- In tuba playing, airflow is one of the most important elements that determines tone quality. Even with plenty of blowing resistance, if the space between your teeth and nose is closed or the air isn't flowing, the sound becomes choked and stuffy. To become aware of your invisible breath, practicing with a piece of paper or imagining pushing air forward as if blowing against the back of your hand are effective methods.
- The cause of choked airflow is the closure of the space between the teeth and nose. Even though you think you are exhaling a lot of air, the air is actually not reaching deep into the instrument. When you play with this closed position, even though you feel like you're exhaling plenty of air, in reality almost no air is coming out. In other words, the instrument won't resonate because the air isn't reaching deep enough.
- To become aware of your invisible breath, practicing with a piece of paper or imagining pushing air forward as if blowing against the back of your hand are effective methods. When taking a deep breath, imagine placing your hand in front of you and sending the air forward—this helps you become conscious of your airflow. With the tuba, you can do the same thing even with the mouthpiece against your lips, without producing a sound.
- In mouthpiece practice, focusing on confirming airflow is effective, along with siren-like exercises that incorporate pitch variation. Simply sustaining a single note on the mouthpiece doesn't directly connect to making music, so it's important to practice with pitch variation. Specifically, practicing between approximately F and B-flat, moving the pitch up and down like a siren, is effective.
- When practicing low notes, covering half the mouthpiece opening with your pinky finger adds resistance, allowing you to control the notes just as you would with the instrument attached. By covering half the opening with your pinky, resistance is added when descending to lower notes. This allows you to control the lower pitches just as you would with the instrument and descend even further. Since this range can be somewhat difficult on the instrument itself, practicing accurate intonation on the mouthpiece alone is also a valuable exercise.
When playing the tuba, one of the most important elements is airflow. Even with plenty of blowing resistance, if the air isn't actually flowing, the sound becomes choked and stuffy. However, since breath is invisible, you can only judge how much you're blowing by the resistance you feel. With the tuba, if the space between your teeth and nose is closed or the air isn't flowing, even though you think you're exhaling a lot of air, the air actually isn't reaching deep into the instrument—resulting in poor tone centering, poor airflow, and a very choked sound with limited volume. This article provides a detailed explanation of the causes of choked airflow, methods to become aware of your invisible breath, Q&A for creating your ideal resonance, and practical training exercises.
The Importance of "Airflow" in Tuba Playing
In tuba playing, airflow is one of the most important elements that determines tone quality. Even with plenty of blowing resistance, if the space between your teeth and nose is closed or the air isn't flowing, the sound becomes choked and stuffy. When you play with this closed position, even though you feel like you're exhaling plenty of air, in reality almost no air is coming out. In other words, the instrument won't resonate because the air isn't reaching deep enough. To make the invisible breath visible or tangible, the back of your own hand becomes your personal teacher. When taking a deep breath, imagine placing your hand in front of you and sending the air forward—this helps you become conscious of your airflow. With the tuba, you can do the same thing even with the mouthpiece against your lips, without producing a sound. For example, you can place a piece of paper in front of you, or within a comfortable range, try placing the mouthpiece against your lips in the same way and letting the air flow. However, if you lose focus for a moment and close your mouth, even though the blowing resistance feels the same, the phenomenon occurs where virtually no air is actually coming out.
Q&A for Creating Your Ideal Resonance
Q1: Why does my sound feel choked even though I'm exhaling a lot of air?
A: The reason your sound feels choked even though you think you're exhaling plenty of air is that the space between your teeth and nose is closed. Even with plenty of blowing resistance, if the air isn't actually flowing, the sound becomes choked and stuffy. When you play with this closed position, even though you feel like you're exhaling plenty of air, in reality almost no air is coming out. In other words, the instrument won't resonate because the air isn't reaching deep enough. To prevent this, practicing with a piece of paper is effective. Place a piece of paper in front of you and let your air flow toward it. While confirming that enough air is coming out to make the paper flutter, aim for a state where sound naturally emerges while trying to maintain that same amount of airflow. With the tuba, you don't need to go full blast, but your airflow will become visible.
Q2: What should I focus on during mouthpiece practice?
A: In mouthpiece practice, it's best to focus primarily on confirming airflow. Playing on the mouthpiece alone and playing with the instrument attached are different things, so with the mouthpiece, focus your practice on confirming airflow and related aspects. Simply sustaining a single note on the mouthpiece doesn't directly connect to making music, so it's important to practice with pitch variation. Specifically, practicing between approximately F and B-flat, moving the pitch up and down like a siren, is effective. With the tuba, being able to sustain high notes for a long time on the mouthpiece alone may be an important skill, but it's best to approach this purely as a warm-up exercise. Additionally, when practicing low notes, while items like a towel or hose (approximately 16 centimeters is said to be appropriate for a hose) can be used, covering half the mouthpiece opening with your pinky finger adds resistance when descending to lower notes. This allows you to control the lower pitches just as you would with the instrument and descend even further.
Practical Exercises: Training to Visualize Your Airflow
- Step 1: Confirming airflow using a piece of paper. Place a piece of paper in front of you, and with the mouthpiece against your lips, let your air flow with the image of sending it forward. While confirming that enough air is coming out to make the paper flutter, aim for a state where sound naturally emerges while trying to maintain that same amount of airflow. Before playing the instrument, try exhaling once as if a piece of paper were in front of you, then let the lip vibration attach to that airflow. If you can use that airflow to play with a sense of forward motion through the pitches, you will have largely achieved the goal of producing a good sound on the tuba.
- Step 2: Siren exercises on the mouthpiece. Place the mouthpiece against your lips and practice moving between approximately F and B-flat, gliding the pitch up and down like a siren. It's best to try this with accurate pitches, but since the notes are far apart, practice bringing them closer together. On the mouthpiece, focus primarily on confirming airflow—you can address other aspects when the instrument is attached—so it's best to center your mouthpiece practice on confirming airflow and related elements.
- Step 3: Low register practice using pinky finger resistance. When practicing low notes, covering half the mouthpiece opening with your pinky finger adds resistance when descending to lower notes. This allows you to control the lower pitches just as you would with the instrument and descend even further. Since this range can be somewhat difficult on the instrument itself, practicing accurate intonation on the mouthpiece—pressing with your pinky and using no valves to play with precise intonation—is another valuable exercise you can do. For example, even when practicing phrasing, if the lower notes tend to drop out with the opening uncovered, you can descend this far with the resistance added. When a difficult passage or tricky note comes up in a piece, confirm it on the mouthpiece, confirm with the pinky covering the opening, and then try it on the instrument—repeating this process will make your practice more effective.
When playing the tuba, airflow is one of the most important elements that determines tone quality. Even with plenty of blowing resistance, if the space between your teeth and nose is closed or the air isn't flowing, the sound becomes choked and stuffy. To become aware of your invisible breath, practicing with a piece of paper or imagining pushing air forward as if blowing against the back of your hand are effective methods. In mouthpiece practice, focusing on confirming airflow is effective, along with siren-like exercises that incorporate pitch variation. When practicing low notes, covering half the mouthpiece opening with your pinky finger adds resistance, allowing you to control the notes just as you would with the instrument attached. Playing with accurate intonation while being conscious of airflow, and letting the sound ride on the breath—not letting tone production take priority over the air, but having both work together in tandem—is what produces a truly great sound on this instrument. The initial mouthpiece warm-up, even just 5 minutes of playing before attaching the instrument, is extremely important. There are many things you can practice even before putting the instrument together, so please try incorporating the exercises mentioned above into your daily routine.
