How to make your first sound on tuba

This guide is for the BB♭ tuba (often just called B♭ tuba), the kind most school bands start on. E♭, F, and C tubas use different fingerings for the same notes, so ask your director if you're not sure which one you have.

A tuba makes sound the same way every brass instrument does. Your lips vibrate as you blow into the mouthpiece, making a buzz, and the air inside the tuba helps those vibrations settle into a note. You'll start by sitting with the tuba and finish by playing your first note and working out which one it was. Tuba music is written in bass clef at concert pitch, so the notes here look just like your band book.

Step 1: Sit and hold the tuba

Most beginners play sitting down. The tuba comes to you: you shouldn't have to bend, reach, or twist to get to the mouthpiece. Here is a good place to start. Players and tubas come in different sizes, so your teacher may adjust it.

• Sit tall, near the front of the chair, with both feet flat on the floor.
• Rest the tuba on your lap, on the chair between your knees, or on a tuba stand. Choose the support that holds the tuba still and brings the mouthpiece to your mouth while you sit tall. Depending on you and your tuba, that might mean resting it on one thigh, putting a cushion under it, or setting a stand higher or lower.
• Bring the mouthpiece to your mouth. If you have to lean forward or drop your head, raise the tuba instead.
• Right hand on the valves. Your fingertips rest on the valve buttons with a curved hand, like holding a ball. If your tuba has a 4th valve, you'll press it with your right little finger or your left hand, depending on where it sits.
• Left hand steadies the tuba. Hold the tubing in front of you so the horn can't tip, and keep your right hand free to move.

Put the mouthpiece in with a gentle twist. Don't tap it in, or it can get stuck.

Step 2: Breathe

Take a comfortable, full breath through your mouth. Let your ribs and stomach area expand, and keep your neck and shoulders relaxed. A full breath should still feel easy, not tight.

• Breathe through your mouth with an open "oh," like a relaxed yawn.
• Stay relaxed. Your shoulders can move a little as you breathe in. Just don't tense them or lift them up toward your ears.
• Breathe and blow in one motion. Move smoothly from the breath into the note. A tense hold before the note can make the start late or bumpy.
• Practice without the tuba: breathe in for 4 slow counts, then blow out for 8 with a steady "hoo."
• Feeling lightheaded? Stop, rest, and breathe normally before you try again.

Step 3: Set your embouchure

Your embouchure (say "AHM-bah-shur") is the way you shape your lips and face to play. A tuba mouthpiece is big, so a lot of your lips fit inside the rim. Practice this step with the mouthpiece alone.

• Say "mmm." Your top and bottom lips touch gently. That's where they start.
• Firm corners, relaxed middle. Keep the corners where they are for "mmm." Don't smile; smiling stretches your lips thin.
• Drop your jaw a little. Keep your teeth apart so the air has room. Think "oh" inside your mouth.
• Center the mouthpiece side to side. Start with about the same amount of top and bottom lip inside the rim. Every face is different, so your teacher may move it a little for you.
• Rest it, don't press. Use only enough pressure to keep air from leaking around the rim.

Step 4: Buzz on the mouthpiece

Take a comfortable, full breath and blow warm air through your lips into the mouthpiece. Your lips should flutter and make a low, loose buzz, more like a motorboat than a bee. Mouthpiece buzzing is one way to get ready. If the buzz isn't even yet, you can still try the tuba in Step 5.

• Start with your tongue. Put the tip behind your top teeth and whisper "toh." Don't pop the air out with your lips, like "puh."
• Low and loose. If the buzz sounds high and tight, relax your lips a little and try a slower, warmer stream of air.
• Only air? Check whether your lips have drifted apart. Bring them gently together and try again. Nothing at all? Check whether you're squeezing them shut. Relax them a little and blow again.
• Buzz for 3 or 4 seconds, rest, and try again. Then try a slow siren: start low, slide up a little, and come back down.

Step 5: Play your first note

Put the mouthpiece back in the tuba. Don't press any valves: your first notes are open. Take a full breath, set your embouchure, start with "toh," and keep the air going. Your first note will probably be one of these two:

F is the lower one: try a looser, slower buzz. For B♭, try a little faster air. Play whichever one comes out first, and try to hold it for 4 slow counts. Getting a steady sound comes first. Working out which note it was comes next.

Which note did you play?

Each fingering plays a whole family of notes, called partials. The valves stay the same; your lips and air pick the note. With no valves down, the family looks like this:

• Listen, then match. Tap a note above and listen to it. Hum it, then play and try to match its pitch and octave. Hearing the note in your head first makes it easier to land on.
• Higher than the note you tapped? Relax your lips, drop your jaw a little, and use a slower, warmer stream of air. Lower? Firm the corners a little and try faster air.
• Check with a tuner. Tuba is a concert-pitch instrument, so set the tuner to Concert pitch. It shows the note and its octave number: F2 for the F below the staff and B♭2 for the B♭ on the 2nd line. The letter alone doesn't tell you which F or B♭ you played, so check the number too.
• Let the microphone check. In Play the Note in Brass Trainer, you see a note, play it, and the microphone checks whether you landed on it or on another note in the family.

Common first-day problems

More than one of these can happen at once. Change one thing at a time and listen for a difference.

A sample first week

Keep it short. Practice about 10 minutes a day, and rest as much as you play. Here is one way to plan your first week. Move on when the step before feels comfortable, whether that takes two days or two weeks.

Once you can play a few notes, use these to check your work:

For your next step, see how to get a better sound on tuba.