should not be too flat and they shouldn't be too curved. It should have a natural curve. If you just hang your hand down by the side, you'll notice that it has a natural curve to your hand. Just lift that up and have that natural curve on top of your fingers. And as far as your left hand, you can grab it wherever it's comfortable. If it's comfortable for you over here or here or here, you just don't want to be tense while you're playing. And most importantly, make sure you don't drop it. Okay, so now you're ready to make your first sound. Try buzzing your lips like this. Keep practicing this until you get the exact same sound as my buzz. That's basically what you're going to now do into the mouthpiece. Now try buzzing your lips while bringing your mouthpiece to your lips. Now go ahead and put the mouthpiece back onto the tuba. Give it a slight twist and try playing this note with me. Don't press any valves yet. This is your F. Now you can practice changing notes. Try going from F down to B-flat. Both of these notes have no fingers down. Or you can switch directions and go from B-flat to F. Awesome job! You just learned your first two notes. Before you know it, you'll be able to play for much longer and learn all kinds of songs, like this. Now you're ready to get learning with your band or private lesson teacher. Make sure to check out our other educational videos and of course our performances, the feature of the tuba. Now get out there and start practicing everyone. See you next time.