how our minds tend to work: that to which we are accustomed vs. that which is possible
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 12:23 pm
I get calls/texts/emails and such from people who buy old rotary C and F tubas with left hand index finger fifth valves who want me to convert them to right hand thumb valves.
Okay, of course I'll do that for them, but another possibility is to leave things as they are and install a right hand thumb trigger for either the first slide or the fifth slide.
Probably, most people - if convinced to consider this alternative - would choose a first slide trigger for the right hand thumb.
Mr Bobo tended to prefer 5th slide triggers over first light triggers and - when stopping to think about it - with the fifth rotor being operated by the left hand index finger, the left hand thumb is still available to operate a fifth slide trigger... (Completely solving the horribly sharp 5234 low-D c-tuba problem)
...so - leaving things as they are, a right hand thumb trigger could be installed for the first slide and a left hand thumb trigger could be installed for the fifth slide, rather than tearing things apart and building back.
How long did it take to learn how to play a C and an F tuba (as B-flat tubas were played all throughout the first 6 to 8 years of tuba playing) ?
...and me pointing out these possibilities.. I didn't think of any of this stuff. It's all been done before.
Okay, of course I'll do that for them, but another possibility is to leave things as they are and install a right hand thumb trigger for either the first slide or the fifth slide.
Probably, most people - if convinced to consider this alternative - would choose a first slide trigger for the right hand thumb.
Mr Bobo tended to prefer 5th slide triggers over first light triggers and - when stopping to think about it - with the fifth rotor being operated by the left hand index finger, the left hand thumb is still available to operate a fifth slide trigger... (Completely solving the horribly sharp 5234 low-D c-tuba problem)
...so - leaving things as they are, a right hand thumb trigger could be installed for the first slide and a left hand thumb trigger could be installed for the fifth slide, rather than tearing things apart and building back.
My guess is it would take about a week...How long would it take to get used to that?
How long did it take to learn how to play a C and an F tuba (as B-flat tubas were played all throughout the first 6 to 8 years of tuba playing) ?
...and me pointing out these possibilities.. I didn't think of any of this stuff. It's all been done before.