Jump to content

Contra Help?


hawaiituba

Recommended Posts

Well I'm from Hawaii and looking to audition for dci corps probably mandarins or pacific crest.But I need help with a peice for solos to use? I really wanna use a contra solo that is well good for dci and also, what are some pretty good tips for me to be able to make my dci dream come true?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What sort of tuba solos are you working on already? I'd pick one of those and just try to refine it. But you don't have to pick something insanely difficult, just something that shows your technical and lyrical abilities.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats a problem i don't know which solo to pick. What solo would be good for a tuba?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you taking lessons from anyone? I would have to know more about your individual playing ability before recommending a solo. I played things like the Vaughan Williams and some others but those can be a little high on the challenging scale.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm in high school but I'm also apart of the local college's band and I take lessons from the director there. But I've been practicing and I'm planning on diong Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto movement 1. But maybe if anything else easier would be good?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a lot of good literature around, if the college has a music library you might want to see what they have on hand. One good one that might be worth checking out is the Lebedev Concerto in One Movement, although it needs some editing to be in under the time limit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave is a wealth of information.

Focus on having a good sound and being rhythmically accurate. You will get much more "kudos" for playing something easier and playing it well, than playing something harder and butchering it.

I imagine you are trying to pull off the VW on contrabass? I know this is possible and some people do it well, that said, I'm not sure this piece would be very suitable for this type of audition.

I'd say, go in and play a really nice, lyrical, mid-low range bordogni etude or similar solo. Prove you have a good sound, prove you are rhythmically accurate, and let that person hear the range that most of your ensemble playing would be in. The meat and gravy range.

Heck, a great low range orchestral excerpt to play would work well, too. Look at the Planets (Holst). There is stuff in there that is articulate, fast, slow, lyrical, and in the gravy range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks and yeah I'm porbably going to be auditioning on a BBb contra bass and Vaughan williams is good but more likely to be used by a F or Eb tuba. But what else solo peices do you think would be good for this? I know cavaliers use Marco Bordogni 43 Bel Canto Studies for Tuba, #19 and I've been looking for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what you guys are so concerned about. Contra's are a piece of cake. All you have to do is blow into one end so that a noise that the elephants can hear comes out on the other side. It also helps if you have 90% of a primates DNA...and yes... I'm just kidding. :tongue:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mandarins probably won't care if you audition on a Williams piece written for an F tuba on a BBb. They're going to be more concerned with technique and tone than the difficulty or complexity of your solo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...