Tuba



[Lat.]

The bass member of the modern brass family. The tuba family includes the euphonium, sousaphone, C and B-flat tubas, and others. The modern orchestral tuba has valves, a conical bore and a range of D two octaves below the bass clef to G above middle C. The bell is very wide and the cup very deep, thus facilitating the extremely low notes so characteristic of the instrument.

 

Tuba

Tuba in BBb

Photo courtesy of G. Leblanc Corporation

  

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SUGGESTED LISTENING EXAMPLES:

Hindemith: Sonata for Bass, Tuba, and Piano, III
W. W. Norton - 4-CD Musical Example Bank -- Disc 2, Track 13
Traditional Dixieland: When The Saints Go Marchin' In
W. W. Norton - 4-CD Musical Example Bank -- Disc 3, Track 49
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